Anonymous
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Lms526Lms526
- Date posted
- 3y
I'm 45 and started experiencing intrusive thoughts around age 8. In August, I listened to a podcast that was not mental health related. The guest was a woman who lives with OCD. I realized I had experienced many of the same things. I didn't think it was possible that I could have OCD for 37 years and not realize it. Up to that point, I thought OCD was just handwashing and liking things neat and organized. I had neither. But once I started researching OCD, things clicked into place. Once I knew what to look for, I realized I had OCD for most of my life. Shortly before starting treatment was one of the darkest times in my life. I needed to find out for sure if I really had OCD. I knew I had to do something different. I was sick and tired of doing nothing but give into my compulsions. Once I got diagnosed, I was ready to go all in. ERP has been life changing for me. I haven't reached recovery yet, but I will get there.
AnonymousAnonymous
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
I hope you continue to find success in your ERP therapy. hopefully we can both recover from this.
Related posts
My journey
- Date posted
- 17w
Magical thinking
i don’t want to do my compulsions. I feel like if I don’t somebody will get hurt, sick or die. It’s a very scary thought to feel like if I don’t do my compulsions it will be my fault even though it isn’t & nor will it happen. I know it’s magical thinking & my thoughts are not true nor will they come true. it’s just im so tired of doing these compulsions. im so tired of feeling like I can stop something bad happening if I don’t step on this or touch this 4 times. it even got me believing that if I do something I want to do & love, something bad will happen. I just want to be able to live & feel like I use to. I hate ocd. how can I calm this down so I can be able to navigate in my own life?
Shaodidi
- Date posted
- 15w
Anonymous
- Date posted
- 13w
Compulsions during exposure sessions
When I catch myself doing compulsions mentally during exposure sessions, it seems alot of the time like the realization that I was just doing a compulsion is more distressing than the actual trigger I'm trying to expose myself to. It feels defeating having to admit the prompt at the end that I performed a compulsion yet again. I still think I've made progress overall, and generally speaking I don't think I'm performing compulsions as much as I used to, and my distress has also gone down noticeably (not completely) but exposure sessions have been kinda tricky for me from the beginning since its all mental. Additionally, I am a bit concerned that I could start using exposures to rid myself of anxiety rather than expose myself to it properly.
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