- 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.
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- 4y
@charleejadeg Thanks for the info! How long did it take to recover from that theme? You did an amazing job!
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- 4y
@kitty5280 It took probably around 4-5 months.
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- 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.
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- 4y
What type of imaginary exposures?
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- 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.
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- 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.
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- 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
- Date posted
- 19w
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 :/
- Date posted
- 18w
Having ocd that I’m gonna become this horror movie guy, how do I fix this lol it’s crazy
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- 14w
I love horror movies and would watch them random sometimes even Terrifier cause art is my new favorite character. I just felt like I was a bad person for this⁉️ I don’t support his actions but I like his goofy faces he makes. I can’t enjoy anything no more Literally me rn in life
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