- Date posted
- 3y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Honestly when someone told me that you need to treat the thoughts as irrelevant I thought it was impossible. But over time I’ve practiced it and I’m much better for it
- Date posted
- 3y
Not talking back to the thoughts and refocus on something else. At first this is terribly hard, but it gets easier as time goes by.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Honestly? ERP in general. “I’m supposed to make myself anxious ON PURPOSE? Yeah right, man.”
- Date posted
- 3y
I spoke to a therapist who recognised my reassurance seeking behaviour, such as searching online for answers to my obsessions. She apologized and said therapy would not help me answer my obsessions but it would help to recognise it as OCD behaviour and find ways to live with it. This was both frustrating and liberating!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
I’m having a big OCD relapse and would like to hear anyone’s tips on how to be present and healthily deal with these intrusive thoughts and the “need” to preform compulsions. Thank you!!
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 24w
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?
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 22w
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