I've noticed people on this site who seem to be able to handle ERP and I find it utterly terrifying. Am I alone in that? I'm feeling pretty inadequate.

Not alone in the slightest. I couldn’t handle it even tho I went through an entire ocd program! I lied about doing it, and needless to say I didn’t get better

You’re definitely not alone xx

Your not alone at all. When I did it I was super anxious but I was just so fed up with OCD I was willing to go to the extremes and push myself in order to get better. And I have to say it helped significantly. Although I would have some panick attacks afterwords, in the long run it severely helped. It’s definitely worth it in the long run and the more you do the better you get. Well that’s just from my expierience but I’ve also heard many similar responses from others.

ERP is hard! It takes a lot out of you. But in my opinion, the benefits are worth it. ERP has honestly changed my life. I lived with OCD for 37 years and never knew it until August of this year. I always thought OCD was just handwashing and liking things neat and organized. Neither applied to me. So once I got diagnosed, I was all in regarding ERP. For me, it came down to a choice. I could keep giving into my compulsions and experience short lived benefit or I could do ERP and experience short term misery and long term benefit. What I was doing wasn't working, so it was time to do something different.

The hardest part of ERP is when your anxiety is going crazy. But if you resist the urge to do a compulsion it will peak and then start to decrease.

@lms526 I completely agree!!!