- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 22w
OCD and your identity
Does OCD make you question the very core of who you are? It has a way of latching onto anything we value or care about, so it might target your identity through things like your sexual orientation, gender, religious or philosophical beliefs, or other deeply personal aspects of how you see yourself. These identity-related doubts can be particularly distressing, and often lead to rumination and other mental compulsions that we may use to feel more “certain” or less doubtful about these important things. But the more we engage with these doubts, the worse our symptoms tend to get in the long run. That's why ERP (exposure and response prevention) therapy is the most effective treatment for OCD: it teaches you how to break out of the obsession-compulsion loop, which can help you regain your life—and your confidence in who you are.