- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
Well I had existential OCD for about 3 months. I think time isn’t the issue, it’s how you USE your time in order to recover. Right now, I have a different obsession so I don’t feel ‘normal’ as such, but I don’t have any anxiety whatsoever about the existential dilemmas I previously worried about. It is definitely possible to bring back your normal life again, and learn something from all this as-well. Just work on acceptance towards the thoughts and how you cannot expect certainty towards all ideas. Somethings we just may not know, and that’s okay! It doesn’t mean you can’t live your life. If anything, it helped me realise that I should focus on the important things in this world. What intrusive thoughts do you have based around existential OCD?
- Date posted
- 6y
I used to suffer badly from existential OCD and now I don’t. Recovery is always possible!!
- Date posted
- 6y
I am thinking that Life is senseless, I am afraid because I do not know what life after death is? I also suffer from depersonalization disorder and I question eveything around me if they are real. Eden I really appreciate your help. Can I be your friend? I think I need someone to talk to right now :)
- Date posted
- 6y
The only things that’s changed is my insight into the world and the beauty that I now observe. Which is something I now love about myself!
- Date posted
- 6y
Yes of course you can be my friend! I’m always happy to help
- Date posted
- 6y
Depersonalization is the worst
- Date posted
- 6y
Are you taking any medication
- Date posted
- 5y
How are is everyone doing now if you guys don’t mind me asking. I’m stuck with this and many other themes. But I couldn’t even watch a movie because the size and angle of the screen felt weird. I can’t look at mountains because they seem so unreal. Ive been coming off Prozac for two weeks and hoping I get better soon. Also all these thoughts I disregard them but I’m not sure that’s what I should do especially for erp
- Date posted
- 6y
Thanks Eden :) How long did you recover and did you feel normal again as if nothing happened?
- Date posted
- 6y
Do you think I need more time for myself to recover? Is it possible to bring back my normal life again?
- Date posted
- 5y
Hi! I spiked really badly with existential / solipsism OCD in the summer. It’s okay now but still comes back from time to time. I guess I just can’t work it out... and maybe that’s okay. Don’t fight the thoughts and fears.
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 18w
Hi guys! I’m new to the community and I’ve recently received my OCD diagnosis (tho I’ve known about it since childhood). I’ve been somewhat spiraling lately as I wait for my first ERP session (hooray!) I was just wondering if any of you guys have received ERP for existential OCD and if it was successful? My existential OCD compulsions are more so mental and have been affecting me in the sense of dream/memory flashbacks and giving me a sort of “uncanny” feeling about everything around me. Any advice is appreciated! Thank you❤️
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 17w
December 14, 2024, marked two years since my first ERP therapy session with my NOCD therapist, Mixi. And October 2024 marked a year of being free from OCD. It was not an easy journey, confronting my fears face to face. Exposing myself to the images and thoughts my brain kept throwing at me, accepting that I might be the worst mother, that my daughter wouldn’t love me, and that I deserved to be considered a bad person. It was challenging having to say, “Yes, I am those things,” feeling the desire to run, but realizing the thoughts followed me. At the start of my therapy, I remember feeling like I couldn’t do this anymore. Life felt unbearable, and I felt so weak. I longed for a time before the OCD, before the flare-ups, before the anxiety, the daily panic attacks. I thought I’d never be myself again. But I now know that ERP saved my life. The first couple of sessions were tough. I wasn’t fully present. I lied to my therapist about what my actual thoughts were, fearing judgment. I pretended that the exposures were working, but when the sessions ended, I went back to not sleeping, constantly overwhelmed by fear and anxiety. But my therapist never judged me. She made me feel safe to be honest with her. She understood OCD and never faltered in supporting me, even when I admitted I had been lying and still continued my compulsions. My biggest milestone in therapy was being 100% transparent with my therapist. That was when real change began. At first, I started small—simply reading the words that terrified me: "bad mom," "hated," "unloved." Then, I worked on listening to those words while doing dishes—not completely stopping my rumination, but noticing it. Just 15 minutes, my therapist said. It wasn’t easy. At one point, I found myself thinking, “Will I ever feel like myself again?” But I kept pushing through. Slowly, I built tolerance and moved to face-to-face exposures—sitting alone with my daughter, leaning into the thought that my siblings might die, reading articles about my worst fears, and calling myself the things I feared. Each session was challenging, but with time, the thoughts started to lose their grip. By my eleventh session, I started to realize: OCD was here, and it wasn’t going away, but I could keep living my life despite it. I didn’t need to wait for it to be quiet or go away to move on. Slowly, it began to quiet down, and I started to feel like myself again. In fact, I am not my old self anymore—I’m a better version. OCD hasn’t completely disappeared, but it’s quieter now. Most of the time, it doesn’t speak, and when it does, I know how to handle it. The last session with my therapist was emotional. I cried because I was finishing therapy. I remember how, in the beginning, I cried because I thought it was just starting—because I was overwhelmed and terrified. But at the end, I cried because I was sad it was ending. It felt like I had come so far, and part of me wasn’t ready to say goodbye, even though I had already learned so much. It was a bittersweet moment, but I knew I was walking away stronger, equipped with the tools to handle OCD on my own. If I could change anything about my journey, it would be being open and honest from the beginning. It was the key to finding true healing. The transparency, the honesty—it opened the door to lasting change. I’m no longer that person who was stuck in constant panic. I’m someone who has fought and survived, and while OCD still appears from time to time, I know it doesn’t define me. I'd love to hear your thoughts and comments. Have you started therapy, is something holding you back? Is there something you want to know about ERP therapy? I'll be live in the app answering each and every one today from 6-7pm EST. Please drop them below!
- Date posted
- 13w
I think when people are saying OCD is egodystonic is really triggering me and I was just wondering if this has happened to anyone else? I’m going through a really bad relapse and right now I’m trying to figure out if my thoughts are truly egodystonic, like I how do I know I won’t act on them, how can I trust my emotions and everything. I feel really confused and I feel like I don’t know who I am anymore or how I carry on with life because it’s so long and I’m so unsure of everything that’s going on in my head. Like how do I know that this is OCD and true desires/urges. I’m so confused.
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