WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
Lms526Lms526
- Date posted
- 3y
Its not a race. People recover different. Some recover fairly quickly, for others, it takes longer. I noticed a big difference after my first 2 ERP sessions with my counselor. Its to the point now where ERP is starting to become natural and second nature. 95% of my compulsions are mental, so its a bit trickier to do ERP for those. But I am well on my way to recovery.
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
That is something to celebrate about! I’m so glad to hear about your progress. Definitely the mental complusions are the most difficult to figure out & control but doable!
OneDayAtATimeOneDayAtATime
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
I started in mid summer and i can say now that a lot of my OCD Symptoms are gone it takes a while but u will start to see how mindful u become and how all the things u used to worry about aren’t big dwals at all. The thoughts may not go but they way u answer to them changes its kinda funny to think about but u will see soon what i am saying
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
Thank you for your answer. Working on them still and have high hopes. My goal is not to completely remove these thoughts (as they’re “normal”). I just hope to remove these feelings that are associated with them.
Jeffrey Jeffrey
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
It varies for each person.
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
Hoping it’s going well for you Jeffrey!
Jeffrey Jeffrey
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@Anonymous It has gone well. I know it is hard work but if you stick with it you will retrain your brain. I have been dealing with ocd for 40 years and this is the best I have felt. You’ve got this
CosmicSoul 🌌CosmicSoul 🌌
- Date posted
- 3y
The first time I resisted a compulsion was a breakthrough for me. It meant that OCD was beatable, and I could do it.
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
I’m so glad to hear that you’re working on it! Yes, we all can beat this & gain control again. Hardest thing for me is that I have mental compulsions & apperantly I have an obsessions with rumination.
NicaNica
- Date posted
- 3y
A few months
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
It’s going to be a month for me :(
NicaNica
- Date posted
- 3y
@Anonymous That’s normal.
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
@Nica Hope it’s going well for you Nica!
NicaNica
- Date posted
- 3y
@Anonymous I’ve been healed for a few years now, so yes 😉
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
@Nica Can’t wait to get where you’re at now! Hoping for the best 🤞🏻🥳
Maybe,MaybeNotMaybe,MaybeNot
- Date posted
- 3y
First time around it took me only 6 weeks, this time around it took more like 4 months but I am also pregnant and got fired from my job and went of my meds and had to restart a new med. if you do the exposures and stop the compulsions and get on meds you can improve very quickly.
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
I’m sorry to hear about that. It must’ve been hard, especially being pregnant and losing your job.. so sorry 😔 I do not wish to depend on medications and just want to stick to “natural healing”. I’ve been experiencing this episode for 2 months now and will be in therapy for a month this week (but will only start on my 6th session) this week. I’m dealing with two subtypes - jumping between one another. Just when I thought I was getting better, bam the other subtype kicks in. I recently got engaged and really couldn’t feel all that happy because I have ROCD too. Praying for the best soon 🥺❤️🩹
Maybe,MaybeNotMaybe,MaybeNot
- Date posted
- 3y
@Anonymous It will get better. Just do everything your therapist tells you no matter how hard it is. I wouldn’t close your mind of to meds- I personally wasn’t able to do it without meds. Sometimes we need that extra help. Not saying you can’t do it without them but sometimes some people do better on them. Things will get better, the treatment is scary but effective
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
@Maybe,MaybeNot I’m afraid of depending on meds and what if I get off it? I really feel ok doing without meds. I guess I just want this process to end ASAP.. maybe it’s another obsession 🤷🏻♀️ I’m doing my absolute best. Thanks for the encouragement! I hope the best for you also!
Maybe,MaybeNotMaybe,MaybeNot
- Date posted
- 3y
@Anonymous Not sure if I fully understand your question- but what I did was I tried it without meds for awhile. My OCD was like extremely severe and debilitating and I couldn’t take it anymore and I was like uh I need meds and my whole family was like yea you need to be medicated because I was calling for reassurance all day long and crying all day. I’m just saying that if it’s really severe and you feel like you need them, allow yourself the opportunity to try them. They have helped me so much and I have had absolutely no side effects. Me personally I am willling to do anything to make my OCD improve lol
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
@Maybe,MaybeNot I’m glad to hear that it worked out for you! Everyone is different and respond differently to each treatment. Really hope this is the only time I’m feeling this way. We’ll be ready to tackle it the next time it comes around.
Maybe,MaybeNotMaybe,MaybeNot
- Date posted
- 3y
@Anonymous We got this 💪🏻
WhyMe?WhyMe?
- Date posted
- 3y
@Maybe,MaybeNot Yessss girl 💪🏻
Related posts
Looping
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 23w
ERP/Therapy
I find while doing exposures, rarely does my anxiety lessen. It usually amps up and stays that way for the remainder of the day. I could be having a fairly decent day, but dutifully do my exposures and then the rest of my day is anxiety filled. I guess that’s just how it is now? Also, I’m wondering if my therapist even believes I have OCD. I totally understand my therapist cannot provide reassurance. But it’s to the point it seems my therapist acts like I actually did the thing I fear. I feel so isolated.
Anonymous
- Date posted
- 15w
Mental compulsions
So I've been working to address my OCD for about a month now. So far, I haven't been working on it with a therapist and have instead been trying to create my own exposure exercises. The primary obsession I'm working on is the fear that I'm somehow flawed or invalid on a fundamental level. The best way I can describe it it is that its similar to the feeling you get when you have germ OCD and you feel contaminated, except my whole existence and being feels contaminated, so to speak. I've identified a list of triggers, and a list of compulsions (pretty much all mental) that I've noticed myself performing. I started out by doing imaginal exposures and scripts where I'd write out triggering fictional scenarios and read them over and over, combined with mindfulness techniques to focus on my breath and bring myself back to the present when I noticed myself performing compulsions mentally. At first it worked to some extent, but eventually I started to feel like the stories I was writing about this obsession weren't triggering any anxiety anymore or a very low level. So I stopped reading them and focused solely on improving my ability to stay present and identifying compulsions as I perform them, and disengaging. Now, I'm at the point where it seems like my general anxiety levels throughout the day are lower, and the triggers I've identified are producing noticeably less anxiety. But that makes me wonder if somehow I'm just secretly doing mental compulsions without knowing it? Is only a month of rather disorganized and unstructured ERP enough to produce this much improvement? To avoid giving me re-assurance, I'd appreciate if you guys don't directly answer those questions, maybe just provide some possibilities or your own experiences so I can get a better idea of where I'm at. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks!
jerreisstrong
- Date posted
- 12w
Rough time getting started in therapy
Has anyone else had a rough start? I’m 4 sessions in and have had no actual ERP work happen, I have 2 different therapists because none have availability to meet 2 times a week. Both those therapists are not available for the next 2 weeks so now I’m going to see a new 3rd one. Each time I’ve seen a new therapist I feel like the whole first session is spent with them re explaining everything. I’m paying for this out of pocket because they don’t accept Tricare which is my insurance as a Retired Marine. So I’m 960 in, and honestly feel worse than when I started. I get zero suggestions on what to do between sessions and feel so incomplete after my session finishes. I feel like I’ve gotten more help asking chat gpt questions on EPR and how to deal with ROCD than I do in my sessions . Does anyone have any insight or helpful advice here?
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