pure o exposures

This app has helped me overcome a lot of my obsessions but right now I'm really struggling with pure o. I get so many thoughts about things happening to the people I love and this is just so distressing. Today I realized I've had enough of ocd stealing my time and happiness away so I really want to do ERP for this, but I really don't know how to create exposures for this. Is somebody else here in the same boat? I feel like a script would be useful but I'm not sure where to begin

"Pure" OCD

Zoë_84

Date posted: 37w

Well, the term pure o (pure obsessional) is misleading, as people suffering from pure o also do compulsions, they are just not visible, as they happen in ones mind. As with visible compulsions, like washing hands repeatedly, checking, etc., ERP for pure o is refraining from doing compulsions. You could write down your pure o obsessions and the mental compulsions you do, because of those obsessions. Then you can trigger yourself so those pure o obsessions pop up in your head and you refrain from doing compulsions. My Harm OCD is pure o. I never did, what I call, active ERP for this subtype, but I do RP, which means I refrain from doing compulsions. For example: When I use a knife in the kitchen and my partner is in the same room, I always feel the obsession - in this case it is an intrusive urge - to stab him. My response to this urge is thinking "Maybe I will stab him." and I continue with what I'm doing, rather than reply with thinking "NO! NO, I would never do that!", putting the knife away and leaving the kitchen.

jacobwithocd

Date posted: 37w

That is really helpful. Thank you for sharing your experience with this, pure o just feels so much more complicated than the other themes sometimes cause it's not talked about enough. I personally just get thoughts out of nowhere about something bad happening to people I love. I'd literally be thinking not the most terrible thing and my brain would convince me that it'd somehow harm them. Or I'd get "bad thoughts" about people and my brain would tell me that I really want bad things to happen and so I'd try to think of thoughts so nothing would happen. But I really like your advice, I think going to the core of our fears and what triggers us is very important. I'd try to do that and prepare a ERP plan for myself. I needed a reminder that I'm not the only one feeling this way so thank you for taking your time to write this :)

Philipp2024

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 37w

@jacobwithocd ERP for „bad“ thoughts can really just be thinking the bad thoughts on purpose. Btw. not allowing bad thoughts in your brain is a compulsion on its own. You need to embrace them instead of trying to get rid of them.

jacobwithocd

Date posted: 37w

@Philipp2024 I really like this idea, thank you for sharing this. I think preparing a list of those thoughts and reading them over would be good erp. I struggle with these mental compulsions so much and I'm just in my head so much of time, however I've found mindfulness to be really peaceful.

Philipp2024

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 37w

@jacobwithocd For me mindfulness was a compulsion and I tried to get rid of thoughts and feelings by doing it. If you do it, please do it on a schedule same time every day, so it doesn’t get compulsive as easily. One ERP I love for my somatic OCD which might help you with your OCD too is having a loop tape with beeps on it. Whenever I hear the beep I think of my unwanted sensory awareness on purpose and then immediately disengage and focus on life (response prevention) until the next beep. Love doing it in Gym. This exercise can easily give you 100 engagements and disengagements with just one ERP session.

jacobwithocd

Date posted: 37w

@Philipp2024 I get why it might feel like that, sometimes it does for me too which is why I want to practice ERP more. I'd definitely try that on a schedule, thank you for this. I feel like I've been turning to mindfulness immediately after a thought and it just doesn't help some of the times. And oh my goodness I'd never heard of that one before but I really love it, I'm already thinking of giving it a try. I think it'd be amazing ERP practice :)

No matric ce...

Date posted: 37w

Scripts are a good exposure,write a story on your worst fear happening

jacobwithocd

Date posted: 37w

That seems like a really good idea, I feel like it'd be very effective. Thank you for sharing this, I'd definitely try it :)

lilmissanony...

Date posted: 24w

Realised I have Pure O OCD.

Hello, I was diagnosed with autism and ADHD at 25 years old. I attributed my overthinking to autism but I realised a few months ago that Pure O OCD is the most meaningful explanation for it. I am also an asexual, so I am, simply put, a shitshow of symptoms. I constantly review the past - particularly painful memories. I have a consistent fear of getting cancelled. When I was 18, some YouTubers I followed got accused of sexual misconduct and cancelled. I was obsessed and concerned for them. Others found my obsession strange. I did not like how their lives were ruined over accusation and no trial. (I was naive then to why public accusations are happening, as it is because the legal system often fails to address predatory men.) Even 6 years later, I googled one of them 240 times between January 2020 and April 2020. It was plain obsessive. When I burned bridges, I continued to search the people involved in my past dramas. Often multiple times in the same day with nothing new to see. They would likely be scared if they knew how obsessed I was with them. I have started doing ERP exercises. I wrote a script where I receive public false allegations and my life is ruined. It is forever googleable and I am a complete pariah. Completely unemployable, unliveable, even my family abandons me. I listen to it for 15 minutes on loop per day. What else would you recommend to tackle the ruminating? I wish I had this information at 18. I should have been solving these issues then and enjoying my life, not figuring it all out so much later in life.

anxietypoops

Date posted: 22w

The RP in ERP

Hi! I've been on my OCD healing journey for about half a year and I have seen a lot of success. I'm reaching out for advice, I am very willing to do exposures because I know the more I do them, the more I get better, but I struggle with the response prevention part. I don't know how to control my brain when it comes to facing the fears especially since most of my compulsions are mental. I can tell myself the typical things "I am okay with the uncertainty of this happening", etc. but its like my brain doesn't believe them. I've been stuck in this disconnect for a while and would love advice you have heard from a therapist or learned that has really help you.

allykayy

Date posted: 22w

PURE-O Attempting to Seek Help

I didn’t know this but my Pure-O began when i was around 11/12 years old with a violent thought to hurt someone I love. This thought brought me tears. I tried supressing it, “praying” it away, thinking good things, distracting myself etc. But this thought always came back to haunt me. It was on/off for about 13 years. Just this past week, I recently got an image/thought of hurting someone I love and it scares me. I use smart devices to track my sleep and exercise and both devices show that my heart rate is much beyond what it should be. I have had difficulty sleeping the past 3 nights with very little REM and deep sleep because of this thought. I’m worried this could cause me to spiral. I feel anxious all day because I’m trying to avoid thinking this thought, but it keeps coming back. I’m waiting to book a call with a NOCD to see what my options are. I hope I can get effective treatment. 🥺🫶🏻

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