- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
I went on an intensive therapy course that included ERP (I'm in the UK). Complete game changer. I especially found learning how the brain works and why it doea what it does really helpful but ERP is the thing that has helped me the most. Good luck and definitely think about doing it
- Date posted
- 3y
@anonymous, I take venlafaxine
- Date posted
- 3y
I lived with OCD for 37 years before getting diagnosed and treatment. I didn't get treated because I didn't know I had OCD until a few months ago. When I first started treatment, I had an intense fear of knives and was struggling with harm and suicide OCD. ERP was brutal, but it taught me how to deal with my intrusive thoughts. I also have panic attacks and ERP helps with that too. I have made so much progress. If you do ERP, go all in. It will be scary and uncomfortable, but the benefits are more than worth it. I can now hold a knife no problem and things that used to give me major anxiety no longer do. You will have good days and bad days. The key to a successful exposure is not doing a compulsion during or after. ERP will be one of the hardest things you have ever done. But its worth it.
- Date posted
- 3y
@cookiesbird I’m in uk & just wondering where you got this help?
- Date posted
- 3y
OCD treatment centre in Taunton. Unfortunately I had to pay (borrowing from parents) but they were brilliant
- Date posted
- 3y
Thanks for sharing. I’m going into week 3 with an NOCD therapist but like you @Lms526 I’m 57 but was only self diagnosed 3 years ago after suffering for 40 years. So glad to hear you’re improving
- Date posted
- 3y
I'm 52 in a few weeks. Only formerly diagnosed last year after breaking down at work. I knew I had OCD but it's taken a long time for gp's to understand it. Looking back I was probably about 20 when it started. I also think mine has reared it's ugly head during menopause
- Date posted
- 3y
@cookiesbird I take the same antidepressant
- Date posted
- 3y
I do relate cookiesbird as I to believe menopause has made things worse. I eventually had to come out of work as I just couldn’t do it anymore but ocd makes you doubt if that was right thing to do! Do you mind me ask what your theme is?
- Date posted
- 3y
It's varied over the years and at the moment it's a horrendous one that I hate to tell
- Date posted
- 3y
Has it impacted your relationships?
- Date posted
- 3y
No....I'm very lucky with my husband but he is my 2nd one!!
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
- 15w
A few hours ago I had my first ERP session and I am currently feeling nauseous and nervous at the same time. Right after my first exposure I wanted to quit right then and there, but I know I cannot. Does anyone have any tips for sitting with this level of discomfort? Anything is appreciated. Thanks! :-)
- Date posted
- 14w
Anyone else feel like they just sit there during sessions? Like I can’t wait for it to be over so I don’t have to do this twice a week anymore. I think I’m putting in effort but sometimes feels like a huge waste of time and I’m not making progress but maybe that’s just my ocd?
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