Community discussion: Ask anything

@Primavera1627! I guess I just identify them “this is an intrusive thought from my ocd” and if I have any doubts (meta ocd) I just think “even if it’s not, it doesn’t matter, worrying/ruminating will not help anything.”

@cazzzyv the main goal of erp is the acceptance and eventual defeat of intrusive thoughts and compulsions, so essentially you're meant to sit with the discomfort and let the bad thoughts linger until it starts to feel less uncomfortable. if done repeatedly, you can get over your feelings of discomfort in certain situations that trigger ocd because your brain can eventually learn that nothing bad will happen if you don't perform a compulsion.

@cazzzyv It's not so much about trying to think of something less frightening as it is choosing not to engage with your thoughts/worries. You do this by refusing to do whatever the OCD wants you to do, whether that's ruminating, reassurance seeking, excessive hand washing, or whatever else. It's about accepting uncertainly and trusting that thoughts are just thoughts. Thoughts are not evil and they're not fact. How that looks in practice can be highly individualized depending on your specific obsessions/compulsions, and a treatment plan if best developed with the help of a specialist.

@Mercury75 By the way this doesn't mean that ERP is easy or straightforward. It also doesn't have to be done perfectly to be effective over time.

@alan87 ruminating on the same thought over and over and over and over again in hopes to find an answer to an unanswerable question, or reviewing your memories in your head over and over and over again to make sure you didn’t hallucinate and make something up

Thinking in circles! One question or worry leads to another, and then somehow I arrive right back where I started. But because it kind of feels like a journey, I don't even notice I'm retreading old ground and I just keep going. And even when I catch myself, there's just some need to dive back in because it just feels like I won't have peace until I "figure it out". It's exhausting. Before I knew I had OCD I'd be so confused about why I'd have zero energy some days.

@YuvikaBedi Thank you for your reply. I struggle with rumination of real events that happened years ago and why I did them, what did it mean, should I confess, am I a bad person, does this mean I am not a good person, etc. I know I am not the same person I was years ago. So I try to focus on who I am now and on Jesus.

@ScootScoot I completely relate to this. Thought spiral or circles for me of rumination on real events or mistakes from my past. Some days the thoughts are there and I am able to not pay them much attention. Other days like today, they come rushing in and it’s all I can think of.

@alan87 Oh that's similar to me! If it's a "good" day I feel pretty normal, but days where I'm off balance emotionally open the doors and it all floods in. My themes are existential and I get obsessed with how I'm not living life correctly and what I need to do to fix it. 🙃

@ScootScoot I have some existential themes as well, mine starts going down the road of meanings and all that. But yes, today I was feeling fine, but I decided to take a nap because I was tired, I took my nap and then woke up a little on edge. Normally I take naps when Im feeling on edge so there’s that. OCD is terrible.

@alan87 I do mental compulsions literally all day every day :/ since its mental it’s harder to avoid because it is very sneaky. But in my case basically anything (from a normal everyday interaction to a memory from the past) can trigger me into thinking too much about something “did i look at that homeless person wrong?, do they think i hate and feel disgusted by them now?” “did i behaved appropriately in that situation that happened 2 years ago?” “what did i really meant by the way i looked at that person?” “am i a horrible person for this mistake i did and what can i do to deserve to be forgiven?” and most of the times are things that are problems only on my mind and no one else cares about.

@Indigoglow Sometimes its hard because it feels like you just can’t win. But I always think about how I want to be able to appreciate things and people I love without making everything about my OCD.

Try to really sit with it. I've noticed a lot of negative emotions felt so bad because my gut response was to try to fix it or ignore it. I learned if I just let myself feel it, it's kinda like validating yourself in a way. As if you're not wrong or broken for feeling that emotion. I think through that you can feel a little more at ease and pick yourself back up, and realize whatever is scaring you isn't that scary.