Does anyone else have a fear of depression? I find my obsession with it makes me convince myself I feel depressed, and then I focus on how I feel too much and make it worse

But you know it won't. OCD puts that "what if" fear in you.

Yes I’m the same! My bigger theme was always suicidal OCD and then I get like sub-themes like fear of depression

@myhalloweenhorror Exactly! But OCD still messes with you regardless

@alissaa That is completely me, I relate to you!

Yes! OCD definitely makes me focus on and analyze my emotions too much.. and then I end up manifesting it into the emotions I’m afraid of

@alissaa We're not alone. At least we know the reason behind the madness!

@myhalloweenhorror @alissaa

I have suicidal OCD and ERP is what helped me the most honestly

@Evelyn4416 Thank you! I’m hoping to have my first appointment on the 21st, it’s just soo expensive out of network so hopefully my family is willing to help.

@Evelyn4416 I just don’t get how the exposure portion works with ERP and that ya know?

@cambam That’s so awesome you have an appointment set! ERP depends on what your triggers are really and you create a hierarchy on lowest to highest fears and work from the bottom up. I’ll share some of mine as examples. My first ERP exercise was to sit in front of my closet doors open, since anything about hangings was a trigger. Other exercises included sitting near and later holding anything that was deemed a “weapon” for suicide, doing a self-recorded script of me speaking out the fears I had and listening to it back, watching tv/media that talks or shows references to suicide, and reading articles or stats of suicide. All of these were ERP exercises I have done or are doing ! In the beginning it’s scary and tense to do, and you feel drained and even exhausted afterwards. But you also feel confident and it’s rewarding to face your fears and see the amazing progress that it brings along

@Evelyn4416 Wow thank you so much for sharing that with me, that does sound scary but I understand that exposure and then realizing everything is fine and will be fine really does help. You should be so proud of yourself for how far you’ve already come!! Onwards and upwards my friend xoxo

@Evelyn4416 Do you ruminate as well? Hope you don’t mind the questions haha just makes me feel better and hopeful and less scared tbh

@cambam Thank you so much :) I hope everything goes wonderfully for you. There are many of us with this same theme and we just have to remember it’s OCD!

@Evelyn4416 So true

@cambam Oops I didn’t even see your second question, I definitely ruminate when I know I shouldn’t! I think that’s an extremely common thing with OCD