Idk who needs to hear this but ERP always works. I've tried everything. I've tried thinking my way out of it. I've tried doing good acts of kindness to make myself feel less guilty about my obsessions. I've tried relying on meds to solve the problem. I've tried reasoning with OCD so it gets itsway and I have my way. It doesn't work. You can't reason with OCD, you just have to look at it in the eye and say, "Fuck you, fine. I'm (blank). My life is going to be ruined and everyone I love will hate me or die. That's just how it is I guess". It will put up a hell of a fight, but it will slowly wither away. Please do it if you haven't tried it!

Evelyn4416

Date posted: 5y

It really does! For months I had been struggling extremely hard with OCD and once I started ERP it has definitely gone down in severity. I’m not saying I don’t still have bad days or moments, but looking back there has been some definitive progress. And that’s with about almost 2 months of ERP!

CJ508

Date posted: 5y

I'm so glad you're doing better! I started about 5 years ago, changed my life. I still have bad days myself, OCD is real sticky. But at least there is a solution that will guarantee improvement no matter where you are in your journey!

Fathomable

Date posted: 5y

It changed my life too. I accidentally did it to a degree long before I knew I had OCD, I found a great method in a book for processing feelings and used it for intrusive feelings. But I did it by saying "maybe" to any worries rather than yes, it still worked ok BUT I was also left with some unrealistic thinking lol. The obsession with the question went away, but I accidentally kinda absorbed the scary belief. I managed to temper it down a lot (it wasn't HOCD, but let's compare it to going from "I'm definitely extremely gay and that is my life now" down to "I'm probably a bit bi but I can live with that". When the truth was actually (per the analogy) that I was hiiiiighly straight. Again, sorry, it had nothing to do with HOCD, I just find that HOCD is more widely understood here than the responsibility OCD I bad- but let's just say, I thought I'd done or caused something terrible. It was very much related to a trauma. So honestly I wish there was a bit more guidance out there for how to approach the thoughts we are left with after doing ERP. It took me a long time to correct mine properly as I was still pretty ashamed of what they said about me so I didn't truly discuss it for years.

cbnont

Date posted: 5y

That's extremely interesting, I have those thoughts about my sexual orientation and tried both strategies with them--I mean, answering "yes" and answering "maybe". It seems that the "yes"-strategy works better (so basically, I accept I'm gay or at least highly probably gay), but then I display behaviors that go against the thought that I'm gay--such as dating or being attracted by a guy--and I'm like "wtf you're supposed to be gay so why are you still attracted by guys??" and all the obsessions come back at full speed. So, nowadays, I'm not sure whether I should say "yes" or "maybe" to my thoughts.

Soph

Date posted: 5y

@cbnont I struggle with this!! Not knowing how to respond cause if I say ‘yes’ to the thoughts a big part of me fights so strongly against it like ‘but I don’t truly believe I am so why am I lying to myself?’

Dess

Date posted: 5y

I’m on the road to start and I am scared to do it unguided! Any advice??

pureolife

Date posted: 5y

I think this article is helpful: https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/expert-opinion-self-directed-erp/

Dess

Date posted: 5y

@pureolife Thank you :)

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