Thought of something.

If your OCD was cured, what happens to the guilt? The guilt tethers us to OCD, and for some of us real-event sufferers, it keeps us accountable. So I don't think OCD is ever truly "cured." This is why I wouldn't want to just wish it away. Would you want to cheat to get a perfect body? Dope yourself up so you have perfect muscles without going through the hard work to obtain it? I think the same can be said for OCD. Would we simply want to wish it away, or would we want to work hard on it, day by day, so our pain and guilt can be turned into strength?

Poohbear101!

Date posted: 12h

Overcoming OCD is by practicing the art of letting things go……I felt false guilt for the longest, thinking that I cause my brother to be unhappy, based on our childhood, when I picked on him. But after we talked, he let me know that I was a great brother. I wasnt perfect, but I was not the reason why he is not happy all the time. I had to let that guilt go….I told him Sorry, and moved on….

HopefulHuman

Date posted: 14h

Guilt should be a temporary emotion, not something that lasts forever. At that point it has turned into shame, the sense not that you've done something bad but that you are something bad. Thats not a healthy emotional state. Guilt is there to tell us when we've done something wrong but once we've acknowledged that and if we can, made amends, we are allowed to move forward and let that guilt go. OCD's lie is that you need to feel guilty and anxious about past mistakes forever. Coupled with its tendency to exaggerate what an OCD sufferer has done, OCD is not worth listening to.

Generiname

Date posted: 14h

OCD is as complex as people. And sometimes people are what stops us from moving on. I've been told by people before that my mistakes define me. I don't think they truly meant it, but those words stick with you. Real-event OCD is overcoming monstrous shame of a legitimate bad action in your past. And even non-OCD sufferers can hold onto that for life. But I believe OCD therapy can truly help with this. Maybe I'm coping because I'm in the middle of a flareup over past mistakes? I'm not sure. But I want to continue being proud of the person I became, not the person I was.

HopefulHuman

Date posted: 10h

@Generiname Real Event OCD can be that, but I've also had that theme and i know all too well now the past event is not always as monstrous as OCD can make it out to be, even to tje point of there being no real mistakr at all (but as with all things OCD, you need to accept the uncertainty about it). It can also involve a genuine and real mistake or instance where you acted against your current values Until very recently i truly believed i belonged to the latter category and only now realise i belonged to the former. I think you're right that ERP can help you here, remember though its not about becoming either absolutely sure that your mistake was really bad and you should feel terrible about it forever, or becoming sure that its ok and you can move forward and let it go, its about sitting in the uncertainty of not knowing, whether that be whether or not you did something really bad, whether you can or should forgiveyourself, and all those kinds of thoughts. Its about experiencing the uncomfortable feelings it generates without continuing to act based on them, and choosing to move forward anyway despite not knowing.

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