I’m feeling super discouraged with my ERP progress :( I’m starting to fear that I have treatment-resistant OCD or something, or that it’s not even OCD :( I’ve got harm-OCD which it’s a tricky one to tackle bc it’s pure O. i’ve been working on ERP for about 4 years now but nothing seems to spike my anxiety enough at the time of the session. I feel safe doing the ERP, but when I get alone with my thoughts/idle mind, that’s the only time I get anxious. I’m super discouraged and anxious rn so any insight is so appreciated. xoxo

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!

I have Pure O too!! We will keep fighting! ?

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

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. ♥️

@hillary Here is an article that talks about what you might be going through. http://laocdtreatment.com/the-cruelest-obsession-obsessing-about-obsessing/

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.

@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.

@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.