ERP Compulsion

Has anyone else struggled with compulsions around using ERP itself? It creeped in subtly, but I’ve noticed myself now starting to repeat phrases/mantras before I try to do exposures. Ironically, that itself has become a compulsion. It’s wild, how do you get a compulsion about not doing compulsions 🤯 It honestly probably got this way and doesn’t help that I haven’t been able to access therapy in over 3 yrs. So as I’ve tried to use ERP on my own without professional support, it just kind of morphed into this. Well I should be able to access services again in January. I suppose it’s not that far away anymore at this point, 4 months. Grateful for that at least.

Gabbie H

Date posted: Yesterday

I’m sorry. Have you tried to look at YouTube for some help?

Anonymous

Date posted: Yesterday

Hoping you will be able to gain access to therapy again soon! Meta anxiety is a real thing and I can see repeating ERP mantras easily becoming a compulsion. I was actually talking to my therapist yesterday that I am not needing to repeat these mantras to myself often I am able to just shut down the barrage of thoughts and allow me to sit with that anxiety and accept it. Perhaps trying that or varying your method of employing ERP can help? Use different phrases, avoid repeating them think them instead, sometimes try just focusing on allowing that anxiety to sit there instead. Hoping for the best!

Kong Rong

Date posted: Yesterday

@Anonymous Me too! Not having health insurance and such can get pretty hard. Oh that’s also a good point. When I’m doing ERP with different parts of my hierarchy, I’m ending up doing a variety of different types of activities. I’m actually really creative, so I can use that to my advantage to keep varying my activities, words etc. I can just do random stuff like find symbolic objects that represent anxiety/obsessions, use pictures, use cacophonic sounds, drive somewhere random without gps and sit with the anxiety in the car. Idk there’s probably a million different creative things you could do to expose. Put a long complicated document in front of me etc.

Kong Rong

Date posted: Yesterday

@Anonymous I used to repeat prayers with religious scrupulosity in the past, so I think using words is probably not my best option for sitting with the anxiety/obsession.

Kong Rong

Date posted: Yesterday

Good idea, I’ll try to access resources in other ways 👍 interestingly, it seems that if I use ERP with some exposures it isn’t an issue, but for others this happens. Mainly if I try to use ERP directly in the context of the admin duties of my job, this happens and it doesn’t work too well. I think the work stuff might be too high on the hierarchy for where I’m at right now. But I also don’t have money to meet my basic needs, so I kind of need to prioritize that. Or so that seems intuitive, but I’m probably going to literally save time doing exposures. So when I actually think about it like this, then it’s more efficient to prioritize progressively using ERP with my hierarchy as opposed to putting work over this.

Anonymous

Date posted: Yesterday

That’s good you can find a lot of ways to do it. I’m getting the pattern of being able to make excersizes myself but I’m not as creative with it yet. Im sure vocalizing things is a good thing to do but just varying it and not relying on it as a crutch might be the best route to go.

Kong Rong

Date posted: 19h

@Anonymous lol just ideas I have a million of those, that doesn’t necessarily mean they’ll work though. But you never know until you try, right 🏞️ true true, and you’ll never be able to fly with crutches 😎

anxietypoops

Date posted: 24w

The RP in ERP

Hi! I've been on my OCD healing journey for about half a year and I have seen a lot of success. I'm reaching out for advice, I am very willing to do exposures because I know the more I do them, the more I get better, but I struggle with the response prevention part. I don't know how to control my brain when it comes to facing the fears especially since most of my compulsions are mental. I can tell myself the typical things "I am okay with the uncertainty of this happening", etc. but its like my brain doesn't believe them. I've been stuck in this disconnect for a while and would love advice you have heard from a therapist or learned that has really help you.

Estelle_11

Date posted: 17w

What is correct ERP for mental compulsions?

If your mind purposely keeps fetching a repetitive word, and you’re afraid it will never go away, is the ERP therapy to STOP the mind from doing it? Or ALLOW the mind to do it, and not react? Also, is repeating a word in your head a mental compulsion? Or would that be the obsession? So then what’s the compulsion? Posting on here? Lol

Hobbit

Date posted: 11w

Not making ERP a compulsion?

Anyone have any tips on not making ERP a compulsion? I find myself sometimes wanting to do exposures in order to make myself feel better (feel my anxiety go down and feel relief). 😅

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