How exactly does ERP affect anxiety? For me when j get an intrusive thought over a real event I get anxiety, which leads me to ruminate. Even if I stop ruminating I still have anxiety.

Would you say ERP and doing something anxiety inducing would on theory numb you to the intrusive thoughts and therefore stop ruminating? I'm still a little confused on it all.

When practicing ERP for my real event, would it technically mean that ruminating will subside as a side effect of the ERP? For me I am currently watching an hour a day videos to include my anxiety and then just sitting there with it. When I'm not doing my exposures I can't seem to keep the anxiety down.

@Anonymous Intrusive thoughts are something you can’t control. Rumination on the other hand is a thing you do. It requires effort. Here’s a good article about that: https://drmichaeljgreenberg.com/understanding-pure-o-you-are-not-having-intrusive-thoughts-all-day-you-are-ruminating/

@cheyras Understanding that rumination is a thing I can choose not to do did not instantly solve my problem but it helped. It’s a deeply ingrained habit but you can work on it and reduce your rumination over time.

@cheyras Just replied the same thing to someone else. I think my main question is will ERP actually cause the anxiety from my real event to subside and therefore no longer care?

Sorry, I commented instead of replying. I think my main question is will ERP actually cause the anxiety from my real event to subside and therefore no longer care?

@Anonymous You may not be aware, but your question here is actually asking me for reassurance. You're wanting certainty that sound ERP will alleviate your anxiety, because you're afraid to experience anxiety. For us folks with OCD, reassurance seeking is a compulsion and prolongs the anxiety. TL;DR - maybe it will cause it to subside. Maybe it won't. You're gonna have to find out, and that's scary as hell. But we're all scared as hell together.

@Kory Rozich *you're wanting certainty that ERP will

@Kory Rozich Yeah it might be reassurance, but at the same time I'm still trying to understand ERP. I generally do not know if in a few months I'll be like "oh that was so silly" or if ERP isn't for me. I dunno.

@Anonymous Totally! I really struggled with this as well when I was just starting out my OCD therapy. I needed to "figure out" ERP and it was really causing me a lot of anxiety. But the truth is that you may find in a few months that you feel your anxiety is "silly." It may take a few days. It may take a year and 2 weeks. We don't know. What we do know is that ERP is considered to be the gold standard treatment for OCD. What we do know is that so many other folks like us have dealt with the same uncertainty about ERP. None of us know if it'll "work". But we just have to step out, sorta in faith, and trust that it MIGHT, which is better than it won't.

@Kory Rozich Sigh. You're right. Not like I have any better ideas currently!

@Anonymous If you find one, let us know! Haha. We're all on here looking for the silver bullet and the sooner we drop that search, the better off we'll be. And I'm literally speaking to myself with these words just as I'm speaking with you. Over time, ERP will become your own as you navigate through it (hopefully) with a therapist. Hopefully over time it will make more sense to you.

therefore no longer care***