i had my first therapy session today and for some reason i actually feel a little worse because i’ve come up with even more intrusive thoughts. can anyone in therapy tell me if it’s supposed to get worse at first?

thank you! i am going to like a general therapist who does all mental health disorders. is that ok for OCD?

@ocdm.7 For you it could work out well. Do they specialize in OCD? My experience with regular therapists is they can help a little for awhile, but I’ve had a lot of relapses, even during therapy. When I relapse regular therapists get really confused about it. I am hoping an OCD therapist can help me manage better and not relapse within a few months. We’ll see, and only time will tell for you.

@silverfire he handles ocd but that’s not all he does he’s kinda general.

@ocdm.7 Time will tell. :) Doing a lot of things is not a bad thing. It’s the results that matter. I wouldn’t make a judgement yet based on one appointment. Having to talk about OCD in my experience can really exacerbate it. It’s like shining a spotlight on something that wants to stay covert and hidden so it can work it’s evil magic unseen.

@ocdm.7 Is he planning to use Exposure and Response Prevention therapy?

@Fear Strikes Out no i don’t think so.

@silverfire i see. thank you very much!!

@Fear Strikes Out my only issue is intrusive thoughts i’m not worried about actually carrying out actions. does that still need ERP?

@ocdm.7 Do the thoughts give you much anxiety? Do you wish they were not present? Are the thoughts harm or sexual related?

@Fear Strikes Out they just make me anxious and i can’t shake them.

@ocdm.7 What do you do to reduce the anxiety from the thoughts?

@Fear Strikes Out i can’t really reduce the anxiety. it’s hard for me to accept i have OCD and i’m not just a bad person. do you have any tips?

@ocdm.7 What is the core fear related to being a bad person?

@Fear Strikes Out pocd

@ocdm.7 You definitely need to be seeing a therapist who understands ERP. Seeing anyone else is a waste of your time, money, not too mention damaging your mental well-being. There are no shortcuts regardless of what a therapist may tell you.

@Fear Strikes Out what exactly would ERP entail?

@ocdm.7 In short, exposing yourself to your POCD fears. For instance, you might sit and watch young children at the pool or a local park. You might write an imaginal script about the worst things (based on your fears) that could happen if you were alone with a child and were guaranteed that nobody would ever know what happened. Those are the kinds of exposures you might be asked to do. You have to face these OCD fears head on to overcome them.

@Fear Strikes Out interesting. the thing is i’m not worried about anything happening. it’s just disturbing thoughts.

@ocdm.7 You mentioned concern about being a bad person. How about exposures related to that core fear?

@Fear Strikes Out i’m not quite sure what you mean. the thoughts just scare me and i worry sometimes they aren’t ocd.

@ocdm.7 Why do they scare you?

@Fear Strikes Out What is the reason for being scared?

@Fear Strikes Out because i don’t want to be a bad person or have those thoughts because they are disgusting.

@ocdm.7 Maybe you are a disgusting pervert, but maybe you are not. Can you accept the uncertainty of not knowing one way or another? You really need to reach that point.

@Fear Strikes Out that’s the issue i’m not at that point. how can i get to that point?

@ocdm.7 I like to approach uncertainty by acknowledging the existence of the unwanted thought when it comes o mind but not analyzing it for meaning in any way. I remind myself that it may or may not be true and then let it drift out of mind without giving it any more attention. This will take practice.

@Fear Strikes Out interesting. you seem to know a lot about OCD so i have a question. can ocd tell you you like something when you really don’t? i’ve been struggling with that lately.

@ocdm.7 Definitely. OCD is a big, fat (err, I mean weight challenged) liar.

@Fear Strikes Out interesting. so OCD could be telling me i like something when deep down i do not?

@ocdm.7 Sure

@Fear Strikes Out interesting. are you a therapist or something you seem to know a lot.

@ocdm.7 No, but I have been through the struggle and do have a lot of experience with ERP. All the best to you!

@Fear Strikes Out thank you!! you too!