Is anyone struggling with Halloween at all if you have Harm OCD? Would watching horror films be a form of ERP to help face this fear head-on? The past 20 years, I couldn’t watch these films, but since the past 2 months of dealing with some OCD on steroids harm ocd out of nowhere, I want to face it head-on but smart at the same time.

Wait, youd did that and dont have harm ocd anymore??? Wow, there is hope after all, so theres a chance i can get out of this stupid cycle ive been in for the last 2 years and use this strategy to get rid of other ocd.

That’s awesome you got rid of it. Did you write a script about yourself, or just any old script of random characters and something horrible?

@Usern4me Yes I actually promise you it will work. But it’s going to very very uncomfortable. It took me around 4 months of consistent work. To the point where I was able to listen to serial killer podcasts etc. and feel fine. I just eventually decided it’s a lot of negative energy LOL and stopped listening to them but it got to the point where the thoughts no longer bothered me and now whenever I even feel the slightest bit of an episode, it moves on as quickly as it came. I believe in you!!!

@charleejadeg How consistent did you watch, and did you do it on your own or with a therapist?

@charleejadeg One more question! How slowly do you work through the heriarchy? Do you expose to one thing until you’re no Longer anxious and then move on? Sorry for the questions! I want to learn as much as I can :-)

@kitty5280 No worries! Sorry I was off the forum for a while but when I had harm OCD I didn’t even know what it was. I was scared as all get out. I was pretty consistent with exposures and what I watched, like every week. I tried not to say no to fear, and sometimes the fear would last all day. Into the night and give me vivid nightmares. I honestly was terrified of myself. But overtime, after every exposure, Everytime I learned I could handle it. And it eventually left. I wasn’t seeing an OCD therapist at the time as I didn’t know what was wrong with me and I was afraid of telling anyone, so I just tried to act like I was normal and do normal people things and not avoid situations and it eventually just passed. Also with the hierarchy question, I worked probably a slow build. It wasn’t until the second month that I could even be in the room with someone watching murder shows (my mom lol loved them), but overtime i learned strength and confidence. I reccomend working slowly for the first month, and then picking up the pace the second month. For me, the first month and building confidence was crucial. You got this !!

@charleejadeg Also!! The thoughts would still come to me a month or so after recovery, and occasionally will like ONCE a month. Or once every two months, but yeah, as far as I’m concerned. I’m free of harm OCD. I also conquered TOCD and HOCD the same way. Slow build up to exposures and letting the thoughts exist. A year and a half later , I’m dealing with a relapse BUT my themes are completely different now. My brain doesn’t even care for harm ocd thoughts anymore.

@charleejadeg Thanks for the info! How long did it take to recover from that theme? You did an amazing job!

@kitty5280 It took probably around 4-5 months.

What type of imaginary exposures?

@kitty5280 Harm OCD right? Imagine yourself seeing a Halloween decoration and then snapping and killing someone. Or heck find your local spirit Halloween store and buy a few plastic knives to keep around your room. If you want to build up to a horror movie maybe right your own Horror short story to prep your mind for that kind of content.

@RogueKing Thank you for the ideas. I’ve read a lot about imaginary exposures but what is the goal when we imagine ourselves doing awful things? I know those things are helpful in recovery, but why exactly? Gives me such anxiety.

@kitty5280 Same as a normal exposure. Cause anxiety levels. Don't compulse. Force brain to hit its hardware limitations. It can't sustain anxiety forever. Continue exposure until anxiety / suds level drops by itself/habitation.