isssss93
- Date posted
- 5y
irish_and_ocdirish_and_ocd
- Date posted
- 5y
I know it is really difficult. It is so distressing and comes with so many other feelings too like shame and guilt. I have been in therapy about 6 months now. I still have the occasional day when things are pretty bad but generally my quality of life has improved so much it is amazing. I am not saying it only takes 6 months to recover. I am still in recovery doing exposures every day. This is just my experience. For actual exposures, I don't know what type of sexual thoughts you have but I have HOCD so I started off simply researching/reading/looking at facebook profiles of people part of the LGBT community. I started with Glennon Doyle. Then, as that gets easier, move onto someone more challenging etc. Then I watched documentaries or movies or series with gay characters, like Queer Eye and basically just keeping moving to more difficult stuff. Now I am reading novels with gay characters. Does that make sense? I hope everything goes well for you. Keep pushing through. You owe it to yourself
isssss93isssss93
- Date posted
- 5y
Yeah, it does. For me it's basically anyone around that I see I have Those type of thoughts.
irish_and_ocdirish_and_ocd
- Date posted
- 5y
@isssss93 I know it's so tough. Nobody understands unless they have experienced it. I'm so sorry you have had to go through this. I hope that you can recover in time. Are you in therapy?
isssss93isssss93
- Date posted
- 5y
@Praise Yeah. I have gotten much better, but staying home is not helping. Like a lot of anxiety feeling locked up
irish_and_ocdirish_and_ocd
- Date posted
- 5y
I get that too. I feel similarly. I have been feeling like I am backsliding slightly and am just trying to stick to ERP and remember everything I've learned so far
Carl CornettCarl Cornett
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes. Exposure therapy can work with whatever theme of OCD you happen to be combating at the moment. There’s specialists available via NOCD if the service is currently offered in your state. ERP therapy has a 70%-80% efficacy rate. Success can depend immensely on your willingness to engage in treatment. One of the things you’ll learn in treatment is that it’s not about eliminating thoughts. You may still have them, they just won’t have the same impact on your quality of life as they are now. But sometimes, as a byproduct of that experience, people do note that their thoughts decrease.
isssss93isssss93
- Date posted
- 5y
I keep reassuring cuz I feel guilty
Related posts
Monkeybrain842
- Date posted
- 22w
How does one activl 'practice' exposure therapy ?
One problem - Various themes This is my first post. I had a relapse a few months ago. Life was amazing and then boom, I got triggered by something and started spiralling about my sexuality (having finally been at peace for two years, entered a healthy new relationship and come out of the closet as an older women). How do you, when you're not triggered practice ERP? I'm able to try and accept the thoughts every time I see a man. What should I be doing when I don't encounter these triggers. I was to say as well that I also am starting to get real event OCD about some of the sexual things I did in the past when I was married and in an unhealthy toxic relationship with my ex husband. I am shamed and disgusted and I'm working on it but there's a certain subsection of the LGBTQ community that trigger these thoughts, groinals and thing for me... I feel like I'm beginning to realise I need to maybe be a little more active in my recovery instead of waiting for triggers... But I don't know how
hbocd
- Date posted
- 21w
ERP Therapy
I read about ERP and have seen information about it on here. One of the goals is to say, "maybe I am this or that...ect." That terrified me. The thoughts and images that go in my head are disturbing and upsetting. I don't want to even think about saying, "maybe this or that." It's devasting to have these thoughts and question why you're having these thoughts. Doesn't the "maybe" make it worse? The one thing that helps me is that is to remind myself that these are just thoughts and I know I'm not a monster, even if I feel like one. Is ERP not for everyone? Has anyone else had a problem with the techniques used in this kind of therapy? I had cognitive therapy for years with an OCD specialist and that seemed to help a lot. Writing out the worst case scenarios would make me suicidal. Im having a difficult time not obsessing over the "maybe" after intrusive thoughts now. It doesn't make it better.
flyinggorilla
- Date posted
- 20w
Need Clarity
I recently had a intrusive thought and felt the need to go over it to make sure I didn’t feel anything sexual. Part of the reviewing included creating a scenario similar to the intrusive thought to see if anything was felt. Thankfully no evidence of any feelings. However I can’t seem to find anything on the internet about creating scenarios when checking a previous intrusive thought. Is this common and what is it called has anyone experienced this. I feel very alone. Any feedback would be helpful
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