- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
Yep. When I had my 90 minute assessment, I was petrified. I was completely convinced the counselor was going to tell me I didn't meet the criteria for OCD. So I was caught off guard when she said I DO meet the criteria. I had never told anyone about the thoughts I struggled with. I have both harm and suicide OCD, plus a few others. But I was especially afraid to admit the intrusive thoughts related to my harm and suicide OCD. I was afraid the counselor was going to call the police on me or that I would end up involuntarily committed somewhere. But her expression didn't even change. Honestly, I still worry that some of the thoughts I have make me dangerous, a psychopath, or a monster. ERP has definitely helped a lot. I have several OCD themes that are rooted in real events. I feel such conflict. On the one hand, I know my thoughts and fears are completely irrational. But I just can't seem to get rid of them. I am still in treatment and am making real progress. But its still hard.
- Date posted
- 4y
Yes 😬 sometimes I still think that, like my situation is special
- Date posted
- 4y
That makes me feel a little more inclined to go through ERP. It’s so hard the knowing that the thoughts are real things that have happened and differentiating between the idea that it could be OCD or that it’s a genuine concern. I’m not looking for anyone to solve it or tell me that it’s all going to be ok and my worst fear isn’t going to come true. I just want to be able to live moderately happy in the unknown because it beats the everyday dread of “could be today all your fears come true”. Thankyou for putting my mind at ease about ERP, I guess it’s just the idea that you’re going to be facing the ugliest thoughts/things you’ve done that you just can’t seem to get past. And I know it’s all relative with OCD, it kind of sits on what you consider your worst fears, but because it’s MY worst fear I automatically assume I will be shelved from society and cast into the dark ages only to be taught in history lessons for the evils I’ve put upon the world. Even though I’ve confessed to many and they tell me to stop being so ridiculous.
- Date posted
- 4y
I'm not going to lie to you....ERP is crazy hard and uncomfortable, but it truly does help. You get out of it what you put into it. With ERP, there is really no halfway. Either you are willing to put in the hard work or you're not. So with ERP, you will notice a pattern. Uour anxiety will go completely crazy. The key to ERP is resisting the urge to do a compulsion during or just after the exposure. If you do, its a failed exposure. Then your anxiety will peak then decline. Your counselor will be there to support you. I have found I typically need to do exposures 3 or 4 times before my anxiety gets down low enough. That is okay. Also, expect setbacks. They don't undo your progress. Forgive yourself and keep going. Good luck. You can do this!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 19w
I had just posted a summary of ERP for a group member, and I thought it might be useful for everybody. Here it is below (with a little extra added)…. ERP therapy is researched-based. Most other therapies don’t work. There have been people who have been literally stuck in their houses (from their OCD) who gained their lives back through ERP therapy. NOCD does ERP therapy exclusively. You can find it in other places too, but you have to ask around. There are two tenants of ERP therapy: The first one has to do with the repetitive thoughts inside our heads. These thoughts are actually defined as “obsessions”. You are not supposed to do anything with the obsessions. You are supposed to let them run through your head freely, without trying to fix them or stop them. Imagine a tree planted by a river. The leaves fall off and float down the river. You can see the leaves falling, but you don’t try to stop them or pick them up. You don’t try to fix them. You just let them float away. This is really important to do with your obsessive thoughts. The more you try to fight them off, the worse they get. I used to have blasphemous sentences running in my head 24/7. I felt like I had to put a “not” next to each sentence in order to “fix” it. But this just took hours of my time every day, and it was very scary, because I was worried that if I messed up, that I would go to hell. It was very freeing to learn later that I could just let those sentences run freely through my head without trying to fix them. The second part of ERP therapy is all about “denying your compulsions.” Every time OCD tells you that if you don’t do things a certain way that something really bad will happen, that is a compulsion. Once you recognize what your compulsions are, ERP therapy will have you practice stopping doing all of those things. For some people, that will mean stopping washing their hands or touching lights switches or, in my case, putting “fixing” words in their head. Compulsions are safety behaviors. During ERP therapy, you will practice stopping engaging with safety behaviors. All this is very hard to do and scary, so during therapy you will be given tools to help you deal with the fear. Often ERP therapy will take people from being non-functional to functional. I highly recommend it. ————————————————- PITFALL #1: After you have been doing ERP for a while and become somewhat successful, the OCD will try subtle little tricks to bring you down again. The first one is to tell you that your thoughts are REAL and not OCD, and therefore you can’t apply ERP therapy. Don’t fall for this trick! All thoughts are just thoughts. They are all meaningless. Don’t try to figure out what is real and what is OCD. Just treat all thoughts with ERP therapy. PITFALL #2: The second pitfall is that OCD will tell you that you can’t move forward unless you have absolute certainty that you will be safe. Hate to tell you this, folks, but there is no certainty in life. You will never know for SURE that you or your loved ones will be “safe” from the OCD rules. Therefore, you have to move forward in the uncertainty. It’s hard, but it gets easier with time and practice. We got this, guys !!!!!!
- Date posted
- 18w
I’m thinking about doing erp but my ocd is so severe the thought of accepting my fears happening to me makes me sick to my stomach. I also believe in the power of my words and saying I accept this Bad thing will attract it into my life. I’m not sure what I should do🥲
- Date posted
- 17w
I read about ERP and have seen information about it on here. One of the goals is to say, "maybe I am this or that...ect." That terrified me. The thoughts and images that go in my head are disturbing and upsetting. I don't want to even think about saying, "maybe this or that." It's devasting to have these thoughts and question why you're having these thoughts. Doesn't the "maybe" make it worse? The one thing that helps me is that is to remind myself that these are just thoughts and I know I'm not a monster, even if I feel like one. Is ERP not for everyone? Has anyone else had a problem with the techniques used in this kind of therapy? I had cognitive therapy for years with an OCD specialist and that seemed to help a lot. Writing out the worst case scenarios would make me suicidal. Im having a difficult time not obsessing over the "maybe" after intrusive thoughts now. It doesn't make it better.
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond