- Date posted
- 6y ago
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I want to give you the biggest hug right now - clearly you’ve been through a lot and that’s so sucky ❤️❤️ Avoid talk therapies at all costs, it encourages your obsessions, as I found the hard way. ERP is very helpful, but its important to carry out a plan in case you relapse. You can improve, I know that sounds crazy right now, but its true. Your passion for animals is something I really relate to, make that your motivation to recover and improve. If you have a motivation to recover, you’re more likely to do so. My OCD stands in the way of my goals sometimes, which is why I’m so driven and determined to get better. I wish you all the best and hope you will use this app to start trying some smaller exposures and get you on track to living a happier life. Lots of love ❤️❤️
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Oh I recommend the mindfulness workbook for ocd by Jon Hershfield. It’s helped me understand it a lot and therefore easier to start working
- Date posted
- 6y ago
It will be ok. I know it doesn’t seem like it but it will ?
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I understand. It sounds like you’ve been through a lot in such a short time! Keep fighting. I understand the struggle and how difficult and lonely it is to succumb to your compulsions. I have to have hope that we will get better. It’s all I can do. I hope you find your light ?❤️
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I totally get where you’re coming from - I’m kind of all over the place with my ERP. I didn’t do it very thoroughly the first time (had no idea what I was doing) so I’m here again because I relapsed. The first step you can do is cut off as many compulsions as possible to stop feeding the cycle. Then get some paper and make a list of all your themes (obsessions/fears) and rate them from 1-10. Make a list of your less disturbing fears up to your most disturbing, and start at the easiest. Your ERP doesn’t have to go for 2 hours or something, start at only a couple of minutes. If you throw yourself off the deep end, you’ll be overwhelmed. Expose yourself to the fear and say “this might be true. Im going to accept it.” You’ll feel anxious, but sit with it for as long as you can. After a few sessions you might find you feel a little bit less anxious, so keep at it. You’ve taken a really important first step in recovery, so be proud! You’re doing good ❤️ if you have any more questions feel free to ask ?
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Megumi- Welcome and thank you for sharing your story. I’m so sorry to hear about the traumatic experiences you’ve been through. I hope this app can help you with your OCD. I know they are going to start an unlimited therapist chat for $100/month and maybe that’s something you can consider.
- Date posted
- 6y ago
@TabbyKitty I love your username ?. Thank you for your kind words. I agree with the talk therapy but I’ve gave it a shot to see if I can learn anything from it and for insurance purpose-I had to show them that I have tried therapy that was available to me but didn’t work and so it has to be the ERP. I believe you when you say it can improve as I have experienced at one point. But here’s my question of self ERP. I don’t know where to begin as I have a lot of symptoms. I have a sense but I’m scared I’m going to forget a step, doing it wrong or there are better ways to do them. I found out about this app by a YouTuber who talks about OCD and recovery. I’m excited to give it a try but at the same time scared. Like what if I miss a step in the exposure ladder? I feel I can do better when I’m told what steps I need to take. I just don’t trust myself to do it right. I know the purpose is just doing it but it’s scary to do it alone. How do you do the ERP alone? I just have no strength to doing it-even when I have my passion as a motivator. I start reflecting on my past failures.
- Date posted
- 6y ago
The better word for “positive” is justified.
- Date posted
- 6y ago
@WorriedDriver thank you. I’m curious is the therapist an ERP specialist?
- Date posted
- 6y ago
Yes, email info@nocd.com for more information and you can get more details on their credentials
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I know it’s hard but try and do one thing at a time. I never pushed myself. I know, I know it’s scary. But we need to go out and live without feeling bad about it 24/7. Try and sort one trigger or one OCD thought. Spend a whole day if you have to but you decide when you are done with IT controlling YOU. It’s ok to make mistakes.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 20w ago
I have a lot of thoughts about the universe, and they’re overwhelming—like being caught in a rip current, except it’s all inside my head. Most of the time, they’re about how small we are, how there really isn’t a “we” because our bodies aren’t truly ours—we’re just bacteria, cells, and microbes. The thoughts spiral, deeper and deeper, smaller and smaller, coiling until suddenly, I’m pulled under, drowning in a whirlpool. I’ve never felt like this before, and I’m convinced I’ve been faking it somehow. For the past few weeks, my OCD has been worse than it’s ever been in my 20 years of life. Or maybe I’m just more aware of it now. Has anyone else had their OCD suddenly get really bad? Does it ever end—if it even can? I’ve convinced myself that my intrusive thoughts aren’t actually intrusive, that my OCD is a choice, and that everything I do is intentional. As for compulsions, I don’t have the typical “If I don’t do ____ then ____ will happen” kind of thoughts. Instead, my brain simply commands, “Do ____,” and I always give in. It’s so loud in my head, and I can’t shake the feeling that I’m an imposter. Like I don’t belong here—like my presence on this app is an intrusion, invalidating everyone else’s struggles just by downloading it and daring to post. If anyone feels that way, if you think I’m intruding, I’m sorry. I only came here because I have no one to share my diagnosis with. Pouring my thoughts out, hoping someone might understand, feels less suffocating than journaling. Journaling is like letting a wound fester—each word burying the thoughts deeper, leaving them to decay in silence, for nobody to ever read but myself.
- Date posted
- 17w ago
Hi I kept seeing this app on repeat on TikTok over and over and I thought I give it a shot. I have never been diagnosed with OCD but I know that I have it. I’m a young adult and I found out the first time I had OCD was watching lelelons truth video? I was 14 at the time She had to resist sitting back down in a chair after her having sat down she started having a mental break down when she was told to resist. That’s when I knew. It started with myself going up and down a staircase twice buckling unbuckling my seat belt everytime I’m in the car ect I have always been super anti social but trying my best I can socialize but my mind wants to make it sexual with family and friends ughhhh I hate it because that’s not me when I graduated thoughts of hurting my loved ones corrupted my mind I broke down outside of church one time asking if this was really me or not i question if I’m a good enough friend or person in this world to begin with thinking everyone is judging me so so close how can I make this situation better did I do something wrong I struggle with depression as well not to bad but it’s there I come from a loving family but broken as well i believe in god and my OCD makes me go often he’s not real that stuff isn’t real no one is there to save you the list goes on. Anyway I struggle a lot and I really hope that this will help me because I feel extremely hopeless. Lucky for me I do have the ability to seek therapy and I am excited. The only person I ever tell my thoughts to is God no other human has heard so I’m really really hoping this helps me out if your reading this thank you it means a lot because this is my first time ever admitting all this it’s a lot to take in I know and I hope you are ok and that you have a great night and know that we got this
- Date posted
- 13w ago
It’s been 4 years. 4 years since I spiralled into a world controlled by rituals of 4, it started as 2, then 3, then 4 - my safe number. The amount of times I wash my hands after touching something dirty and how many repeats it takes until I feel ‘clean’, the amount of taps I make when closing doors to make sure I don’t ‘die’, the amount of times I rinse cutlery and plates before eating off them, the amount of times I disinfect things. My OCD subtype is contamination and I know 2020 lockdowns and the pandemic caused it to spiral but what started as a small ritual quickly became bigger until I no longer remembered what my life was like without the obsessive thoughts of germs and contamination. Could that person be ill? What if I go outside to the shops and someone makes me sick? You can’t answer the door to get that package from the delivery driver because he might make you sick, oh you can’t put the shopping away without disinfecting it first - what if someone has coughed on it? ‘I’ve got to wear gloves to do that’ I can’t, I can’t, I can’t. For 4 years I’ve lived like this, the ‘I don’t want to touch that’ or ‘I can’t go to this place because I don’t want to get ill and die’ ‘can you go do that for me as I don’t think I can right now’ - I know my OCD is irrational, I know the likelihood of those things actually happening are slim to none and I know my OCD stems from a need of control in my life because for so many years I felt like everything in my life was out of my control. But no matter how much I know of how many books I read, how many mindful practices I do the panic I feel after being ‘exposed’ or before exposing myself to a trigger is horrible. I’ve avoided and avoided and avoided to the point where something small now seems and feels like an impossible mountain to climb. It often feels like there isn’t light at the end of the tunnel on the dark days, when I know there is, it’s just going to take some time. Despite this on the outside to those not in my circle my life is a whole picture perfect painting. I run my own business, have a nice car, a nice house, a happy relationship and the of best friends and I’m so grateful for all those things but the reality is much different - behind closed doors and hidden in the closest is the OCD monster. I’ve decided now, after 4 years it’s time to change. I’m breaking the cycle and starting anew. The irony that 4 is my safe number too and it’s been 4 years since things started to get dark. I’m ready to lose control and find myself again. Why am I writing this? Honestly, I really don’t know. I found this app recently and hope it can be a help for my ERP practices I’ve been practicing on my own and it’s actually the first time I’ve ever openly posted or spoken about my OCD to date. For years I have lived with a huge amount of shame and embarrassment, hiding my issues from everyone - even my closest friends have no idea how much it impacts my day to day. I’ve felt shame as I can’t control my own mind despite knowing the thoughts are irrational and the rituals only provide temporary relief but each day again and again the safety blanket of the rituals wraps me up and takes over. The only person who truly knows how much it affects me is my partner, who has been by my side through it all, he’s burnt out and has seen first hand the impact it has had on me, my life and my happiness. I’ve sheltered him as much as I can, but I’m sure those who are in relationships with OCD can relate to the burnout their partner feels day in day out. So that’s my story, I hope those going through similar can take comfort in this and know they aren’t alone in it all as my OCD has made me feel so incredibly lonely, isolated and empty for 4 years too long. It feels freeing to finally share my monster and I hope I can connect with others who are on a similar journey to me. The biggest thing I want to be able to do again? I want to be able to hug my loved ones without feeling triggered, I want to go outside and enjoy life without worry, I want to live again. This app has made me feel seen for the first time in a long time and reading your stories, your experiences and how you’re coping is comforting, encouraging and makes me feel less alone ❤️ thank you for reading x
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