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Skeptical about ERP? I found ERP really conflicts with some other theories, like the theories of Louise Hay (who wrote the book “you can heal your life). I will elaborate on my confusions. 1. ERP asks us to experience obsessions without thinking “no I won’t hurt myself” “no I won’t hurt others”. “No, I am safe and those thoughts are not real”. Thinking “i won’t do dangerous stuff and I am completely safe” is considered as compulsion to rid us of anxiety, but Louise Hay thinks it as positive affirmation. 2. Will ERP make us believe what we think even more? ERP asks you to write your fears into those stories and scripts and repeat them again and again until you habituate. But why would I say to myself “oh, maybe I will kill my parents and I will accept that and move on”? How does this make any sense? 3. I read the book of Shannon Shy who has recovered from OCD and he used his own strategies. I remembered that when he confronted his obsession of whether he left the pot on, he would say to himself that “do you think the pot will turn itself on”? to help him better move on to do things that he should do. But according to ERP, isn’t this a compulsion? Cuz ERP asks us to accept that ok the pot may be on and my house may be burned down and I accept that and I move on? I just find ERP theories weird.

ERP doesn't make sense. It doesn't make sense for a person to do things against their values/likes/interests/preferences until they habituate. It's torture is what it is! People without the disorder would never do it. Why? Because no one should be told they need to live a backwards life in order to get better.

Question about ERP. So, if the goal is to habituate to whatever we are exposed to, how does that work logically on some exposures. For example, put your hand in a toilet & habituate to the discomfort. Or even, lick the bottom of your shoe & habituate to the discomfort. Make a picture crooked on the wall & habituate to the discomfort. My concern arises because even outside of OCD, I wouldn't completely habituate to these things as a person. #1, i don't have contamination OCD & I think sticking my hand in a toilet is icky. Licking the bottom of my shoe is icky too. Yeah, I can handle a picture crooked on the wall, but I prefer my pictures to hang straight. Get what I'm saying? Sometimes I wonder if I went through ERP, it wouldn't work anyway because outside of it, I'm not going to 100% habituate to these things. Not sure alot of people would completely.

How do you know whether you are doing exposure right? I mean I can resist obsessions at a point and continue to do my work no matter what thoughts my OCD brings (when I am doing this, trust me, the OCD brings even more thoughts to persuade me into thinking it all out). But, it feels like I have left something important (usually life or death) questions unanswered and unsettled. Then, at sometime later, my mind will start to try figuring the unanswered question out, cuz the fear is never really root out. So, I guess exposure is more than just ignore the thoughts and doing what we should do despite all the discomfort. When your fear is there, it’s a human instinct to go back and check. The fear and belief are the core. Not sure I express myself clearly.

I’m on vacation and just called someone out for stereotyping OCD at the mall. She said she didn’t want to buy these boots because they would “drive her OCD crazy.” I asked her if she had diagnosed OCD and she said “No, the boots just bother me.” So I said, “Well, I do. I’ve had it a long time, and as an advocate I just want to point out that it is a very debilitating condition and you never know who could hear you make comments like that, and for some sufferers it could be offensive.” She said, “I understand,” and I thanked her for hearing me out. I was super nervous to do it, but kept my cool and even if she just dismissed me as some crazy person, I’m glad I stood up for myself and the rest of the OCD community.

Am I the only one who has to erase and erase what I wrote until it feels « right »?

Hi!! Someone has obsessions related to wide open spaces and inmensity?

My anxiety/OCD got SO bad that I had a derealization episode. Scariest thing that has ever ever ever happened to me. If anyone has ever been there, please let me know. I have no idea what to do and am scared I’m losing my sanity :-(

I have really bad HOCD. It’s the only intrusive thought I’ve ever experienced. My therapist is 100% convinced it’s HOCD. I’ve had short relationships with boys and my feelings for them have been so strong. For the last 2 or 3 years I didn’t have these thoughts and I never had the desire to be in a relationship with a girl. But now my OCD is tricking me into thinking I did. I used to have girl crushes or be curious about things but for as long as I can remember since I was a little girl my dream was to always marry a boy. I know it’s going to take time and I’m not looking to get over it straight away but I’m just looking for advice on how to accept that this is just OCD? For some reason every time I try tell myself it isn’t real it’s just an intrusive thought my brain goes no you are just in denial. These thoughts are making me feel really ill any advice on how I can accept its OCD???

Does anyone else suffer from trichotillomania?

Why is it scary to be gay? Is it religious? A fear of not knowing who you really are? I am genuinely curious. I feel like this is one of the few types of ocd that I don’t deal with so I don’t really understand it.

So, I can’t stop pulling out my hair. I told my dad and he is worried, but my mom just said, “well if it makes you feel better then that’s fine. You have so much hair, you’ll never go bald” it does help me feel more relaxed, but I really regret it. I actually can’t stop. I know that trichotillomania is a big deal... H E L P!!! I’m only 13 btw

does anyone else get obsessive thoughts about their ex while they’re with their current partner? i was in an emotionally abusive relationship for almost 4 years (also my first relationship EVER) and i definitely have PTSD from a lot of it. he broke up with me and i’m so glad that he did, because i don’t know how much longer i would have continued to be in that relationship. the thing is, even though he’s done a lot of fucked up things to me, i don’t have hate for him in my heart. i have these thoughts like “oh if you don’t hate him you must still be in love with him” and they make me panic. i’ve been dating my current boyfriend for almost 2 years. i love him so much, he’s so supportive of me and great. i get these awful thoughts that my ex was “the one” for me, i will never feel the way i did about my ex with my current boyfriend, constantly comparing them, etc. i’ve been to therapy for years now, and have come to the realization that i am self-sabotaging. i’m lost, depressed, and scared. any advice would be appreciated ❤️

My OCD is spiking in the form of pOCD today. This particular type seems really scary to me because this type is the one that has led me to more severe panic attacks and this is the one that led me to discover that I really needed help. It feels like I let this go too far and went untreated for too long, and now my brain just makes the association whenever I'm exposed to a trigger, which leads straight to terrifying and horrendous thoughts instead of the usual tests to prove I'm not a pedophile. For anyone who has wrestled with pOCD: how do you sit with these thoughts? I understand that with OCD, you often times (or maybe always, I'm a bit new to this) need to learn to accept your thoughts as they are. When your thoughts are so horrendous and difficult to have, how do you accept them?

Why is my OCD mainly based around thoughts of hurting those that I love most in this world?! It distressed me to no end and I don’t understand

Is exposure making you better or worse? I am a bit confused. Like when I am at a high floor and my obsession is rushing towards the window and jumping off. How is the response prevention message helping by saying “yes, you may jump off the building?”

I'm scared to post this on here, but I haven't seen anyone else talk about it, so I'm wondering if anyone else on here suffers from POCD? I really need to know I'm not alone. If anyone has good tips/resources for coping that'd be great. I don't have an OCD specialist anywhere near where I live. I do see a therapist who has been helping, but I still feel incredibly alone.

I am struggling a bit with school lately. I end up studying until everywhere between 6 and 9 pm most days, and it is making me miserable. I am considering doing school part time, as that is an option available in my country, but I am afraid of “giving up”. I am also scared I’ll end up with too much time on my hands. What do you guys think? By doing it part time I’d be able to rest more and probably work more on my mental health. However, I would have to spend more time in school, and I feel like I would be a failure. Also, all my friends would graduate before me.

Does anyone else not know how to tell their (new) therapist I have distressing intrusive thoughts? No, they aren’t an OCD specialist and those aren’t really available in my area. I’m seeing a CBT specialist (soon) who typically treats anxiety and depression, who said they’d feel confident treating OCD.

I’m scared of everything. I’ve been diagnosed with severe OCD, GAD, MDD, panic disorder, BPD, PTSD and OCPD. I get really upset when people say “I’m so OCD”. I start feeling bad because here I am stuck in bed while people who are just neatfreaks glorify this illness. I’ve been hospitalized several times, took meds, have seen multiple therapists including the ERP specialist, and have tried different types of therapy including the ERP, talk therapy, DBT, ACT and some other thing my insurance recommended me. At first I was getting better but now I’m stuck in bed again. I have difficulty with a lot of things such as contamination fear and fear of losing, forgetting, dropping things. Even as I write this I’m scared I’m forgetting to write something. At one point I had to write down everything that was said to me. At one point I didn’t trust myself enough to do things like cleaning that I had to record myself. At one point I had to shower after using the bathroom every time. Those are under control...for now but now I have to face new obsessions. I’m scared of stupid things like chocolate and crying. I know what’s garbage but hard to throw out because what if there’s something important inside the folds of the plastic/paper bags. There’s always something that triggers my anxiety. Getting out of bed has gotten easier but getting back into my bed is exhausting with my rituals. I’ve tried leaving the apartment and on good days I would just feel nausea but push through. On a bad day I would get really sick with nausea. And on a really bad day I won’t feel anything and go through with getting ready, about to leave my bedroom heading towards the door and I have a complete melt down. I can’t even sleep without having to do my compulsion of writing down my dreams. On a good night I do this three times. So I’m always tired. I’ve tried to stop and have succeeded when I was working with the ERP specialist. My insurance has expired, I can’t get a job let alone leave my bed to go get any assistance, I’ve tried work from home but everything is difficult. I was a bridal consultant, artist/designer. I’ve also tutored Japanese online but it’s not enough to get the “residential level care” that the ERP therapist had told me I need. The insurance won’t pay for additional treatments with the specialist so I’m stuck. And what sucks is that my PTSD has become stronger which makes doing everyday tasks even more difficult (if that makes sense). What makes everything even more difficult is that I can’t do anything to help animals in need. I’m an advocate-have volunteered, rescued, spread awareness, sign petitions etc and all of these add up to my feeling of guilt and shame that I can’t put my passion of wanting to help animals before my OCD fear. I have a dream. I have a goal. I want to have my catcafe and work with high risk shelters to eliminate euthanasia while I save to start my own animal sanctuary. I’m sorry this has become a long post but I needed to vent to people who would understand and not have to explain why OCD is more than just “get over it” or “just stop your compulsions”.