kleigh21
- Date posted
- 5y
kleigh21kleigh21
- Date posted
- 5y
Yep! I’m working with a specialist on here. But I think everyone with OCD is worried about the what if aspect on erp.
pureolifepureolife
- Date posted
- 5y
@Louw is right: you CANT know for certain. And the more you try to know for certain, the more you’re engaging in compulsions and driving your obsession further. Definitely tackle these questions with your therapist. Like all of your other OCD fears, you’re going to have to practice uncertainty and learn to handle the anxiety that brings up. “Maybe I like the thoughts. But maybe not. I don’t/can’t know for sure, and I don’t need to know for sure to live my life.” And go about your normal life. Let the uncertainty and anxiety be there and let the anxiety dissipate on its own.
FathomableFathomable
- Date posted
- 5y
Where ERP hasn't helped it's usually because some compulsions are slipping through and not being resisted as part of it, or because ideas like "it isn't real, it's just OCD" are playing on loop the whole day. Are you working with an ERP therapist?
FathomableFathomable
- Date posted
- 5y
Also: yes you can't know for certain that you don't like the thoughts if you can't feel. That's something to do ERP about and embrace the uncertainty of it.
kleigh21kleigh21
- Date posted
- 5y
But that is a really tiggering thing to say..
kleigh21kleigh21
- Date posted
- 5y
@Louw I put on my post I’m currently working on this through erp and that’s why it’s so challenging
FathomableFathomable
- Date posted
- 5y
@kleigh21 Well the alternative is to decide that you know for certain that you don't like the thoughts, as self reassurance that your fear isn't true, which may feel good at the time but makes your OCD worse. Having this worry because you don't feel much at the moment suggests that before you stopped having feelings, you were using the idea that you didn't like the thoughts as a way of reassuring yourself. So triggering, yes. But also it's the reality. Often OCD needs to be tackled in layers, so if this is the most recent concern, it's like the outer layer, and could be a good place to start with ERP.
FathomableFathomable
- Date posted
- 5y
@kleigh21 Ahh so you're working on that outer layer concern already with ERP? I didn't see that specifically in your post. That's great, sounds like your therapist is attuned with where you are in your struggle right now.
FathomableFathomable
- Date posted
- 5y
@kleigh21 Maybe you could use this moment of someone saying that you can't know for certain whether you like the thoughts as an opportunity to do ERP?
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