My big challenge is that I am making small victories but I notice I’m anxious to get back to my life fully. And when I notice setbacks, it makes me feel really discouraged. Even when I feel like I understand the ins and outs of this disease, the feeling itself can be so overwhelming, especially when the trigger is really high. It’s nice to have support here, because I feel like even if I fail, I know there are people here who understand the ups and downs of this disease. And it gives me an anchor to know that I have this place to feeling connected and understood.

Thank you Alexis for the brilliant response. I forget also how many years my mind has been doing this. It’s nice to get that reminder. And you’re so right, it really is trial and error. I think my ocd guilt really kicks in when I make these mistakes and I think I did more harm than good. But like you said, it’s the ocd telling me this

@Sasha I struggle with pretty severe harm ocd, so I know where you're coming from. Yes, give yourself some compassion because its definitely super difficult to break the habituation. I believe they say it takes 90 days to form a habit? Some days you'll probably fall back into the "do i even have ocd?" Pattern, been there 😬. But yes, its the ocd :)

@alexisrae1999 Thank you. Yea I was doing a lot of different exposures and found myself doing pretty well. So I chose to do this one that was really hard, and i usually take Xanax for this because of how overwhelming it can be. But I chose not to and all these different ocd themes just kept coming up, it was like I was in a video game , out numbered by all the ocd enemies, and it just made me lose so much confidence. But I think I just need to slow down.

@Sasha Aww don't put yourself through more than you can handle at the moment. Work your way up. I have been exactly where you are and was like "let me just start off hard because I like a challenge, and I don't want to believe I'm not capable of doing this." You WILL get there. Doing too much can actually make you take a step back. Please take care of yourself :)❤

@alexisrae1999 Thank you. You are right. And I really appreciate your words, especially because you know what I’m going through. It means a lot that you took your time to share your views.

@Sasha You're welcome! I just did an exposure that I probably wasn't ready for and had to take a two hour nap because of it :') So I guess I am currently relating as well to your situation 😂

@alexisrae1999 Haha we live and we learn . But I’m proud of you for doing it

@Sasha Thank you! 😊❤ yes it was extremely triggering, as it was probably the video that really made me start to panic about my most worrisome theme like 7-8 years ago

@alexisrae1999 Oh wow I can see how that’s heavy stuff. Proud of you though

@Sasha Thank you ❤❤❤