Recovery?

Has anyone who exhibits harm and/or sexually related intrusive thoughts seen success through ERP and medication? I’m in an extremely low and bad place these days and I don’t know how helpful ERP is going to be if my compulsions are almost entirely mental (I’d say I lean more towards Pure-O).

[Selesnya]

Yes, absolutely I have gotten much better with my harm OCD. I have had lots of variations on OCD themes, and though it sometimes seems like it won't work before you start, ERP has helped tremendously each time.

You might find it helpful to watch some of Chrissie Hodges videos on YouTube. She is awesome and so easy to relate to.

[Hidden in reply to Selesnya]

Thanks, I’ll check out the videos!

[Hidden]

I experience a lot of obsessive thoughts, and I know it is very painful mentally.

I take medications but none of them are working for OCD.

Try not to engage with the thought.

Treat it as an OCD thought.

Do not argue or rationalize with the thought.

OCD is irrational.

The more you resist a thought, the more it persists.

Do not give importance to your thoughts.

They will go away on their own.

I hope this helps.

[Hidden in reply to Hidden]

It does, thank you! Much appreciated

[MyOCD123]

Hi there! Recovery is absolutely possible no matter the content of your intrusive thoughts. I have struggled with both themes and have been able to regain my life with medication and ERP. My meds have enabled me to challenge my OCD in the darkest of times when I needed an extra push, but they are not a cure all. That is where ERP comes in. Like you, my compulsions are almost entirely mental, which can be tricky at times. For example, I will find myself mentally reviewing my day to ensure I haven’t harmed anyone and will not realize what I am doing until I have already started. Whereas when I decide to check on a loved one I have to actually perform the action of picking up the phone to call or text. Both mental and physical compulsions can be extremely difficult to overcome, but my own personal experience is that more effort is required of me to act on physical compulsions and this gives me a chance to realize what I am doing before I do it.

And when we practice ERP the goal is not to get rid of the thoughts, but rather to accept the uncertainty that stems from them. When you find yourself doing a mental compulsion, or any compulsion, it is up to you to decide if you are going to continue feeding the OCD. The more you try to argue with the thoughts or search your memories for something wrong that you may have done, the more you are validating those thoughts and giving them importance. This signals to the brain that they have meaning and thus they will continue to cause anxiety and stress because they are being mistaken as a threat or dangerous - but they are neither of those things. A thought is just a thought. Plain and simple. I know that with OCD, often times it does not feel that way. But that is the truth.

When I first started ERP it took me three attempts before I finally got it. Originally, it seemed counter productive to me. Why would I want to spend more of my time writing down and speaking my terrible thoughts aloud? Wouldn’t that just give me more anxiety? And at first it did cause me to be more anxious. But sure enough the more I chose to quit my compulsions and accept my thoughts instead of challenging them something changed. In this process I retrained my brain to not recognize those intrusive thoughts as scary or meaningful. Your brain is only trying to protect you, but for those of us with OCD the brain is mistaking meaningless for meaningful.

So the short answer is yes, I have had violent and sexual intrusive thoughts and had many days where I did not see the light BUT with the right treatment I was able to recover. Recovery doesn’t mean I no longer get intrusive thoughts, because everybody gets intrusive thoughts, but now my brain and I both know that they can’t hurt me. And instead of ringing the alarm bells I just acknowledge them and allow them to pass through. I know that you can do the same! There is so much hope. 💖

[Hidden in reply to MyOCD123]

Thank you so much! This is exactly what I needed to hear today! Hoping my ERP therapy can start sooner rather than later, but I do have some resources to get started on my own. Appreciate your support

[tri2befree in reply to MyOCD123]

Love love love this!!

[Sukhoi]

I am also having severe OCD. Now I am experimenting with ERP and CBT. I will let you know if I win the battle. Now I am concentrating more on the cognitive side of the CBT along with ERP. I am not sure about the outcome though. But I can assure you that if you do cognitive part of CBT after ERP or in the end of each day, you will feel a lot better. Best wishes for all of you.

[Greekdude]

Remember , if you dont want a thought , then you will have it!

Its ok to have intrusive thoughts ,let them be , they will evacuate some day.

Even normal people have intrusive thoughts , they dont care and they do not give time on them.

I have an intrusive thought: that I will not have erection in sex , so I become anxious when I try to have sex and that leads to erectile dysfunction.

I have another one that when I will go abroad to do my masters degree , I will fail .

But I started CBT and it helps , you should try too.

I found a lot of useful information in that book :

Getting Over OCD, Second Edition : A 10-Step Workbook for Taking Back Your Life

Jonathan S. Abramowitz