- Username
- Anonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
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- Username
- mayaaamayaaa
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Hi, I think the fear of not doing ERP correctly could also be an OCD thought and so is the fear of not getting better. Accepting uncertainty and trusting yourself is key. I also usually reframe the thoughts and label them as OCD strictly. I highly recommend checking out Ali Greymond on YouTube. She offers tips on other ways to respond to OCD thoughts. Here’s a quote I really like as well: “I realized that separating myself from OCD was particularly effective and helpful because after I would identify a thought as an OCD thought, I would attribute it to its rightful owner, OCD. I told myself that I did not have to take responsibility for OCD’s thoughts. They were not my thoughts.”
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Finding it hard to trust myself though since intrusive thoughts are so bad! I am nervous b/c a lot of people also have come out as gay in their early 20s so this also makes me nervous I’m living my life a lie somehow
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
My mind is constantly in “what if” mode and fear of living with this everyday. When I’m with my bf I usually feel a lot better but I am scared I will only not have OCD when I’m with him. What do you tell yourself other than “live with uncertianty” when experiencing intrusive thoughts??
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
First, when you do exposures, you'll get experience of how to do them more effectively. And along the lines of the previous comment, you could do ERP for the fears you brought up! One thing I suggest is to focus on one generalized thought and repeat the thought outloud (if you can) to help you focus on the thought and the feelings with it to help you from falling into rabbit holes. For example, you could say "my intrusive thought is..." over and over to help you focus, and if you do start to go down a rabbit hole, just bring your focus back to the sentence. Two things that might help: 1. When your mind starts to wander, switch the sentence to something like "what if ... happens?" 2. Occasionally question uncertainty, saying something like "maybe it is, maybe it isn't."
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
What if some of my fears are slightly true? Does that make sense? It’s scary!
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@Anonymous Do you mean something along the lines of possible contamination, or thinking something bad could happen if you do/don't do something?
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@Anonymous No, just like what if I actually do have other mental health disorders like BPD or separation anxiety and I am not getting help for them b/c I am just telling myself “maybe, maybe not.”
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@Anonymous Also, how many diff. ERPS do you do daily?
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@Anonymous OCD sometimes likes to make you think you don't have OCD, or there's more to it. For these fears, still do ERP -- one possible idea I might suggest for an exposure is writing scripts. They should be short and to the point -- being more descriptive where you get anxiety in the script. There isn't a correct amount of times to do ERP. The more you do ERP, the better. I do multiple different exposures for multiple different obsessions, and I try to do them twice a day.
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@Anonymous What’s an example of a script? My therapist hasn’t brought this to my attention. I’ve just read articles so far. I just read an article about being bisexual though and am spiraling now. I have a lot of different obsessions going on. :(
- Username
- AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@Anonymous You should bring scripts up to your therapist -- your therapist might plan on telling you about them later, and they could help you more with scripts. But scripts are written for things you can't actually expose yourself to -- i.e. if you have a fear of a public bathroom and don't want to go to one every day, you could write a script about it, or you could write a script about something actually happening. Scripts could be higher on your hierarchy depending on the script, so you probably won't get to this quite yet. I'm sorry to hear that you're having a difficult time right now! Try to focus on the initial intrusive thought. If you find that reading articles is too difficult right now, you might want to do a lesser exposure and go back to articles later if you can. I'm also sorry that you have many different obsessions. I have three main ones that are bothering me that I'm focusing on right now.
Related posts
- Username
- Oth
- Date posted
- 3y ago
How do you do ERP? I'm not asking generally, but rather how do you, the person reading this, do ERP? I'm at the point where I'm trying to work out how to do ERP for myself (largely self-directed as I don't see my psychologist more than once every few weeks), and I'm trying to get an idea of what it looks like on a practical level. Do you try and do ERP every day? Multiple times a day? How long do you spend on each exposure/session? Do you do ERP at the same time every day, or do you change it up? What do you do after you've done an exposure, do you do any self-care once the exposure is finished? I see things online saying that it can take upwards of an hour for distress to decrease when doing an exposure, and I'm wondering what are you allowed to do during that time? If the goal of ERP is to sit with the distress, do you literally just sit there for an hour doing nothing until the anxiety goes down? That's a long time to sit doing nothing but feel anxious, especially if the goal is to do this every day. Right now I'm struggling with implementing ERP into my routine. I currently do ERP sporadically, and not on any kind of schedule. I'm struggling to find exposures that distress me sufficiently, and when I do find something I'll still find myself feeling anxious hours later even after I thought I'd acclimatized. I'd really appreciate hearing from other people so that I can get an idea of what good ERP looks like in practice.
- Username
- AlyssaBuon
- Date posted
- 2y ago
Why is ERP so hard?
It feels like I can never even get to be able to get there. It shakes me to my core and writing out my fears, triggers, and compulsions today for my therapist made my OCD finally feel real and that it’s not just my anxiety. Has anyone else struggled with this? Any tips for newbies who are scared 💩less?
- Username
- sawyersaucee
- Date posted
- 24w ago
Terrified to work on ERP, any advice?
Hi, I’m new here. I’ve been dealing with OCD since I was 9 or 10 but only got diagnosed at 19, and started actual treatment a few weeks ago. I’m 21 now. I have severe emetophobia that fuels my health ocd and my intrusive thoughts have been so bad lately that I can hardly eat or leave my house. I don’t go anywhere except my bedroom and work. I even get anxious thinking about going to my living room. I started ERP with a new therapist, and I want to get better, but the therapy is so scary and overwhelming. I’ve lived this way for so long that confronting my fears feels impossible and I’m so scared to do it. I do everything I can to avoid anxiety attacks. I feel so unsafe in my own body because of the way I can’t stop fixating on certain actions and sensations. Does anyone who’s gone through something similar have any advice, or encouragement? I’m doing my best, but I don’t know anyone else with my ocd themes. Thanks y’all <3
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