- Date posted
- 29w
Newbie question
New to this app. Do members find it helps, I'm worried I will start obsessing over things I hadn't thought about before when I read other people's OCD triggers...
New to this app. Do members find it helps, I'm worried I will start obsessing over things I hadn't thought about before when I read other people's OCD triggers...
Newbie here too and I find it has its ups and downs but definitely found some triggering. Usually it will say trigger warning but honestly anything can trigger me. I think overtime we get better with ERP. I just started but I’m excited to see how well it works. I’ve always been triggered so easy on things I read like “what if” that’s me 😫
Thanks for replying are you doing ERP through the app?
One of my exposures in ERP is to look at the community page, as it can be very triggering to me. One of my main obsessions is the fear of getting a new OCD subtype and having new intrusive thoughts. I started my own exposure as looking through for 5 minutes and not reassuring myself or doing any mental compulsions, and now I’m up to 10 minutes. It’s finally getting to where I don’t care that much about seeing all of the posts and different themes. Sometimes I still get the physical feeling of anxiety and I know my OCD is trying to tell me, “what if you get that subtype?” But I have to say, “maybe I will, maybe I won’t. I’m going to accept not knowing and I’m choosing to live in the discomfort.” Eventually it gets better, but if you find it too triggering and you’re not using it in ERP, I’d say it’s okay to limit your time on here. Hope that helps!
@JazzyJez86 Oh that makes sense! I’m just starting ERP so I’ll mention that to my therapist. Shows, news etc trigger me!
Same here but in the long term I think it will help to know that I’m not alone!
For me the core fears I have are from within due to my personal experience in life so I don’t get triggered and pick up themes (by the grace of God) BUT if I see someone who talks about a theme I used to have, I do tend to start thinking about it temporarily until the theme that causes me the most distress at the moment takes over again. What you can do is post your experience and search others who have your experience in the search bar and not scroll through everyone’s posts.
I am new to this and exploring the community chat. Is it normal to have anxiety reading the posts? I keep looking for something that I can relate to, but I have hot “zings” going through my chest and down my torso while reading. I have been scrolling for over 30 minutes, which I guess is a sign of my newly diagnosed OCD. I am having a hard time verbalizing any “fears” - any advice to begin this journey?
Hello all, I just found out about this app! I’m pretty sure I have OCD, but also not sure. I’d line to discover more about to and hear what other experiences are.
Hello, I’m new to this app. I’ve always had an anxious brain, and I’ve had coping mechanisms for as long as I can remember. When I was a kid, from as early as I could spell, until I was probably early teens, I would constantly write words in my head along to the beat of music. It’s such a vivid memory because I never stopped doing it. The word had to perfectly match up to the lyric and I loved that it kept my brain busy. I grew out of that, but felt like good context. My anxiety increased drastically around ages 17-19, and I began therapy. I was diagnosed with generalized anxiety and panic disorder, due to having a panic attack nearly every day at that time. I overcame that as well, and now the panic attacks are every now and then, but the anxiety is constant, and some recent symptoms have led me to believe I might have some form of OCD. Maybe not. I’m trying to understand myself and get better so I joined this app to make sense of things. Lately I’ve been having really intense intrusive thoughts. I’m really embarassed and they make me feel like a bad person. Thoughts pop in my head seemingly out of nowhere. It will be an image of me harming myself or someone else in a really bad way. (Trigger warning) for example the other day I couldn’t shake the image of me putting a knife through my own forehead, although it’s not something I want to do. Or I’ll imagine someone killing me. I imagine my loved ones dying often. The thoughts feel so out of my control it’s insane. I hate them. Another persistent issue that isn’t as new is replaying social scenarios. I’m a hairstylist so this one is difficult since I meet a bunch of new people every day. I obsess over how I act and if people like me. I will impulsively say things all the time and they will haunt me for weeks. I question even my closest friends and family who show their love. I find myself so angry and numb and like I have so much built up emotion and a busy mind always. While doing my job I spiral really badly if any little thing goes wrong and it’s embarassing. I know there’s more but I can’t think of it now. I just want to feel better and like I’m not constantly battling my mind.
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