Okay y’all, I’m an open-minded ponderer. So I was wondering if the advocates in this community embraced any other type of treatment other than ERP. Like, what if there is another way to look at OCD? I think my OCD can make me feel extremely small, but also can help push me to do my best. I think we tend to talk about how hard this struggle is (because let’s be real, it’s terrible sometimes) but think about how considerate you are of others’ feelings because you are afraid of hurting them. Or, look at how good your grades are because you fear lack of organization. I think OCD is a two-way street, & there’s many ways to help yourself channel your energy for the better. :)

Well, actually my OCD makes my grades worse because my perfectionism causes me to procrastinate and I frequently get an OCD that I’ve plagiarized which is hell both during and after. And my being over considerate of others’ feelings has made me poor at setting boundaries or defending the ones I set, so I have had a lot more trauma in the course of my life and toxic people take an interest in me. I’ve even lied to people to avoid hurting them and the lie has been worse than if I had just been ok with ‘making’ someone a little upset. So I really do struggle to find any upsides to it other than the fact that my analytical brain gets an intensive daily work-out. But when it comes to treatment other than ERP: even before I knew my problem has been OCD for so long, I have tried to find ways of changing the way my brain works. Like, I read stoic philosophy to try to become more comfortable with my worst fears and the idea that I would even be able to handle them. I adopted a philosophy of compassion for myself and others which (when I’m in a fit state to embrace it) improves my resilience and reduces OCD symptoms by making me feel safer with my own brain and not hate myself through understanding my mistakes (as self hatred is such great OCD-fuel).

I once had religious ocd, I just kept living with it till I just stopped caring about the questions it asks.