One of the intrusive thoughts that I always get is that my friends don't want me around or don't want to talk to me. If a friend of mine hasn't responded to me in some time, I have thoughts that they are trying to avoid talking to me. I know logically that it isn't true, but I get an urge to send them more messages. Most of the time the new messages are just things I wanted to tell them anyway, but I think they might also be almost like a compulsion to test if they will respond. I don't know if any of you have any ideas about this, but how would I do ERP with this? I mean I want to talk to them but I also don't know if I should message them as I have been.

threethirdsocdsufferer

186d ago

Omg I’m the same! I can’t tell you how to deal with it but just telling you I do the same thing!

kaylanicole01

184d ago

Hi there! Thank you so much for being willing to share on here. I’m so sorry that you’re experiencing this kind of distress; I can imagine that is no fun at all. ERP is all about uncertainty, so maybe you could work with your therapist to come up with some uncertainty statements regarding your friends and your friendship. Maybe saying something like, “My friends may or may not respond to my messages.” Try not to find meaning in intrusive thoughts. I hope this helps! Keep on going, you’re doing a great job!