Perfect Imperfectionist
- Date posted
- 6w
Question
What would I do for ERP if my OCD says because I didn’t do something correctly or remember something I will have panic attacks that don’t end?
ThornhillThornhill
- Date posted
- 6w
I had to allow myself to be exposed to not doing the compulsion and holding off on it until the feeling passed. It got easier but it took time. The first time you are using your tools to not do the compulsion is a challenge but it's so worth the journey.
ThornhillThornhill
- Date posted
- 6w
I wept and wept the first time. And then I realized I survived and the feeling passed. I kept doing it. Take back the power. OCD is a bully that thrives on doubt.
AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 6w
All comments are great ideas that have worked for me surrounding my perfectionism and just right OCD! I also have panic attacks some that have been super severe and sitting with the panic feeling and some of the body sensations that go with panic attacks can help. It works if an exposure brings them on or as an example purposely hyperventilating to simulate the feeling of light headedness and trouble getting air often felt when having a panic attack. Having practice habituating and sitting with the body sensations of panic attacks as exposure’s really helped me in relation to avoidance and has resulted in a lot less panic attacks. I’ve learned to not panic about the fact that I’m having a panic attack while it’s happening or if I start to feel the body sensations. From exposures. It has limited both the number and duration of my panic attacks
sopheasophea
- Date posted
- 6w
Here are some examples of exposures one might do for this particular theme that I can think of: intentionally thinking about something you did "incorrectly" in the past and practicing sitting with that anxiety, intensionally doing something "incorrectly" and not fixing it, reading a passage with crucial parts blacked out so you can't fully understand the text, being made to recount a story you can't fully remember, intentionally telling a half-truth to your therapist, etc.
SF18SF18
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 6w
@sophea @perfect imperfectionist The responses you have received are great! For ERP, perhaps you can trust the process and the support of a community who understands you and have got your back ❤️
OneDayAtATimeeOneDayAtATimee
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 6w
For ERP- do the opposite of what Ocd wants you to do. Do something incorrectly on purpose and don’t write something down to help you remember it (as long as those things aren’t superr important)
ThornhillThornhill
- Date posted
- 6w
Sometimes I spend a moment bringing my fear into my mind and letting it sit there. And then I allow myself to park the thought and move on to other things. I have to remember 'its just a thought.' and that helps me
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- Date posted
- 19w
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TrustGod24
- Date posted
- 6w
ERP
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Anonymous
- Date posted
- 5w
religious OCD
Please help. I have felt so off/wrong all day. I constantly worry that the “bad guy” is going to get me. I have awful thoughts and I constantly want God to know that I don’t mean these thoughts. I am at a point in my therapy where I need to choose to use my ERP but it feels too scary. I then do compulsions, which makes the OCD worse, which makes me want to use ERP less. And the cycle goes on. I am currently sitting in my car crying because I feel so lost and exhausted. I’m not supposed to figure out my thoughts, but today I just went into a spiral of sadness and depression, thinking that I will always feel like this. When my thoughts got really bad at the end of the day, I tried to use ERP even though I was shaking and not believing my responses and I ended up feeling like I missed something and that I gave into the “bad guy.” I have no one to talk when I’m not doing therapy twice a week. I am alone and have no one to talk to when I am like this… please help
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