I may get a lot of hate for this but this is just my opinion: ERP is not for everyone and it is not the only solution to combating OCD. Exposure therapies for certain individuals such as myself is not the proper therapy. I recently did an exposure therapy and it only made things worse. I see a lot of stuff on here saying that it gets worse before it gets better but I’ve tried multiple times and it doesn’t work for me. I use talk therapy and CBT. I’ve had severe OCD, anxiety, ADD, and ADHD since I was 4 years old and have been on medication since the age of 4. My opinion is that why would I try and put myself in a situation that is uncomfortable if I’m not even thinking about the intrusive thought? It only makes it worse and brings underlying thoughts I never knew I had to the surface. I guess what I’m trying to say to everyone on here is that ERP isn’t the only way. People are treated successfully without ERP, so if you aren’t comfortable doing ERP don’t lose hope. There are other therapies and solutions out there. Medication and therapy does wonders even if it is ERP or not. You know what’s best for you and your mental health so don’t feel pressured into doing something you aren’t comfortable doing. It’s not the only way. You will get better you just gotta hang in there and keep your head up❤️

I love this! Repetition is so important when you have ocd. For me repeating something over and over again has worked in the past. My dad uses that technique all the time and he is able to function normally. I don’t consider that a bad type of reassurance. Sometimes you just gotta show your brain who’s boss! So happy for you! Hoping to get back where I was really soon ☺️

@LuLaBelle95! Thank you so much! And you will get back to feeling like yourself again, it just sometimes takes some time to regain that focus but when you come out of it you’ll be 10x stronger this time !! I wish you both the best of luck and always remember you’re never alone in this :)

I’m my opinion we are exposed to intrusive thoughts and compulsions everyday. What we choose to do at those moments and how we handle it is what matters. Just because you aren’t confronting the thoughts when they aren’t even there doesn’t mean that you won’t be able to tackle them when they do arise. ERP makes you seek out those thoughts and actions even when you aren’t thinking about them. Not putting yourself in that position isn’t running away. It’s being aware of what triggers you. I get thoughts and compulsions everyday and I make the choice to just accept the thoughts and let them sos through and not do the compulsions by reminding myself that it only brings temporary relief and that the cycle just becomes more vicious. Like I said ERP works for a lot of people but for the ones it doesn’t work for you shouldn’t lose hope

@LuLaBelle95! Pass through*

@LuLaBelle95! How did you learn to not react to the thoughts? Not ruminate on them?

@Daria Alexandrovna Not reacting when you’re triggered in public or doing something is erp. You’re not reacting in the moment which is allowing you to realize that you don’t need to be anxious.

@Daria Alexandrovna Just like erp...

@Justmesadly you can not react visually but start ruminating or doing other mental compulsions, how to avoid that..

@Daria Alexandrovna You can’t avoid it, you can just give yourself to not doing complusion. It kind of goes with CBT. Like by not reacting to the thoughts and doing something positive instead so that you don’t give yourself time to react. With erp when you’re doing it on purpose you just have to let the thoughts be which in my opinion is much more difficult and I haven’t mastered that bc from my understanding you don’t do something to distract like CBT ?

@Justmesadly Bilateral stimulation is apart of CBT. It refocuses your mind on something else

Yes telling it no isn’t a technique. That just makes it worse

@Justmesadly Surprisingly it did for 20 years😅 but now it doesn’t it just makes it worse haha

@Justmesadly It's also a compulsion, avoiding

@LuLaBelle95! Maybe you've been under stress so the symptoms worsened it happes, sometimes no matter what we do we don't get better and sometimes we don't do anything and the symptoms lessen

@LuLaBelle95! Why would you do something for 20 years that doesn’t work?

@Justmesadly It worked for 20 years and then this year after a certain incident it’s just not effective

@Daria Alexandrovna Yea my symptoms definitely worsened so my technique of telling the thoughts no, which mind you worked for me for 20 years, just stopped working and now only makes them worse

What is a compulsion? Giving yourself reassurance?

@LuLaBelle95! Yep, It is one of many compulsions

@LuLaBelle95! I mean, for me personally, when I felt better, the recipe was making no time for my useless thoughts, forcing myself to go out and at first feeling anxious, but then a lot better. It cleared up my mind and I just generally have had a lot less thoughts. And if I have had any, they really seemed irrelevant. But as soon as I become weaker, lay in my bed all day, on my period or etc., the thoughts occupy my brain and idk what to do really

@Daria Alexandrovna I get you on that. When I don’t feel good or feel depressed the thoughts are much worse. But when I’m up and doing something that’ll distract me they seem to lessen. I guess all we can do is try to keep our brain occupied while we in that weak state. I don’t think repeatition is a bad reassurance I think that sometimes you need to remind yourself and your ocd who is in charge which is you and not them

@LuLaBelle95! Sounds logical. I still believe that killing the fear in its core it more powerful. It's standing there and looking it in the eye until it doesn't scare you anymore. But I am too weak for that. At least now..

Well the type of reassurance I used was basically like positive self talk. If a intrusive thought ever came in my head that caused distress I would flip them completely around and change the thought to something positive. However I know this technique doesn’t always work for everyone bc I still understand how you can feel just that quick sense of relief and then somehow they would come back. But when that would happen I also practiced a lot with staying in the present moment and using breathing techniques to work through those thoughts. I wanna share a cool technique I’ve learned though for helping with staying in the present moment. You think of 5 things around you that you can touch, 4 things you can see, 3 things you can smell, 2 things you can taste and 1 thing hear and that could anything in your surroundings. It really helps with kind of bringing you back to all of your senses when you may feel overwhelmed and when your brain goes in fight or flight mode. :)