I’m really worried I’ve been doing my ERP exercises wrong on the app):

Because my therapist said the questions like “what if” and things like that are compulsions & when I do my triggers on the app I spend like 5 mins bringing up the what if thoughts and the questions that are obsessive so I don’t know if they’re wrong or no

@kleigh21 Here's an example I wrote if an imaginal exposure script ves rumination compulsions. I'm not sure if it will answer your question, but it's worth a shot @NOCD Advocate - Katie Scrap that, I can't find the post I'm looking for. I think I'm getting conversations confused. My bad. I'll just create examples. Here is an example of a fear you could repeat over and over as imaginal exposure. "I'm using a huge sharp knife to chop a watermelon. suddenly, the urge to chip off my hand overwhelms me. WHAM!!!! I just did it. My arm is on fire. It's the worst pain if my life. There's my hand lying dead and bloody on the cutting board. I wrap up my stump and call 911. Just as the paramedics arrive, I pass out from the agony. When I wake up, I'm in a hospital bed. My remaining arm is in restraints. They must think I'm going to harm myself again. I live out the rest of my days in a psychiatric hospital, needing help with basic tasks because big my missing hand. My life is over." Ruminating on the fear if cutting off your hand would sound like "arghh!!! I hate that thought. I'd never do that... Would I? Remember that time as a kid at camp when I burned myself on a snore, maybe that was intentional and I've just tricked myself into believing it was an accident. How can I know for sure? I'd better think some more. I had that dream about my arms falling off, maybe that's a sign. But I hate gory movies... How could I want to chop my hand off if blood disgusts me. That's good, I probably won't do it. NO I WONT do it!.... But maybe I should hide the knives just in case. My therapist says this is OCD. She's really knowledgeable, but I still have a niggling doubt. Better start googling to see if people have similar symptoms. How horrible would it be if I did ERP and then actually DID cut my hand off. Has anyone's OCD fear actually come true? Let's ask people.... I'm going to imagine it again to see if I was really scared. OH GOD!!! MY HEART DIDN'T RACE THIS TIME! that must mean it doesn't scare me. I'm gonna do it, I just know it! But I don't want to! I'll let my husband do all the cooking from now on. And do some more googling to see if the fear comes true...."

@NOCD Advocate - Katie Well that didn’t really answer my question.. lol it was just examples? I’m still confused

the idea is to use the app for five minutes or longer to do the first paragraph. If you spend time doing ruminating, that's going bro make OCD worse

@NOCD Advocate - Katie Well the ocd terms confuse me, when it says trigger your obsessive thoughts on the exercise I thought it meant bring up you distressed thoughts let them come in and distress you

@kleigh21 And sit with the stress and block your compulsions

@kleigh21 Yes, triggering the obsessive thought-like the first paragraph- is different than ruminating in it (like the second)