- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
ERP is exposure response prevention. Now I was to make it clear I’m on a therapist but for example your exposure would be the thought you touched her and your brain is probably telling you that you did (side note, that’s the ocd monster who tries to make you believe the opposite of how you truly feel) so your response was to tell yourself over and over that you just picked up your phone, but here is the hardest part, the prevention. That means you want to prevent yourself from that compulsion of telling yourself your okay and that you were just getting your phone. Because when you feed into your compulsion it’s like your feeding the ocd monster and when you feed something you’re giving it nurishment which makes it stronger. What you want to do is not give in and starve that ocd monster (aka not give into your compulsion). At first it is going to seem like the hardest and I can only speak from experience, but for me it was literally the only thing on my mind, my anxiety went through the roof and my chest would feel tight and sometimes even had chest pains. But strangely enough, when you don’t give in to your compulsion and you ride out the anxiety and intrusive thoughts and try to occupy your mind by doing something else that you enjoy doing. It will take time and truthfully it isn’t easy but if you stick with it those thoughts will becoming meaningless.
- Date posted
- 4y
Okay, I see thank you for the reply. I just don’t think I’ll see a point where that fear will become meaningless…
- Date posted
- 4y
@Grapejellyjar I know right now it feels that way and it is going to take time. But giving into that fear and assigning meaning to it is only fueling it. You just have to allow that thought, because that’s all it is, is a thought, in the background and go on with your day. One thing I read somewhere was something along the lines of if what we are fearing was true to how we feel why would we fear it. So in other words if someone really felt that way (no matter what is it about) they wouldn’t have anxiety or whatever over it, They wouldn’t feel uncomfortable because that was how they truly felt. Therefore, the fact that you are anxious/ uncomfortable/not okay with these feelings is a very good sign that it is your ocd trying to make you miserable because that’s what ocd thrives on.
- Date posted
- 4y
Ironically I got on here to occupy myself because I am currently trying to not give in to a compulsion and let me tell you my mind is whirling with intrusive thoughts. But I am sitting with the uncomfortableness and uncertainty. It’s hard as hell and my heart is racing and I don’t want to touch anything because I don’t want to “contaminate” anything else. But I read somewhere that with contamination ocd you should rub the “germs” all over yourself and all over everything you touch on a regular basis.
- Date posted
- 4y
I can’t imagine that at all that’s awfu
- Date posted
- 4y
@Grapejellyjar Yeah your telling me, and the thing with ocd is how tricky it can be. Because I KNOW I didn’t touch that contaminated area but my ocd is fighting back with “well WHAT IF you did…” like I can physically feel the “germs” on my hands.. even though I just stood and washed them 4 times in a row (before I thought I touched the contaminated area) and I could of given in to it and got up and washed them but I decided I’ve had enough. My hands are raw and so dried out from washing them 30+ times a day to the point where they physically hurt and are cracked and bleeding. So I know i am stronger then this. So I am going to accept uncertainty and sit with the uncomfortableness
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
TW! please someone comment When I was 12 or 13 I used to babysit a little girl, she had a habit of keeping her hand in her diaper and was always touching herself, there was one point I was changing her diaper and noticed she was really red. I had separated her private parts and checked the inner area for signs of infection. She was okay, just some really really bad diaper rash. I know this is what happened yet my brain is trying to convince me that I hurt her, and that I wanted to do it, I know I would never hurt a child but with all the anxiety I feel when I think about it I'm starting to wonder if I did do it because I wanted to hurt her, I don't wanna be a p, I don't wanna hurt innocent children, I used to never have these thoughts but now I do and I'm so scared to tell my therapist as she hasn't diagnosed me with ocd yet. I don't want her to think I'm a p nor do I wanna hurt kids, but my brain keeps telling me that I do and that I'm just lying to myself and everyone around me, ik I would never do something that could harm a child but I keep getting these thoughts and their inappropriate and I just want them to stop, does anyone have any tips on how to help myself? I keep turning to my boyfriend for reassurance but ik that that's just a quick fix and that ill be spiraling about it again.Please help
- Date posted
- 22w
so I’ve been seeking therapy for my OCD for a few years. The theme that I’ve been dealing with most recently is the fear of becoming a pedophile, which then has led to intrusive images of me doing things to kids.Which now is just causing me so much distress and 24/7 constant thought cycle. I am starting to not be able to tell the difference between thoughts that are wanted/ unwanted- the line has become some blurry and these things are starting to feel like someothing i want to do. My brain keeps telling me to just test these thoughts and the “maybe”or”i don’t know” isn’t working. This has become such a barrier because the second layer is that I’m afraid that if I just let the thoughts be there it’ll make me be OK with doing those things and the fear is what’s keeping me from actually doing something inappropriate. It’s also transitioned into intrusive thoughts and images of me doing something very disgusting to my dog and that when I’m cuddling with him I get the thoughts to just do it or try it to see if i am actually a p*do. it’s almost like the compulsion would be to do the inappropriate thing, even though I know it’s wrong just to see how it would make me feel. I feel like i can’t control these urges even though i’ve never acted on it. At any point i could just do it. I’ve never had these thoughts before up until about a year and a half ago when my friend‘s boyfriend got arrested for soliciting a minor then all these thoughts came to life.Has anyone experienced something like this and have any advice?
- Date posted
- 20w
Im 16 years old and female and up until very late last year and this year I’ve been having thought almost every day that I’m a pedophile or that I’m sexually attracted to or want a romantic relationship with child. I don’t know how to explain it and I don’t want judgment because I’m genuinely so scared and disgusted, but anytime I’m around children I feel my chest tighten, my body feels warm and it feels like I don’t know how to breathe. I sometimes get a groomer response but even then I don’t know if it’s a ground response or not. Also I tend to stare at children when I’m anywhere near them, I feel like if I don’t I’m a weirdo and if I don’t look at them it means I’m attracted to them which I guess could be POCD but I feel like I stare at them inappropriately. Not too long ago maybe three weeks ago I went to the park with my family and there were two girls in their swim suits and I was looking at their backsides and I felt really anxious and scared like I usually do but I felt so upset by looking at them that way and now I’m scared to go to pools or splash pads because every time I do I feel like I stare at them gross and I just feel so disgusted with myself. When I tell myself not to look I end up looking and then I stare. I feel better when I’m not around them but even then, I look back at what I saw earlier that day and I feel anxious again and then I look up what’s been happening and then I feel more worried it’s not OCD. My friends who have OCD say I might have it but I can’t get a therapist, I can’t talk to anyone I’m scared I’ll be put in jail and that I’m not a good person. I’ve never head thoughts like this until this year and near the end of last year and they come now? I don’t know what to do.
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