ERP

@Cher54 Hi! I’m so sorry you’re going through that, it’s so difficult to have all kinds of thoughts that you feel like you don’t want to have. I remember spending nights and hours crying because I was so tired from all the anxiety and confusion I felt. ERP is going to help you the most with really conquering even when those thoughts come in! The Bible also says that Christ’s love casts out fear and that he cares for us. He is God and knows our limitations, anxieties, and weaknesses, and his Holy Spirit helps us even when we don’t have the strength.

I have this question as well! I'm currently struggling when I felt like I was doing so well before.

@Emmaleigh7 Hi! I am a big advocate for holistic health, so I would encourage anyone to look at basic foundations of health first: sunlight, sleep, diet, movement, social support. If any of these are out of wack for me, I notice my thoughts tend to run more often. Of course there is an element where the anxiety/thoughts contribute to decreased sleep or wanting to withdraw from social support, but I see these aspects as crucial to maintain to support your general wellness with OCD/PMDD. Sometimes there are days that even when I feel like I have taken care of those things, my mind still feels frazzled, and I will intermittently take Prozac 10mg for a day or two. My body is very sensitive so I can feel the effects right away, and I use it as a last resort! I will say, as someone who used to be extremely skeptical of medication, Prozac has helped give me a boost when I need it. For general supplements, I’ve found that chamomile, raspberry leaf tea, L theanine, and vitamin D are helpful for me!

@Restless I totally understand how you feel! I used to feel like this at the beginning of my sessions especially in the thick of my relationship conflicts and uncertainty. I know it’s difficult, but commit to ERP! Follow through with it! Community is here to support.

@sage🌱 ERP can feel extremely difficult and uncomfortable at first, because you are directly allowing yourself to engage your worst fears and discomforts! That’s where your therapist is there to support you. It’s like building the muscle of uncertainty tolerance through exercising in ERP!

@trapped If you don’t have to move too many things around for it, I would say why not! You may still feel anxious or uncertain whether you do or not, but you are already in therapy, which is a great step! Keep going!

@Angel20 I’ve definitely felt this way and it’s a skill to build of resisting problem solving. You could acknowledge that feeling of tension, “I feel like I’m missing something. Maybe I am, maybe I’m not,” and just sitting with that.

@Gio77 You’re definitely not alone in that fear! Pretty sure that has happened to me before and I was like wow I can’t believe this actually happened. The ERP move would be, “I might miss my alarm, I might not” and learning to sit with that discomfort of not knowing for sure.

@Love1another<3 That’s a great question that I’d love to answer! I will say, something that has NOT changed is that sometimes thoughts and anxiety still do come up, although at a lesser frequency and intensity depending on the situation. What has changed though is primarily my response to when those come up. I used to be super riddled with anxiety, both physical and mental symptoms. I would feel short of breath, dry mouth, chest tightness, sometimes like my throat was closing up. I’d wake up to a pit in my stomach and it was just a living hell. I remember crying a lot because I was just so exhausted from how strongly anxiety had a grip on my life. It’s like I could never turn my brain off. I engaged in a lot of avoidance or trying to problem solve and think my way out of my thoughts. I just felt like my life was getting smaller and smaller because almost everything would trigger me. As I committed to ERP, I learned to stand through all the emotional and mental storms that would come without actually trying to do anything about it. It was painful in moments for sure, as I faced things I didn’t want to feel or look at. As I continued, I felt more resilient and assured that no matter what was thrown my way, I would be able to get through it. It helped me to make more choices out of agency and my values rather than fear. It opened my life up again and taught me to take that space in between certain thoughts coming up and making a decision or conclusion about them.

@HopefulForImprovement ERP can definitely feel extremely uncomfortable! Don’t be discouraged if you feel like you can’t do it! It really does feel so impossible at times and that’s understandable because it’s something you may have avoided for many many years at this point. It’s like a weak muscle we have to train, so it may feel like a lot at first. With that being said, I committed myself to ERP because I decided I was done with the alternative of not trying ERP, which was living under the cruel reign of OCD. It was my last reach of desperation, and even though it was difficult and many times I couldn’t see the path forward, it was so worth it!