- Date posted
- 7y
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 7y
It's great to have you in the group! Hopefully you'll find the group a helpful place to get encouragement for continuing on the fight against OCD from others who truly know what it's like. Have a great day/night!
- Date posted
- 7y
I have Pure O too!! We will keep fighting! ?
- Date posted
- 7y
Hillary: the SOS feature in this app was made for the exact reason. If you are having an episode and need to do ERP hot SOS and it will walk you through the episode using ERP
- Date posted
- 7y
and thank you all, for your kind words and encouragement. it means so much to me, I’m sure you all understand how important it is to share this with others that understand it. ♥️
- Date posted
- 7y
@hillary Here is an article that talks about what you might be going through. http://laocdtreatment.com/the-cruelest-obsession-obsessing-about-obsessing/
- Date posted
- 7y
Hi Hillary, I have harm-ocd too and just started ERP. I completely agree that the exposures I do with my therapist don’t necessarily make me anxious it’s when I’m alone with my thoughts. I’ve been trying to write all my thoughts down and rereading, so doing things in real time. Are you also on medication? Hang in there, there are SO many people that experience this - we can fight this terrible disease together.
- Date posted
- 7y
@KL - I am on medication, been taking sertraline for about 8 years and it has helped reduce the anxiety greatly. but I agree, when I’m WITH my therapist, I can’t get my anxiety up and I end up very discouraged and frustrated, and wondering if I really am going to go through with those thoughts since I can’t conjure up the fear.
- Date posted
- 7y
@hillary You can use this time of discouragement as an opportunity to do response prevention. It seems like you’re obsessing about whether your treatment will ever help you get better and this naturally happens during treatment. Try to work on accepting that you will get better through treatment but progress will be slow. Maybe try journaling like @KL to keep track of your thoughts so you can catch yourself. It’s possible if you haven’t been doing ERP for four years your OCD could have spiraled out of control. Try to push this thought that your therapy isn’t working to the back of your mind. And work out how much better you’d feel right now if you weren’t obsessing about whether treatment is working.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 19w
I’m starting NOCD. I had several years of cbt as a child (well over 20 years ago) and I see a trauma therapist. But now I’ll be seeking further help for OCD and just really scared. CBT wasn’t helpful for me. How has ERP been helpful for you? Do you feel like you’ll finally get your life back? I’m consumed by my obsessions 😢 Would love others feedback if ERP helped you ❤️
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 12w
I find while doing exposures, rarely does my anxiety lessen. It usually amps up and stays that way for the remainder of the day. I could be having a fairly decent day, but dutifully do my exposures and then the rest of my day is anxiety filled. I guess that’s just how it is now? Also, I’m wondering if my therapist even believes I have OCD. I totally understand my therapist cannot provide reassurance. But it’s to the point it seems my therapist acts like I actually did the thing I fear. I feel so isolated.
- Date posted
- 8w
I’ve recently been struggling a lot with OCD. I have had OCD for a long time I just didn’t realize it until more recently. About seven months ago I developed panic attacks one day randomly at work. I thought I was having a heart attack and went to the hospital where they told me it was just a panic attack and I assumed I would snap out and be better within a few days. However it didn’t. Here’s where it gets scary, I was staying at my then boyfriends house while dealing with blurry vision, anxiety attacks everyday, and more (unsure of what was going on). But at some point I saw my bfs (pew pew 🔫) on his table and it sent me into an anxiety attack after sudden thoughts that I was going to hurt myself with it. I begged him to put it away when I’m not looking so I didn’t know where he put it. He did. These thoughts lasted for about four days but began to go away. (I thought that was it and I would be back to normal). Unfortunately though I ended up moving back in with my family when we couldn’t get my panic attacks under control in time for me to get back to work and pay bills. However, coming home brought up a lot of trauma from when I was kid. My anxiety got worse but I didn’t have those thoughts again. About two and half months ago though, I got sick and went to the hospital where they gave me steroid pills and a steroid shot but sent me into some kind of psychiatric event. Ever since then though, I have been suffering from harm OCD, I have had moments of intense anger that I usually have to completely walk away and go on my own because of how intense they are, and it feels like it’s getting worse. Today I felt fine until about and hour and half ago where I started to dwell on the fact that my suicidal thought was influenced by my OCD and at the moment my OCD is at the worst it’s been. This caused me to get suddenly really depressed and I started crying thinking about how I can’t handle this. I then saw a post talking about how suicide rates are high for people with this form of OCD and it made me question if I am mentally strong enough to pull through this. I fear that at times I’m getting worse. I have good days but I have a lot of bad days. Unfortunately this sent me into such a bad panic attack I went over to my nanas crying about how I can’t deal with this. I took a 0.25 mg Xanax which helped calm down the panic attack portion of it but my brain is still uncomfortably active. I guess I just need hope. I’m so saddened by this. It’s like my life took a total 360 in 10 months and got even worse since the steroid shot. Idk what to do about it. I can’t stop the spiral. I talk to two different therapist weekly and start more next week, making it 5 times a week. I feel no improvements…
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