- Date posted
- 4y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
This is me now after doing erp through here for over three months :/. The only theme left that I struggle with is pocd :( Almost every day i try not to ruminate but end up doing it off and on and constantly questioning if i am a p why or why not. I just feel depressed and my mind races. I just want to have normal thoughts again thats all i want. What i wouldnt give to go back to before march.
- Date posted
- 4y
Just keep at it! You are doing good work. You will get there
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
@BritD Thanks idk if this will ever be true though because I will never know the answer and i find it almost impossible to accept uncertainty with this theme like the others. I also have past guilt and shame tied to it so it makes this stick even more :(
- Date posted
- 4y
@Breezy624 I assume part of your therapy will be working through that past shame in guilt. I’m just starting erp but I do think you can get there. It may take awhile but you can do it
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
@BritD I have already completed the program over a month ago and unfortunately for the past stuff its the same that i am supposed to accept and move on. ERP did not help me much as my anxiety levels were only very high with my thoughts the first time i was triggered. I dont feel much anxiety towards them at this point and never actually avoided any triggers to begin with. My compulsions are purely rumination and reassurance seeking at times. It is more of just depression at this point in regards to having intrusive thoughts. I hope it helps you though and good luck!
- Date posted
- 4y
Is this a part of ocd? :(
- Date posted
- 4y
OCD tends to shapeshift, which is one of the reasons it can be so difficult to deal with! Are you doing ERP with a specialist?
- Date posted
- 4y
No :(
- Date posted
- 4y
@random_person You can start seeing an ERP therapist and not disclose your intrusive thoughts to them until you trust them! You can for example ask them how they deal with clients who have taboo OCD themes. Taking that first step can be really tough, but it’s so worth it! You can do difficult things and you can get better.
- Date posted
- 4y
Idk but I feel like I've been there too
- Date posted
- 4y
Counseling, sertraline (SSRI medication) and hydroxyzine (antihistamine medication) has really started to help my daughter. Don’t go at it alone, you need to speak with someone and get help. I’ve learned over the past few months how powerful OCD is and the longer it goes untreated the worse it seems to get.
- Date posted
- 4y
I just have a lot of worries about getting help because I have pocd so I don’t where I can get help for that and I’m scared they’ll just tell me that I’m a pedo and also I have strong doubts that ERP won’t work I feel like I’m desensitized to all my triggers now
- Date posted
- 4y
@random_person You need to take the ste to start erp. You are just spinning your wheels right now. Start therapy. Sit with the uncertainty that maybe the therapist will say you are a pedo and erp will be of no help for you. Also sit with the fact that you likely aren’t a pedo and that erp WILL work for you. Just please contact a therapist ASAP because you are really stuck and you won’t get anywhere doing what you are currently doing
- Date posted
- 4y
Do some research, you can even get help online. A true OCD specialist will understand you and your intrusive thoughts. And worrying that ERP won’t work, won’t get you anywhere. Try it before discredit it.
- Date posted
- 4y
Thats exactly how I feel, with more experience in this where Ive completely convinved myself
- Date posted
- 4y
How long have you been feeling like this? For me it’s been 2 weeks :((
- Date posted
- 4y
@random_person How long were you dealing with the first round of feelings? That first set you listed?
- Date posted
- 4y
@BritD About 3 weeks to a month, and then I saw a lot of triggering things one day and started to feel like the second set of symptoms for 2 weeks now
- Date posted
- 4y
@BritD Why do you ask?
- Date posted
- 4y
@random_person Months now unfortunately. Its left me very confused
- Date posted
- 4y
@random_person Because I think you are just cycling. This happens. I seem to get stuck for months at a time and then it will change. I wasn’t getting proper treatment (was doing talk therapy) and I’ve been struggling for years. PLEASE, PLEASE don’t do that to yourself. Proper help is out there. Ocd therapists have worked with people with pocd. We like to think our ocd is so different or unique or so horrible but the reality is that it’s not. Many people have the same types of themes and thoughts as you. No matter how taboo
- Date posted
- 4y
@BritD Ok Thankyou, do you know how long this part of the cycle lasts? Like the depression, numbness, etc. It’s almost as if I want to go back to the anxiety because anything’s better than this
- Date posted
- 4y
@random_person It varies from person to person. I think we have a tendency to feel that whatever we’re feeling right now is the worst thing we’ve ever felt, or that our current theme is the worst theme ever. Practice sitting with the feelings and being gentle with yourself. You can get through this, it won’t go away over night, and you deserve to feel better.
- Date posted
- 4y
@random_person I sure wish there was a solid answer. It’s so different for each person. I’m not sure how old you are but I’m assuming you are young. You have your whole life ahead of your. Don’t let ocd take away your happiness for years/decades like of has for me. I’m in my mid 30’s and just now finding out about erp and getting proper help. Please don’t do that. You deserve so much more.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
It is not the thoughts or urges that scare me anymore. It is the way I feel like I’ve absorbed the compulsions into my identity :( I am doing them so automatically that it feels like I am choosing them freely and they’re me. and because of that, it feels like I AM the OCD now, not just someone with OCD. I think I’m just deeply trapped in a loop. I was trying to survive unbearable fear so I started scanning. Then I started pre-scanning. Then checking if I pre-scanned. Then I check how I feel during all that. I run to beat my OCD to the “punchline” (intrusive thought, urge, sensation) because I’m so scared all the time. So scared that I don’t even feel it anymore. I feel numb and all that’s left is this jittery residue and numbness. Now it’s all tangled together in a huge knot. I feel so extremely lost. I think this may just be meta OCD, but I’ve never ever felt so gone before :( I’m really scared.
- Real Events OCD
- Young adults with OCD
- Mid-life adults with OCD
- Religion & Spirituality OCD
- BIPOC with OCD
- Students with OCD
- POCD
- Harm OCD
- Date posted
- 24w
i’ve just been feeling so off lately. i’m okay right now, but a couple hours ago i was in this mood where i felt anxiety creeping up. like i will feel like there’s danger when there isn’t. i just get this really uncomfortable feeling that something feels wrong even when it isn’t. and i’ve been feeling derealization/depersonalization. just really disconnected from myself and the world. i’ve also been unmotivated to where there are times when the thought of doing things upsets me. and i’ve been having existential thoughts that do not mesh well with harm ocd. i get the thought “if people aren’t real then it’s okay to hurt them”. it sucks because there are times where i just don’t even care to ruminate and find reassurance that that’s not the case. furthermore, i’ve just been really aware of my existence. i will get moments where i’m so aware of my existence and it freaks me out. like the fact that i’m a living human being is crazy to me. then there are times when i’m not even anxious about anything which then has me questioning and ruminating on that because i ALWAYS have something i’m worrying about. i’ve also been feeling really nostalgic and bittersweet of the good memories from the past. i keep thinking about good times i’ve had and really wishing i could relive it. for example, last summer was a pretty good summer even with my ocd. and i just wish i could relive some of those moments, but i obviously can’t. and it’s been upsetting me because this month has been shitty with my anxiety. as for an update with my room change to those of you curious, i still have anxiety over it and my mom is taking it as me being ungrateful with what i have when it’s my ocd making a huge deal of it. that upsets me especially since i’ve told her what’s been going on and she was really understanding of it. anyways, life has just been a bit much and i’ve been dealing with more to my anxiety that i don’t appreciate. while worrying about constantly throwing up with my contamination ocd is incredibly exhausting, it’s so normal to me that i’m used to it. but when my harm ocd kicks in along with other themes that aren’t usually common for me, i freak out and feel like i’m going insane. i genuinely wonder how people have dealt with taboo topics of ocd without treatment for years on end. i’ve had harm intrusive thoughts since i was little, but it didn’t get to any extreme until 2023. i feel like i’m drowning in it when it decides to hit me and the thought of having to deal with it for the rest of my life?? i’m scared something in me will flip and i’ll become what my thoughts are telling me i am. i apologize for the mixed thoughts that are all over the place but i feel safe posting on here about it and want to hear how y’all are doing
- Date posted
- 5w
If anyone who's had experience with sexual OCD can answer, please do Like actually, why am I no longer sure of my preferences. Why am I not sure whether I'm not attracted to something wrong. Why am I actually considering that may be the case, and why do I have moments where I feel neutral about these thoughts? The thoughts don't scare me as much, they do disturb me but they're not as scary - what's more scary is their possible meaning. At first, Sexual OCD feels like pure torment - intrusive thoughts and images looping in your head forever. But now? I still have the thoughts, and I've been told that anything from the thought itself to even a groinal response can be OCD related, and the more I go into ERP/ACT the more I feel like the fear is becoming real, even if it eases my anxiety somewhat. I'll put it briefly: I still don't want these disgusting thoughts to mean anything. I still don't wanna be a person that would act on them in any way. But OCD has made me even doubt this: "Do you really not want to act on these thoughts? Are you sure you aren't attracted to this? Are you?" and then that triggers checking, which only makes things worse because "Wait... would I say yes? Why would I ever do that? Did that reaction mean yes? Oh God, what if it did" I've been told I'm not actually who I fear and I can live with these thoughts and feelings, and I kinda do. But that hasn't stopped the doubt from creeping in, and feeling more real with every passing day. In fact, the lack of anxiety and panic makes it feel even more real, like I'm not actually having OCD symptoms. The less I fear, the harder the doubt hits. Picture this: 1. You're told to treat the thoughts as just thoughts, the feelings as just feelings 2. You do that, and you slowly start feeling better 3. But when OCD inevitably goes "but what if?", it seems stronger than before. All of a sudden you're panicking "maybe these things actually do mean something, oh no" ..that's my reality. It doesn't even feel like OCD anymore because it's nothing like the constant panic and dread I experienced in the beginning. But the dread and panic are still there, just more in the background - which doesn't make it any less distressing. And when you start falling into doubt, the rumination, checking, all the compulsions feel much more rational and warranted, they're automatic at this point. Also I tend to get thoughts like "but what if this is real", "but what if that thing that happened means something", "but what if this isn't ocd", "but why does it feel like you're denying it", "you're denying a real issue" - all of these basically keep me in the cycle. Is this meta-obsession? I do actually think that the thoughts, feelings, all of it could be pointing to a bigger issue, even if that's unlikely and the worst case scenario. I don't know if this just isn't poor insight, probably is (I've had poor insight since the beginning). If anyone could give any support or feedback, I'll greatly appreciate it 🙏
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