- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
Only way is to slowly go up your hierarchy. You MUST watch these movies. The anxiety will feel terrible, maybe you’ll panic, maybe you won’t, maybe you’ll feel the most uncomfortable you’ve ever felt. But you MUST watch them and do ERP. slowly build up, watch trailers, maybe write a script or read about serial killers. I did all of those and I never get harm OCD anymore.
- Date posted
- 4y
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.
- Date posted
- 4y
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?
- Date posted
- 4y
@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!!!
- Date posted
- 4y
@charleejadeg How consistent did you watch, and did you do it on your own or with a therapist?
- Date posted
- 4y
@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 :-)
- Date posted
- 4y
@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 !!
- Date posted
- 4y
@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.
- Date posted
- 4y
@charleejadeg Thanks for the info! How long did it take to recover from that theme? You did an amazing job!
- Date posted
- 4y
@kitty5280 It took probably around 4-5 months.
- Date posted
- 4y
Dont quote me but im pretty sure thats one of the ways. Like ive read of people watching serial killer documentaries to get over harm ocd n stuff like that so im pretty sure that your idea could also work as well. And to be totally honest, i used to love watching jason, freddy, michael myers, leatherface and all that good stuff when i was a kid, but now since i have also develo Harm ocd i find it hard to watch and i also question what it means that i liked those movies.
- Date posted
- 4y
I think imaginal exposures should be done before watching horror movies. And some movies today are so violent that it may not be worth. Maybe watch an older horror movie so that there are still triggers (knives etc etc) but you don't have to deal with today's gore. Often you can find the trigger scenes on YouTube. For my religious ocd I watched the "Six Names" sequence from The Exorcism of Emily Rose. Just the YouTube seen several times was enough for an exposure -I don't particularly think there would be a therapeutic benefit to me seeing the whole movie.
- Date posted
- 4y
What type of imaginary exposures?
- Date posted
- 4y
@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.
- Date posted
- 4y
@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.
- Date posted
- 4y
@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.
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 23w
Looking back, I realize I’ve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldn’t explain: "What if God isn’t real? What happens when we die? How do I know I’m real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didn’t want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. She’d say, "Maybe you’ll kill yourself—who knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. I’m working again, I’m sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If you’re scared to try ERP, I get it. But if you’re already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?
- Date posted
- 21w
Does anyone else struggle with this? It's been the main thing powering my POCD, and it's only been getting worse. Especially when I see posts online of people sharing their personal stories relating to CSA, specifically grooming. It's so triggering now, but before this theme developed, the most I'd feel while reading posts like that would be disgust targeted towards people who did those things. Now, my first thought is, "What if I do something like that one day? What if I've done it before and I don't remember or didn't know I was doing it?" I have many, many different intrusive thoughts or worries related to this theme, but it all circles back to this specific fear that I'll become like the people who hurt and took advantage of me. Does anyone have advice for this? I'm not sure if I've asked a similar question in the past or not, but is this something I need to deal with separately before beginning ERP for OCD? I'm just curious and also lost on where to begin with all of this. I'm just glad I'm able to begin working through all of these issues now, rather than later in life when I'd probably have a lot more responsibilities. Anyways, any feedback is appreciated! 🤍
- POCD
- "Pure" OCD
- Real Events OCD
- Older adults with OCD
- OCD newbies
- Young adults with OCD
- Mid-life adults with OCD
- Date posted
- 20w
What ERP or other techniques do you use to combat fear of cancelation? Especially curious about those with taboo thoughts, false memory ocd and event ocd based off of real events where the fear of cancellation may actually hold some validity. I once did my own ERP not under a therapist but just on my own I decided to create an anonymous account on Twitter and defend a friend who was receiving online criticism. I knew that this would be semi-controversial so I was expecting backlash and when I recieved troll replies it actually seemed to be a really helpful low-stakes exposure activity. Is this something that others have done? Low stakes online posts etc. that you know will recieve negative responses? I have had severe OCD as a kid as pretty much every subtype under the sun, and as an adult I pretty much have all the types under control except for this real event and false memory and taboo thought OCD. It seems like a different beast since it's somewhat realistic in the camcellation culture today, and it's confusing to address. Ive shut down almost all social accounts and it's keeping me from progressing in a career where I need to have an online presence :/
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