@@augustolegal All the time, but one of my obssessions is having absolute control and creating a narrative, a story in my mind that I expect everything and that I actually have planned for a situation I am in which is not true, so I go with it or try in a humble manner
Well, I was trying to do it by increments, where I stop checking certain things in the house before I leave (because I have "checking OCD"), but have not done a full exposure, and I kind of feel like I need to because I am really not sure if my OCD is getting any better. It takes a lot of effort to tough out a full exposure, and since I wake up feeling tired, I'm not in the mood to do anything that requires a full effort after I wake up in the morning. Some mornings are successful when I leave a couple of minutes earlier for work; and other days I'm just in the mood to put up with the extra anxiety, and so I just give in and drive myself crazy. I know that I need to do a full exposure though; I really do! I need to just only check things once or twice, and then leave while feeling scared to death.
I'm not diagnosed with OCD but I've been having intrusive thoughts and physical intrusive feelings for the past few days. You are a huge life saver, I can't thank you enough. I am grateful for your help and videos. I hope to defeat these intrusive thoughts and pains and live normal and happy again!
This video is old but I struggled with health anxiety and health anxiety symptoms for years and I thought I was exposing myself but I was only being exposed but still doing compulsions. Now that I’ve stopped doing the compulsions things are becoming easier. Thank you
WOW. This has actually helped me realize I have actually been doing exposures, when I have been feeling guilty for not making time to do any since finishing an intense treatment program. I have been going into uncomfortable situations very aware of any anxiety first and purposely pushing my self to do the opposite of what OCD wants. And I have been pushing my self to go to these places often and notice my anxiety and challenge my ocd.
I am brand new to watching your videos. That being said, since I started watching them two days ago, I have been able to do things that I have not been able to do in months. I cannot thank you enough for all of your work and for putting these videos online. They have helped me tremendously and I hope and pray they help others as well. Very grateful for you.
ive had ocd for 8 years, but two years ago i was admitted to a job-focused mental health clinic, as in they primarily focused on getting our lives back to normal by giving us an opportunity to get a job and be social while in therapy. it didnt go very well at first, as i refused treatment for my ocd. everyone kept going on about exposure therapy but noone wanted to explain what it was or how to do it, and my only experience w exposure therapy prior had been forced which made me worse. after a couple months id been there, we got a new psychologist. he was amazing. he explained exposure therapy to me, he followed up on me, he did the therapy correctly, and despite never having done it before he researched it and talked to other with more experience in the ocd part of the psychiatric field. its been a little over a year since i started, and ive been released and live on my own now. im not cured quite yet, but im functional and happier than ive been in a long time. its still a hassle and i still have some more to go, but ive come incredibly far and live a next to normal life. so if youre unsure if exposure therapy is for you, i can guarantee it will work
This is a poor excuse. But I find it hard to sit with the uncertainty.. And even if I am strong enough to ignore it once.. A trigger comes back and reminds me again and my mind loops and I'm distraught until I carry out the compulsion.. But then I also forget if I did carry it out ' right'
You should do a video on medical professionals with ocd. I'm a pharmacist and if I do mess up someone could actually die. So with someone who is ocd it really messes with you.
I am an electrician with ocd and I am always second guessing myself, but I have never made a mistake that was dangerous, it still keeps me awake sometimes, but it is definitely OCD
@davidstearns4624 that would be stressful. For me I try my hardest to put my faith in Christ knowing he will keep me from messing up. And, I have insurance to cover me in case something does happen.
Why would you want to interrupt people in a movie? A lot of people do and don’t care by talking too loud, being on their phone, or being obnoxious and it makes it bad for everyone else. 😳
Because it should be a preference to be considerate. Not a rule anxiety may have created. It trains the brain and pushes the anxiety to break the rules. You’re right! A lot of people do it. It drives me crazy 😜
OCD and Anxiety Why shouldn’t it be a “rule” to be considerate? How could not being “considerate” help anyone or anyone around them, especially in a public, crowed setting? The world had become a very inconsiderate place with people only thinking about themselves. I would only think “worrying about being considerate” would only be an issue if you are constantly being walked on because of the fear of being rude...which then leads to anxiety..of being seen as “inconsiderate”, when instead, you should’ve struck up for yourself...I have trouble with that myself.
Finally a sane person in the comment section! I had the same thought. I don’t understand the purpose of this with respect to the seat touching and eating.
Hi! I’ve recently self diagnosed myself with POCD after vigorous research. It’s been about 2 months since these thoughts started (they appeared late April 2020). How will I apply the exposure and response prevention therapy to this specific subset of OCD? When will I know that it’s working? -> by the way, I am 17 and don’t have access to a therapist or psychiatrist, I’m trying to figure this out on my own before I find myself stuck for years to come. Thank you in advance for anyone that helps out!
The problem I have with exposure therapy is not the exposures itself, its every time I've done it, while the result has been positive, it makes me mentally exhausted, and dealing with that for days on end is basically what i'm trying to avoid with my OCD, so it becomes a catch 22 where I should do it to help myself, but ultimately am trying to avoid exactly what happens. Like feeling mentally exhausted for days on end is just something I can't deal with, especially when it comes to my passions and etc. I don't know, its not the fear of dealing with the anxiety, it just knowing that ill be knocked out of commission that I don't want. I guess thats what bothers me the most though.
This is so me too! I feel so drained and over it and cry why do I have to do this it’s so unfair !!! But everyday it gives me the feeling that well, I got here, I can get better if I persevere
I have this struggle too! So painful but we need to be our biggest fan and push ourself to success. We can do it! Remember what life wa slike before and how it will be after recovering ❤️❤️
5:46 I disagree. I think allowing yourself to be exposed and then not responding the way you normally do is effective to initiate ERP. Once you're a bit more used to it, then you kick it up into high gear by creating the exposure instead of allowing them to come organically. It's kind of like sparring before the big main event.
Great video just exactly what I need to know When I agreed to horrible thoughts about ROCD makes me feel sad, guilty , not good emotionally is any advice how to work with your emotions after that When anxiety is under control?
When agreeing with the thoughts it may be more meaningful to teach the brain that agreeing doesn't mean you've actually accepted the thought but instead have accepted that you have OCD and are accepting that thoughts are thoughts without them being "good" or "bad" thoughts.
Thanks 😊 , it is possible to have a video how to nurture ourselves in order to improve our self esteem after a bad moment with OCD Love the videos I starting to see ocd as a Bullie in my head really helps 😊
I think I have a partner oriented ocd. The whole focus is on his appearance, I'm focused only on his flaws. I came to the point where I "don't want" or I'm afraid of meeting him because I don't want to have that awful feeling when I'm not attractive to him. When I focus and see his flaws it automatically makes my stomach hurt and it feels like a rock staying inside. It's so hard, I constantly have that picture in my mind (when he is not looking the way I like) and the feeling of not liking him causes lack of sleep, not being willing to eat... So I don't know how to do the exposure.
But is being worried and preparing for a scenario (i.e sitting in an area where you would be able to quickly evade an active shooter scenario) an actual compulsion, or just realistic precautions? That's like saying someone is worried about being attacked so they carry a concealed weapon everyday... That's a reasonable concern and an appropriate response. EDIT: After thinking about it, I think the answer is; does it effect your everyday life in a negative way? If the feeling of HAVING to do this action and dreading doing it is present, it is not something normal.
Hi, I have another question. What do you think about “thought stopping,” and redirecting thoughts? Is that a form of avoidance? I have heard that it can become a habit (by way of new neural pathways) to stop negative thoughts by replacing them with good ones, but I wonder if that is avoidance and the opposite of exposure. However, a belief/fear is just a thought that one continues to think. So if I avoid thinking about something distressing (like the loss of a relationship or death or whatever) is that actually not effective? But then how often do I need to let myself think those things? Also another thing is that sometimes my compulsion is to make myself upset by looking at or reading something that will trigger me, so it feels like I am exercising a muscle by avoiding actually since again my compulsions are actually to make myself have that adrenalin surge and panic (in an attempt to prevent future harm).
Typically we don't want to push thoughts away. That would be the opposite of doing an exposure. It teaches the brain that the thought you had is scary. We want to teach the brain that thoughts are thoughts.
@@ocdandanxiety wow so simply put but so true. I have been obssesed with obssesing over my Girlfriend and creating rituals but now i dont feel the need to
I’ve been seeing a few therapist. My one just makes me have the thought while holding my child. I developed ocd when I was pregnant with my third child. I gave harm thoughts over her. I’m literally the least violent person especially towards my kids. Being a mom is all I’ve ever wanted. My brain thinks of new topics to scare the tar out of me. Specifically it’s thought of shaking her. I’ve almost vomited because of the pain thinking of hurting her. Idk how to do exposure. I was just being exposed. I avoid her, reassurance seek and am afraid to be alone with her or near her when I’m mad. Please help!
Hi chris, let me tell you my ocd story and how I recovered. I can bet you my ocd was one of the worst ocd which totally drained me out of all happiness and energy. It started when I was in college , a thought of suicide just popped up in my mind. I never wanted to do that but the thought was so strong that I attached anxiety with that thought. Somehow I managed to sleep that night and thought it will not come the next day. But to my surprise next morning the very thought which came in my mind was that suicidal thought. My anxiety was so high that I could'nt think rationally. No one was there to tell me what it was. I was so scared , I started doing compulsions like whenever that thought pops in I started praying to God. I never knew it would make problem worse as instead of ignoring that thought I was paying attention to it and to get rid of anxiety I started praying. But you know that is a compulsion and compulsion only fuels up ocd. So my ocd started with self harm ocd after that it moved to harming others. I would have thoughts of killing my friends and parents. That was really horrible and scary . I knew I need to do something before it would turn me insane. Then I came across a term ERP which did miracles in my life. Your attention plays a great role in developing ocd. If you put your attention to any random thought then it will grow bigger in your life. Let's say if you have a sexual thought and you started googling that whether it is normal or not or if you will analyse it then it will become a ocd theme and you will get stuck in that loop. So the best thing is to ignore your thoughts. I know it's hard but believe me you can recover from any kind of ocd if you practise it long enough . Just don't give your attention to your intrusive thoughts. If they are coming just let them come. Keep yourself busy and let thoughts come in your mind. After some time your brain will learn and your thoughts will lose power. Do exercise, talk to friends, do cooking , anything which you want but don't put attention to your thoughts. I can bet you if you will practise it you will surely recover. Secret lies in not putting attention to your intrusive thoughts. Just accept all those thoughts and move on. I am still doing erp and believe me now I am much stronger and powerful than I was before. Now I know what ocd is and what I have to do. Believe me it has worked for everyone and it will work for you also. You will regain your old life where there was no fear and anxiety. Now i am enjoying my life again and you will also. It does'nt matter whether your ocd is 12 years old or 2 months old, it will recover. Believe me just do erp. Let me share a experience which I had few weeks ago and it made me a firm believer of erp. One day I was watching a movie and there I heard a word sex addict. After that thoughts related to sex started coming in my mind. My mind started to question if I am a sex addict . Now I knew how to handle it so instead of reacting with fear I replied to those thoughts that yes I am a sex addict and I moved on with some other work. And that thought completely vanished . So our attention plays a great role just don't give your attention to intrusive thoughts and in few days you will see your anxiety will drop and after few months you will completely recover. I know it is not easy. I also suffered a lot in beginning there were setbacks also but I kept moving . I kept disregarding those thoughts and now I can say that those thoughts don't bother me. I hope you will recover soon and if you need any help , you can message me here. It will be glad to help you ☺😊
What do you do about fears that are tied to phobias? Like I have a really bad airplane phobia, so a lot of my compulsions revolve around neutralizing intrusive thoughts that I'll be in a plane crash. But it's hard to lean into the uncertainty because I'm not on one very often, and it's hard to conceptualize that the NEXT ONE I'M ON won't crash, so what do you suggest?
Hi Nathan! Do you have advice on how to conduct exposure and response prevention for earthquake related anxiety and phobias? Can this even be done? Thank you!!
Each person is different. Sometimes it's just starting with writing the word earthquake, and then watch videos of them on youtube, sometimes getting on a bed and having someone shake it, etc. I use Virtual Reality for this as well. 👍🏻
How can you expose yourself to hocd? Because I’m in a relationship with my bf and idk if I can expose myself the way u are explaining if I understand correctly
OCD and Anxiety thank you so much because I really try to expose myself and some days are good but Most days are bad and I don’t want it to mess up my relationship and I also want to say your accepting method did work for other themes of ocd I had faced (intrusive thoughts) but somehow it’s not working that much for hocd and I don’t know why
OCD and Anxiety is it possible to recover without therapy bc in nyc therapist are way too expensive and I’m a college student who sadly can not afford that
How can I do exposures for Health Anxiety OCD? I’ve had it for 45 years, and it’s awful. Thanks! I love your videos, and I’m currently taking your online class.
Hello. I am grateful for your videos. Can you help me with some tips , I have ROCD and mental health anxiety. I have tried to do some imaginal exposures by writting my worst case scenarios that I fear ,but I havent really felt anxious. Maybe because I dont really believe those things. Can you help me to make more exposures ? Any tips ?
Hello. Can you do more videos about exposing for people with agoraphobia. For example,if i feel very inconfortable and full of fear when i go on streets full of peoples, how i can change that?
Am doing exposure for ocd it work for m'y sexual thaughts i juste dont pays attention to them any more with Time and techniques m'y complusions gone so its great technique for therapy thé exposure
I have ocd since i was 10 years old and now i am 30 , i have ocd and it comes in different faces - one which make me so depressed is brightness of my laptop - when i use my laptop my brain says that ur screen is too weak it will harm ur eyes and make u blind then i make it bright then again it says now it will really harm u i became stucked in it - i dont know how to do ERP for this could u help me plz😞 tnk u
Thanks for sharing your experience. I can't give advice for your specific case but a lot of the time the exposure tends to be the opposite of what we think we should do. For instance, if my brain says my screen is too bright and will harm my eyes then I'll probably turn it brighter and maybe sit closer to it. 😃
Well, now there is one thing I want to know. If I have "Watching Ocd" and play the repeat button all the time to not miss any information that can be in this video. I pay too much attention to words. Would it help to just be exposed in this case?
I struggle with this. Constantly rewinding 10 seconds, constantly missing things or worrying about doing it. Good news is, exposing yourself to this really helps! Don't rewind no matter how much you want to. Try deliberately NOT concentrating. Do something else whilst watching it. You'll find you don't need to hear every word or see everything. You'll recover.
@@gertrude_3735 Lately, I have been practicing it, and I have to say that it works. It is challenging, but it is worth it in the long run. You pointed out an important part, and that is not to concentrate on it. Well, as I've noticed, the more you repeat, the less info you get. Thanks for advice!
This is amazing .Can i please ask, how to do ERP using images. My OCD and Anxiety kicks off when I see some particular images. So in order to do ERP, I have made these pictures My Wall paper, phone lock wallpaper., so I see them constantly and try not to do a ritual or a mental compulsion. Am I doing the right thing?
Just be unsure if it asks u a question just blatantly answer maybe,and for groinal responses do the same. But just be sure a spike might attack just do the same thing again.been doing it everyday ehh it kinda helps
How much does medication help when it comes to this exposure treatment? Is it necessary to be on pills? ( My therapist says I better but I'm very reluctant to cause I suffered a lot trying it. )
Hey nate, i've recently developed HomosexualOCD a months ago and could u give some of your advice after doing all necessary things like i've done it all, the ERP and i'm still ruminating, does your ocd convinces you to ruminate? I've had zero compulsions. My anxiety plummeted to none and i feel empty, is it normal to feel anxiety in anytime?
Bro i am also from india. Let me tell you my ocd story and how I recovered. I can bet you my ocd was one of the worst ocd which totally drained me out of all happiness and energy. It started when I was in college , a thought of suicide just popped up in my mind. I never wanted to do that but the thought was so strong that I attached anxiety with that thought. Somehow I managed to sleep that night and thought it will not come the next day. But to my surprise next morning the very thought which came in my mind was that suicidal thought. My anxiety was so high that I could'nt think rationally. No one was there to tell me what it was. I was so scared , I started doing compulsions like whenever that thought pops in I started praying to God. I never knew it would make problem worse as instead of ignoring that thought I was paying attention to it and to get rid of anxiety I started praying. But you know that is a compulsion and compulsion only fuels up ocd. So my ocd started with self harm ocd after that it moved to harming others. I would have thoughts of killing my friends and parents. That was really horrible and scary . I knew I need to do something before it would turn me insane. Then I came across a term ERP which did miracles in my life. Your attention plays a great role in developing ocd. If you put your attention to any random thought then it will grow bigger in your life. Let's say if you have a sexual thought and you started googling that whether it is normal or not or if you will analyse it then it will become a ocd theme and you will get stuck in that loop. So the best thing is to ignore your thoughts. I know it's hard but believe me you can recover from any kind of ocd if you practise it long enough . Just don't give your attention to your intrusive thoughts. If they are coming just let them come. Keep yourself busy and let thoughts come in your mind. After some time your brain will learn and your thoughts will lose power. Do exercise, talk to friends, do cooking , anything which you want but don't put attention to your thoughts. I can bet you if you will practise it you will surely recover. Secret lies in not putting attention to your intrusive thoughts. Just accept all those thoughts and move on. I am still doing erp and believe me now I am much stronger and powerful than I was before. Now I know what ocd is and what I have to do. Believe me it has worked for everyone and it will work for you also. You will regain your old life where there was no fear and anxiety. Now i am enjoying my life again and you will also. It does'nt matter whether your ocd is 12 years old or 2 months old, it will recover. Believe me just do erp. Let me share a experience which I had few weeks ago and it made me a firm believer of erp. One day I was watching a movie and there I heard a word sex addict. After that thoughts related to sex started coming in my mind. My mind started to question if I am a sex addict . Now I knew how to handle it so instead of reacting with fear I replied to those thoughts that yes I am a sex addict and I moved on with some other work. And that thought completely vanished . So our attention plays a great role just don't give your attention to intrusive thoughts and in few days you will see your anxiety will drop and after few months you will completely recover. I know it is not easy. I also suffered a lot in beginning there were setbacks also but I kept moving . I kept disregarding those thoughts and now I can say that those thoughts don't bother me. I hope you will recover soon and if you need any help , you can message me here. It will be glad to help you ☺😊
@@mindpower421 Hi, i am glad you recovered from suicidal OCD. One of my compulsions is checking gas regulators to see if it's on or off. But after i turn off, and move just a meter away, i feel anxiety and again go to check the gas regulator. This goes on and on. My question is, what is erp for this? 1) after i close the regulator, move on and don't think about it. 2) turn on the gas regulator.
@@webtraveler0774 I can only provide therapy to those who live in the state I live in. You can check out my online course if you'd like. www.OCDandAnxietyOnline.com
Do you ever get caught in exposure moments that are unplanned? 🤪
Thank you so much. I didn’t know that I only was being exposed. No I’m actively seek exposure.
@@augustolegal All the time, but one of my obssessions is having absolute control and creating a narrative, a story in my mind that I expect everything and that I actually have planned for a situation I am in which is not true, so I go with it or try in a humble manner
I’m so confused! Idk how to do this!
Can you have some examples of Exposures in ROCD?? Like, I mean, I don't have any other one that seeing what I don't like in my partner
Well, I was trying to do it by increments, where I stop checking certain things in the house before I leave (because I have "checking OCD"), but have not done a full exposure, and I kind of feel like I need to because I am really not sure if my OCD is getting any better. It takes a lot of effort to tough out a full exposure, and since I wake up feeling tired, I'm not in the mood to do anything that requires a full effort after I wake up in the morning. Some mornings are successful when I leave a couple of minutes earlier for work; and other days I'm just in the mood to put up with the extra anxiety, and so I just give in and drive myself crazy. I know that I need to do a full exposure though; I really do! I need to just only check things once or twice, and then leave while feeling scared to death.
I want to look at this in the future and say I overcame this. I can't wait for that day. keep moving forward everyone.
Do you have an update on how you’ve been handling your ocd?
@@AdornedGrace bro i still have but i slowy mastering how to manage it and also i keep doing exposures
@Potara Gaming progress is all that matter, good job 👏. Keep going with the self improvement
@@potaragaming4159how ya doing now?
@@potaragaming4159 how goes it?
I'm not diagnosed with OCD but I've been having intrusive thoughts and physical intrusive feelings for the past few days. You are a huge life saver, I can't thank you enough. I am grateful for your help and videos. I hope to defeat these intrusive thoughts and pains and live normal and happy again!
What do you mean by intrusive feeling ? Tell me if you don’t mind
I'm not diagnosed either but these videos help, I feel ya. Good luck
Just listening to this exposure is giving me anxiety 🤣
Doing exposures to fight OCD exposes the OCD.
This video is old but I struggled with health anxiety and health anxiety symptoms for years and I thought I was exposing myself but I was only being exposed but still doing compulsions. Now that I’ve stopped doing the compulsions things are becoming easier. Thank you
extremely simple and clear. I think this video has a ton of value.
WOW. This has actually helped me realize I have actually been doing exposures, when I have been feeling guilty for not making time to do any since finishing an intense treatment program.
I have been going into uncomfortable situations very aware of any anxiety first and purposely pushing my self to do the opposite of what OCD wants. And I have been pushing my self to go to these places often and notice my anxiety and challenge my ocd.
I am brand new to watching your videos. That being said, since I started watching them two days ago, I have been able to do things that I have not been able to do in months. I cannot thank you enough for all of your work and for putting these videos online. They have helped me tremendously and I hope and pray they help others as well. Very grateful for you.
ive had ocd for 8 years, but two years ago i was admitted to a job-focused mental health clinic, as in they primarily focused on getting our lives back to normal by giving us an opportunity to get a job and be social while in therapy. it didnt go very well at first, as i refused treatment for my ocd. everyone kept going on about exposure therapy but noone wanted to explain what it was or how to do it, and my only experience w exposure therapy prior had been forced which made me worse.
after a couple months id been there, we got a new psychologist. he was amazing. he explained exposure therapy to me, he followed up on me, he did the therapy correctly, and despite never having done it before he researched it and talked to other with more experience in the ocd part of the psychiatric field. its been a little over a year since i started, and ive been released and live on my own now. im not cured quite yet, but im functional and happier than ive been in a long time. its still a hassle and i still have some more to go, but ive come incredibly far and live a next to normal life. so if youre unsure if exposure therapy is for you, i can guarantee it will work
This is a poor excuse. But I find it hard to sit with the uncertainty.. And even if I am strong enough to ignore it once.. A trigger comes back and reminds me again and my mind loops and I'm distraught until I carry out the compulsion.. But then I also forget if I did carry it out ' right'
Have you made any improvements with this yet? I struggle with this as well.
its hard to do self erp, im doing it myself right now. i hope youre doing fine now!
That’s the same with me I always forget if I washed that place properly or missed a spot i have to then do it again
Can I have your social media so we can talk more please
Such a great video. I want to link to this in my blog.
Keep it up!
Thank you so much Camello! 😃
This was very helpful. I didn’t know this. It feels very hopeful. Thank You.
Dude like man, thank you, finally getting a larger view on this and that im not alone
You should do a video on medical professionals with ocd. I'm a pharmacist and if I do mess up someone could actually die. So with someone who is ocd it really messes with you.
I am an electrician with ocd and I am always second guessing myself, but I have never made a mistake that was dangerous, it still keeps me awake sometimes, but it is definitely OCD
@davidstearns4624 that would be stressful. For me I try my hardest to put my faith in Christ knowing he will keep me from messing up. And, I have insurance to cover me in case something does happen.
this actually makes a lot of sense. never thought of it like that
I want to create another account just to give this video another like.
haha. Thanks so much!
Currently embracing an exposure while watching this lol. Helpful and motivating for trying to actively seek out exposures! Thanks so much🙌
Why would you want to interrupt people in a movie? A lot of people do and don’t care by talking too loud, being on their phone, or being obnoxious and it makes it bad for everyone else. 😳
Because it should be a preference to be considerate. Not a rule anxiety may have created. It trains the brain and pushes the anxiety to break the rules. You’re right! A lot of people do it. It drives me crazy 😜
OCD and Anxiety
Why shouldn’t it be a “rule” to be considerate? How could not being “considerate” help anyone or anyone around them, especially in a public, crowed setting? The world had become a very inconsiderate place with people only thinking about themselves.
I would only think “worrying about being considerate” would only be an issue if you are constantly being walked on because of the fear of being rude...which then leads to anxiety..of being seen as “inconsiderate”, when instead, you should’ve struck up for yourself...I have trouble with that myself.
Have a fear of driving a certain road and highway. Each day I try to go further. It’s tough not to get panic attacks.
Your videos are extremely helpful. Thank you!!
My question is what happens when you do touch all over the rails and things and DO become sick? Wouldn't that make the initial fear worse?
Finally a sane person in the comment section! I had the same thought. I don’t understand the purpose of this with respect to the seat touching and eating.
I think you’re an incredible human being. Christ is in you. Thank you for helping us.
Ugh, I wish my anxiety exposure didn't depend on other people (social anxiety)
Hi! I’ve recently self diagnosed myself with POCD after vigorous research. It’s been about 2 months since these thoughts started (they appeared late April 2020). How will I apply the exposure and response prevention therapy to this specific subset of OCD?
When will I know that it’s working?
-> by the way, I am 17 and don’t have access to a therapist or psychiatrist, I’m trying to figure this out on my own before I find myself stuck for years to come.
Thank you in advance for anyone that helps out!
I have two videos on POCD I believe.
How are you doing now ?
Chrissie Hodges has some very good pocd videos
Hey, how are you feeling now?
The problem I have with exposure therapy is not the exposures itself, its every time I've done it, while the result has been positive, it makes me mentally exhausted, and dealing with that for days on end is basically what i'm trying to avoid with my OCD, so it becomes a catch 22 where I should do it to help myself, but ultimately am trying to avoid exactly what happens.
Like feeling mentally exhausted for days on end is just something I can't deal with, especially when it comes to my passions and etc.
I don't know, its not the fear of dealing with the anxiety, it just knowing that ill be knocked out of commission that I don't want.
I guess thats what bothers me the most though.
This is so me too! I feel so drained and over it and cry why do I have to do this it’s so unfair !!! But everyday it gives me the feeling that well, I got here, I can get better if I persevere
@@beththeswiftie9239how is it going now?
Or just put into these low mental states even tho the results may be positive
Is it normal to get high levels of anxiety when doing exposure for the first times?
yes it is totally normal! that's the exercise about, slowly you won't get it anymore!
I have this struggle too! So painful but we need to be our biggest fan and push ourself to success. We can do it! Remember what life wa slike before and how it will be after recovering ❤️❤️
This video means soo much to me thnku soo much❤
Thank you very much for making such an informative video
sitting in the middle of a row?!? that's terrifying
5:46 I disagree. I think allowing yourself to be exposed and then not responding the way you normally do is effective to initiate ERP. Once you're a bit more used to it, then you kick it up into high gear by creating the exposure instead of allowing them to come organically. It's kind of like sparring before the big main event.
In that case i need to leave a plastic bag at home when im traveling but, what if i really throw up 😂and mess up the transport
i am in fight or flight mode just hearing you talk about it bro
You are amazing....it works...thanks
Great video just exactly what I need to know
When I agreed to horrible thoughts about ROCD makes me feel sad, guilty , not good emotionally is any advice how to work with your emotions after that
When anxiety is under control?
When agreeing with the thoughts it may be more meaningful to teach the brain that agreeing doesn't mean you've actually accepted the thought but instead have accepted that you have OCD and are accepting that thoughts are thoughts without them being "good" or "bad" thoughts.
Thanks 😊 , it is possible to have a video how to nurture ourselves in order to improve our self esteem after a bad moment with OCD
Love the videos
I starting to see ocd as a
Bullie in my head really helps 😊
good video!
Glad you enjoyed it! Thanks!
This is very helpful.
really inspired and helpful, thanks.
I think I have a partner oriented ocd. The whole focus is on his appearance, I'm focused only on his flaws. I came to the point where I "don't want" or I'm afraid of meeting him because I don't want to have that awful feeling when I'm not attractive to him. When I focus and see his flaws it automatically makes my stomach hurt and it feels like a rock staying inside. It's so hard, I constantly have that picture in my mind (when he is not looking the way I like) and the feeling of not liking him causes lack of sleep, not being willing to eat... So I don't know how to do the exposure.
R-OCD (Relationship OCD)
But is being worried and preparing for a scenario (i.e sitting in an area where you would be able to quickly evade an active shooter scenario) an actual compulsion, or just realistic precautions?
That's like saying someone is worried about being attacked so they carry a concealed weapon everyday... That's a reasonable concern and an appropriate response.
EDIT: After thinking about it, I think the answer is; does it effect your everyday life in a negative way? If the feeling of HAVING to do this action and dreading doing it is present, it is not something normal.
Hi, I have another question. What do you think about “thought stopping,” and redirecting thoughts? Is that a form of avoidance? I have heard that it can become a habit (by way of new neural pathways) to stop negative thoughts by replacing them with good ones, but I wonder if that is avoidance and the opposite of exposure. However, a belief/fear is just a thought that one continues to think. So if I avoid thinking about something distressing (like the loss of a relationship or death or whatever) is that actually not effective? But then how often do I need to let myself think those things? Also another thing is that sometimes my compulsion is to make myself upset by looking at or reading something that will trigger me, so it feels like I am exercising a muscle by avoiding actually since again my compulsions are actually to make myself have that adrenalin surge and panic (in an attempt to prevent future harm).
Typically we don't want to push thoughts away. That would be the opposite of doing an exposure. It teaches the brain that the thought you had is scary. We want to teach the brain that thoughts are thoughts.
@@ocdandanxiety wow so simply put but so true. I have been obssesed with obssesing over my Girlfriend and creating rituals but now i dont feel the need to
You're amazing
Can you make a video on contamination OCD?
That is a really good idea. I'm not sure why I haven't yet but it seems obvious. 🤪 Thanks!
I it normal that ocd feels 100%true.
It feels often 120% that they r my thoughts
It's funny, because just the thought of me making other people uncomfortable made me uncomfortable 😅
I’ve been seeing a few therapist. My one just makes me have the thought while holding my child. I developed ocd when I was pregnant with my third child. I gave harm thoughts over her. I’m literally the least violent person especially towards my kids. Being a mom is all I’ve ever wanted. My brain thinks of new topics to scare the tar out of me. Specifically it’s thought of shaking her. I’ve almost vomited because of the pain thinking of hurting her. Idk how to do exposure. I was just being exposed. I avoid her, reassurance seek and am afraid to be alone with her or near her when I’m mad. Please help!
Hi chris, let me tell you my ocd story and how I recovered. I can bet you my ocd was one of the worst ocd which totally drained me out of all happiness and energy. It started when I was in college , a thought of suicide just popped up in my mind. I never wanted to do that but the thought was so strong that I attached anxiety with that thought. Somehow I managed to sleep that night and thought it will not come the next day. But to my surprise next morning the very thought which came in my mind was that suicidal thought. My anxiety was so high that I could'nt think rationally. No one was there to tell me what it was. I was so scared , I started doing compulsions like whenever that thought pops in I started praying to God. I never knew it would make problem worse as instead of ignoring that thought I was paying attention to it and to get rid of anxiety I started praying. But you know that is a compulsion and compulsion only fuels up ocd. So my ocd started with self harm ocd after that it moved to harming others. I would have thoughts of killing my friends and parents. That was really horrible and scary . I knew I need to do something before it would turn me insane. Then I came across a term ERP which did miracles in my life. Your attention plays a great role in developing ocd. If you put your attention to any random thought then it will grow bigger in your life. Let's say if you have a sexual thought and you started googling that whether it is normal or not or if you will analyse it then it will become a ocd theme and you will get stuck in that loop. So the best thing is to ignore your thoughts. I know it's hard but believe me you can recover from any kind of ocd if you practise it long enough . Just don't give your attention to your intrusive thoughts. If they are coming just let them come. Keep yourself busy and let thoughts come in your mind. After some time your brain will learn and your thoughts will lose power. Do exercise, talk to friends, do cooking , anything which you want but don't put attention to your thoughts. I can bet you if you will practise it you will surely recover. Secret lies in not putting attention to your intrusive thoughts. Just accept all those thoughts and move on. I am still doing erp and believe me now I am much stronger and powerful than I was before. Now I know what ocd is and what I have to do. Believe me it has worked for everyone and it will work for you also. You will regain your old life where there was no fear and anxiety. Now i am enjoying my life again and you will also. It does'nt matter whether your ocd is 12 years old or 2 months old, it will recover. Believe me just do erp. Let me share a experience which I had few weeks ago and it made me a firm believer of erp. One day I was watching a movie and there I heard a word sex addict. After that thoughts related to sex started coming in my mind. My mind started to question if I am a sex addict . Now I knew how to handle it so instead of reacting with fear I replied to those thoughts that yes I am a sex addict and I moved on with some other work. And that thought completely vanished . So our attention plays a great role just don't give your attention to intrusive thoughts and in few days you will see your anxiety will drop and after few months you will completely recover. I know it is not easy. I also suffered a lot in beginning there were setbacks also but I kept moving . I kept disregarding those thoughts and now I can say that those thoughts don't bother me. I hope you will recover soon and if you need any help , you can message me here. It will be glad to help you ☺😊
@@mindpower421 did you do ERP on your own?
Hi, thank you for your advice. I will save it!
Would it be a compulsion to slowly increase the amount of time?
Interesting, I've been exposing myself and not an exposure yet i have still gotten better
What do you do about fears that are tied to phobias? Like I have a really bad airplane phobia, so a lot of my compulsions revolve around neutralizing intrusive thoughts that I'll be in a plane crash. But it's hard to lean into the uncertainty because I'm not on one very often, and it's hard to conceptualize that the NEXT ONE I'M ON won't crash, so what do you suggest?
Agree with all, except intentionally crinkling the bag in a movie. That could start a fight and really ruin the movie.
Hi Nathan! Do you have advice on how to conduct exposure and response prevention for earthquake related anxiety and phobias? Can this even be done? Thank you!!
Each person is different. Sometimes it's just starting with writing the word earthquake, and then watch videos of them on youtube, sometimes getting on a bed and having someone shake it, etc. I use Virtual Reality for this as well. 👍🏻
OCD and Anxiety all really great ideas! Thank you so much
How can you expose yourself to hocd? Because I’m in a relationship with my bf and idk if I can expose myself the way u are explaining if I understand correctly
Great questions! I actually have a video coming out next monday on this very thing. I hope it can help!
OCD and Anxiety thank you so much because I really try to expose myself and some days are good but Most days are bad and I don’t want it to mess up my relationship and I also want to say your accepting method did work for other themes of ocd I had faced (intrusive thoughts) but somehow it’s not working that much for hocd and I don’t know why
OCD and Anxiety is it possible to recover without therapy bc in nyc therapist are way too expensive and I’m a college student who sadly can not afford that
@@tyratunn8457 Each person is different. Sometimes it's tough to know what to do if you don't have all the skills and a plan.
Helpful video
How can I do exposures for Health Anxiety OCD? I’ve had it for 45 years, and it’s awful. Thanks! I love your videos, and I’m currently taking your online class.
Hello. I am grateful for your videos. Can you help me with some tips , I have ROCD and mental health anxiety. I have tried to do some imaginal exposures by writting my worst case scenarios that I fear ,but I havent really felt anxious. Maybe because I dont really believe those things. Can you help me to make more exposures ? Any tips ?
Hi Spenser! I do have some tips on my ROCD videos. I believe I have two that should give some ideas with some exposures. 🤪
Is it normal not to feel anxious or disturbed by imaginal exposure ? And thank you very much for your videos. They mean a lot...
Hello. Can you do more videos about exposing for people with agoraphobia. For example,if i feel very inconfortable and full of fear when i go on streets full of peoples, how i can change that?
How to do exposures with POCD?
Am doing exposure for ocd it work for m'y sexual thaughts i juste dont pays attention to them any more with Time and techniques m'y complusions gone so its great technique for therapy thé exposure
I have ocd since i was 10 years old and now i am 30 , i have ocd and it comes in different faces - one which make me so depressed is brightness of my laptop - when i use my laptop my brain says that ur screen is too weak it will harm ur eyes and make u blind then i make it bright then again it says now it will really harm u i became stucked in it - i dont know how to do ERP for this could u help me plz😞 tnk u
Thanks for sharing your experience. I can't give advice for your specific case but a lot of the time the exposure tends to be the opposite of what we think we should do. For instance, if my brain says my screen is too bright and will harm my eyes then I'll probably turn it brighter and maybe sit closer to it. 😃
OCD and Anxiety thank you sir - for helping us ❤️
OCD and Anxiety sir for how lond do i have to do this exposure until i get myself rid of this thought???
OCD and Anxiety lol that reads so masochistic and dark especially with the smiley face
Anoush Ibrahimi I think you have to just keep doing it until it goes away, however long it takes
Well, now there is one thing I want to know. If I have "Watching Ocd" and play the repeat button all the time to not miss any information that can be in this video. I pay too much attention to words. Would it help to just be exposed in this case?
I struggle with this. Constantly rewinding 10 seconds, constantly missing things or worrying about doing it. Good news is, exposing yourself to this really helps! Don't rewind no matter how much you want to. Try deliberately NOT concentrating. Do something else whilst watching it. You'll find you don't need to hear every word or see everything. You'll recover.
@@gertrude_3735 Lately, I have been practicing it, and I have to say that it works. It is challenging, but it is worth it in the long run. You pointed out an important part, and that is not to concentrate on it. Well, as I've noticed, the more you repeat, the less info you get. Thanks for advice!
This is amazing .Can i please ask, how to do ERP using images. My OCD and Anxiety kicks off when I see some particular images. So in order to do ERP, I have made these pictures My Wall paper, phone lock wallpaper., so I see them constantly and try not to do a ritual or a mental compulsion. Am I doing the right thing?
Hi! Your videos are very helpful.
How can we do ERP for HOCD? I get very anxious, what should I say to myself at that situation?
Just be unsure if it asks u a question just blatantly answer maybe,and for groinal responses do the same. But just be sure a spike might attack just do the same thing again.been doing it everyday ehh it kinda helps
How much does medication help when it comes to this exposure treatment? Is it necessary to be on pills?
( My therapist says I better but I'm very reluctant to cause I suffered a lot trying it. )
Hey nate, i've recently developed HomosexualOCD a months ago and could u give some of your advice after doing all necessary things like i've done it all, the ERP and i'm still ruminating, does your ocd convinces you to ruminate? I've had zero compulsions. My anxiety plummeted to none and i feel empty, is it normal to feel anxiety in anytime?
I so relate! I feel weird without the anxiety sometimes, like is this true now cause i'm not anxious?
So what should I do among these two?
Being exposed OR Doing an exposure? Please reply fast. I have very rare symptoms
Bro i am also from india. Let me tell you my ocd story and how I recovered. I can bet you my ocd was one of the worst ocd which totally drained me out of all happiness and energy. It started when I was in college , a thought of suicide just popped up in my mind. I never wanted to do that but the thought was so strong that I attached anxiety with that thought. Somehow I managed to sleep that night and thought it will not come the next day. But to my surprise next morning the very thought which came in my mind was that suicidal thought. My anxiety was so high that I could'nt think rationally. No one was there to tell me what it was. I was so scared , I started doing compulsions like whenever that thought pops in I started praying to God. I never knew it would make problem worse as instead of ignoring that thought I was paying attention to it and to get rid of anxiety I started praying. But you know that is a compulsion and compulsion only fuels up ocd. So my ocd started with self harm ocd after that it moved to harming others. I would have thoughts of killing my friends and parents. That was really horrible and scary . I knew I need to do something before it would turn me insane. Then I came across a term ERP which did miracles in my life. Your attention plays a great role in developing ocd. If you put your attention to any random thought then it will grow bigger in your life. Let's say if you have a sexual thought and you started googling that whether it is normal or not or if you will analyse it then it will become a ocd theme and you will get stuck in that loop. So the best thing is to ignore your thoughts. I know it's hard but believe me you can recover from any kind of ocd if you practise it long enough . Just don't give your attention to your intrusive thoughts. If they are coming just let them come. Keep yourself busy and let thoughts come in your mind. After some time your brain will learn and your thoughts will lose power. Do exercise, talk to friends, do cooking , anything which you want but don't put attention to your thoughts. I can bet you if you will practise it you will surely recover. Secret lies in not putting attention to your intrusive thoughts. Just accept all those thoughts and move on. I am still doing erp and believe me now I am much stronger and powerful than I was before. Now I know what ocd is and what I have to do. Believe me it has worked for everyone and it will work for you also. You will regain your old life where there was no fear and anxiety. Now i am enjoying my life again and you will also. It does'nt matter whether your ocd is 12 years old or 2 months old, it will recover. Believe me just do erp. Let me share a experience which I had few weeks ago and it made me a firm believer of erp. One day I was watching a movie and there I heard a word sex addict. After that thoughts related to sex started coming in my mind. My mind started to question if I am a sex addict . Now I knew how to handle it so instead of reacting with fear I replied to those thoughts that yes I am a sex addict and I moved on with some other work. And that thought completely vanished . So our attention plays a great role just don't give your attention to intrusive thoughts and in few days you will see your anxiety will drop and after few months you will completely recover. I know it is not easy. I also suffered a lot in beginning there were setbacks also but I kept moving . I kept disregarding those thoughts and now I can say that those thoughts don't bother me. I hope you will recover soon and if you need any help , you can message me here. It will be glad to help you ☺😊
@@mindpower421 Hi, i am glad you recovered from suicidal OCD.
One of my compulsions is checking gas regulators to see if it's on or off. But after i turn off, and move just a meter away, i feel anxiety and again go to check the gas regulator. This goes on and on.
My question is, what is erp for this?
1) after i close the regulator, move on and don't think about it.
2) turn on the gas regulator.
How do you do this with a younger child?
Yep. Here is my video using exposures with my child.
th-cam.com/video/axO7iveC9c0/w-d-xo.html
Do you provide therapy?
Yes I do. I can practice in Texas and Utah. 😃
OCD and Anxiety I live in México. Would you be able to provide online therapy?
@@ocdandanxiety do you do online therapy I live in Poland 🙂
@@webtraveler0774 I can only provide therapy to those who live in the state I live in. You can check out my online course if you'd like. www.OCDandAnxietyOnline.com
@@ocdandanxiety thank you, I will check it out. Your videos are a God send, really refreshing to know new ways of tackling OCD.
Hi
Okey I saw this and I'm going to eat without washing my hands and cleaning my phone and everything before it
Bye 😂
Man this video aged badly with the corona virus epidemic lol.