Anonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
catattakcatattak
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I always tell myself that the risk of the bad thing happening is worth it if I can overcome my mental illness. For me it was (and still is) compulsions and ruminations around covid 19 and suffering to death on a ventilator. I had to do a lot of work to choose which hard I was going to tackle and in the end I managed to come up with the ERP mantra that if I died because I didnt do a compulsion, it was okay because it was in an effort to stabilize my mental health. I really got to a point where I had to decide that the life I was living in fear, was not a life at all and that compulsions were fuelling all the horrible things in my life.
WhatabtmeWhatabtme
- Date posted
- 3y ago
The kind of ironic thing about erp is that it is meant to teach us how to not use coping mechanisms .... in a way, the response prevention part of an exposure IS the new coping mechanism we are trying to adopt, if that makes sense. The more we try to make erp more comfortable, the further we get away from the whole point of it in the first place. That aside, my therapist always suggests reducing the external stressors in our daily life that make us more vulnerable to the ocd. If we are well rested, well fed, watered, etc. We are more likely to feel confident enough to do erp in the first place which makes a world of difference in feeling like we can handle it
AnonymousAnonymous
- Date posted
- 3y ago
That makes sense. My difficulty is insomnia due to the intrusive thoughts so being well rested is a challenge. There's no way around...we must go directly through the fear, to get to the other side.
WhatabtmeWhatabtme
- Date posted
- 3y ago
@Anonymous True, I get that. I think then just focusing in on the stressors that you are able to reduce in some way... less caffeine and alcohol for example, or maybe drinking water and getting outside, having a routine, it may help a little! I think you're right though, we gotta go through, take that risk, and trust in the process. Good luck to you!
the-dude-abidesthe-dude-abides
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I do a breathing meditation before and after
Related posts
EllieH95
- Date posted
- 21w ago
How do you do ERP without spiraling?
I have contamination OCD that causes me to excessively wash my hands/clean items with disinfectant wipes. I know I just need to start with small exposures but how do I do that without spiraling? I tried a while back by just touching the outside of my dishwasher and not washing my hands after and it led to me being unable to even exist in my house. I basically lived on my couch for three weeks as it was the only 'safe' space that I had not touched with my dirty hands. I had to take a week off work to clean my house to make it somewhat liveable. I still haven't got round to cleaning everything though so things like my kitchen are still no-go zones that I don't enter. I just don't know how to start ERP without it making everything worse. Any advice would be appreciated. I am not seeing a therapist at the moment due to financial constraints.
Jennifer Dal...
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 9w ago
Let’s talk about Therapy
So you got to ask me anything… Now I’d like to ask you something! I’ve heard from Members that they were so scared coming to their first ERP session. They were terrified that I would think they were crazy, that I would tell them their worst fears were true. That I would confirm they are some form of a terrible person or have them hauled off to prison for their thoughts. I’ve also had Members share how they’re very scared to begin ERP treatment because they’ve researched enough to know it means facing the fear, without the compulsions that have kept them feeling safe (but not really safe) this entire time. They struggled to see how they could be capable of doing this, while simultaneously acknowledging that they did not want to live like this anymore. If you have had your first session, what were your thoughts before? Did you have any hesitations or fears going into it? How did it turn out? If you haven’t yet begun to work with an ERP specialist, what is holding you back?
Anonymous
- Date posted
- 9w ago
What is ERP?
Can I hear some examples of specific parts of ERP that has helped you? I've been doing talk therapy for a few years and the major issue I have with it is that I already have analyzed all of my problems from every angle, so I'm kind of just sitting there yapping about it for an hour. I need solutions and things that make me feel better.
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