The only way to recover from OCD is to stop trying to work it out. You will never find certainty, though OCD will convince you it’s just around the corner. The prefrontal cortex at the front of our brain tries to solve problems, the ventral striatum in the mid brain encourages compulsive behaviour.. both of these areas of our brains DO NOT work properly. The only solution is using ERP and possibly medication. Your compulsions will never ever lead you to certainty or recovery

Looking back, I realize I’ve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldn’t explain: "What if God isn’t real? What happens when we die? How do I know I’m real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didn’t want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. She’d say, "Maybe you’ll kill yourself—who knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. I’m working again, I’m sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If you’re scared to try ERP, I get it. But if you’re already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?

Can someone please tell me at what point did you finally accept that it’s OCD? When did the ERP click for you? When did you just stop buying into the lies of OCD and finally let go? Like what does it take. It’s been 2 years of this for me and I’m in ERP currently and it’s just not clicking 😣 is it just me???

I thankfully conquered harm ocd but I’m going through a flare up with relationship OCD, which I never got over. I know how bad reassurance seeking is but I can’t seem to quit. I ask my mom the same question countless times and it never helps. I feel bad because she tries to help and prevent me from seeking reassurance but I drive her crazy because I keep asking anyways. And if I don’t ask her, I reassure myself in my head. How are we supposed to resist these compulsions fully if we’re so scared? It feels as if I’ll never be confident enough to trust my own beliefs, even when I recover in the future with ERP