hi friends, i was diagnosed with ocd within the past month, and it was completely unexpected despite me always having a lot of intrusive thoughts, obsessive thoughts, and some compulsions. my ocd doesn’t manifest in the stereotypical way we see on tv, with all of the physical compulsions, and i had no clue that ocd could exist without those types of compulsions, so it took a while for me to really start understanding myself. i know that exposure therapy is the best thing for ocd but i’m legitimately terrified about some of things i would need to do. like there’s some stuff that i don’t think will bother me too much and would be helpful, but some of my thoughts make me feel so anxious that the idea of sitting with those feelings makes me not want to even try. the fact that i also have adhd makes it even harder to be motivated to do something i know will feel awful. i’m in therapy currently and just started medication and i’m really excited to be working on this because even though i’m terrified, i feel like it’s the first real step i’ll be taking towards helping my brain. i’d love to hear some reassurance from people who are doing exposure therapy, or even just tips people have for dealing with obsessive thoughts. this is all really new to me and i’m already noticing a bit of a difference because i’m able to remind myself “this is ocd, this isn’t a realistic thought”, but i would really appreciate any other advice!!! i also keep having this thought that since i don’t have all of those compulsions and that my intrusive thoughts don’t (generally) cause me any long term distress that i can’t have ocd, but i know that’s not true. i’d love to hear from other people who have more pure obsessional ocd or people who’s ocd doesn’t follow the usual pattern. i’m really excited to have this app now and to start working on my ocd because i really feel like with the combination of my meds and my therapist and this app i’ll be able to feel better. thank you for reading!!!