Question... I've been doing erp for a few months now. My obsessive thoughts don't swim in my head nearly as much anymore, which is wonderful. Here's my question: even thought the thoughts seem quieter, my anxious feelings still are there (chest tightness, butterflies in my stomach) Anyone else experience this? Are the same techniques used to combat "anxious feelings" as obsessive thoughts?

I’ve learned that anxiety is just a normal human emotion and therefore I “try” not to give it more attention than that. I see it akin to nerves before a party or performance of mine. So I accept it as normal and don’t grapple with it. It subsided by itself! Best...

Hey! I've been doing ERP since the summer (although not as consistently as I should). I'm so glad to hear that it's really helped with your obsessive thoughts. I also now spend a lot less time obsessing than I used to, but I still have that free-floating anxiety (particularly in the mornings) which then can lead me to start analysing the feeling and then all the obsessive thoughts come back into my head. My psychologist says this is called emotional reasoning, where you assume that because you feel something, there must be a legitimate reason (rather than just a feature of our mentally ill brain, that has trained itself to always be on high alert). My advice would be to practice anxiety-reducing activities such as exercise, breathing, mindfulness, good diet/no caffeine /good sleep pattern, and hopefully your anxious feelings will subside a bit. Easier said than done, of course! (I'm going to be spending my whole life trying to figure out how to live well and manage my OCD!) all the best!

I’d recommend listening to Eckhart Tolle as he talks in great length about not being captured by your feelings or thoughts, exactly what OCDer’s suffer from. Also I use an app called HeadSpace and I find the anxiety course to be valuable. A lot of OCD is a calling for a more spiritual solution, not necessarily religious, but spiritual, meaning it’s all in your hands. Of course we have a mental illness so a lot more acceptance needs to be applied.

Yes, mine are still there and will always still be there because we have a mental illness. The key is to decrease the mental illness issues, not cure it.

Who r u working with?