ERP Advice Please

[drac31]

Hello Lovely People 

I am feeling very unsure at the moment and would really appreciate some advice please. My theme is contamination OCD, and last Friday I did a whole day of exposures, including putting my hands in my mouth afterwards and continued this on the Saturday and Sunday. At the end of these 3 days it felt satisfying, and that I was starting to take back control. A week on and I have not experienced any illness, which reinforces the risk of exposing oneself to said contaminant is minimal. I don't feel that my fear is of becoming ill, but of a really uncomfortable feeling when touching these items. I get a really strange feeling inside, as though my heart is about to burst out of my chest and I can feel my head become really tense, as though a giant hand is applying pressure to it.

This week has not been so good, I have done minimal ERP and feel that I have gone back into my OCD World. Earlier in the week whilst walking to the library, I noticed a dog poo on the pavement and that somebody had stooden in it. This then got me thinking that the person who stood in it continued walking, spreading the contamination further and into the library and all over the carpet. I went to the library for Scrabble Club and the chap setting up couldn't find all of the pieces so he got all of the boards out, put them on the floor and found the rest of the items. This totally freaked me out, my perception being that he was contaminating everything with dog poo. My anxiety went sky high and I had a mini panic attack. I stayed for a few minutes afterwards but then made my excuses and left 

I would like advice on the following please:-

1) Rather than doing ERP for a short time, would it make sense to do it daily? I feel that I easily slipped backwards into my OCD World to avoid these intense feelings of anxiety. How long will it take for my intense feelings to subside?

2) I am obsessed with antibacterial wipes and have spent thousands of pounds on them over the years. I have items that are contaminated and decontaminated, kept away from each other. Just the thought of having to decontaminate fills me with a sense of dread, knowing that it will take me a very long time. The rational part of my brain recognises that what I am doing is a waste of time, but I just don't seem to be able to stop. I have heard it said that when everything is contaminated then nothing is contaminated. Would it make sense to spread this contamination all over my possessions or would this be too much too soon?

3) Even after spreading the contamination, I know that it is very likely even after a few days or weeks that I would to get the compulsion to decontaminate again. How can I stop myself from giving in?

4) Any other helpful advice will be very much appreciated 

I am very grateful to this community and really value being a part of it. Sending a virtual hug to all you wonderful people 

Dave

 

[lostinme]

1 hour ago, drac31 said:

 

I would like advice on the following please:-

1) Rather than doing ERP for a short time, would it make sense to do it daily? I feel that I easily slipped backwards into my OCD World to avoid these intense feelings of anxiety. How long will it take for my intense feelings to subside?

2) I am obsessed with antibacterial wipes and have spent thousands of pounds on them over the years. I have items that are contaminated and decontaminated, kept away from each other. Just the thought of having to decontaminate fills me with a sense of dread, knowing that it will take me a very long time. The rational part of my brain recognises that what I am doing is a waste of time, but I just don't seem to be able to stop. I have heard it said that when everything is contaminated then nothing is contaminated. Would it make sense to spread this contamination all over my possessions or would this be too much too soon?

3) Even after spreading the contamination, I know that it is very likely even after a few days or weeks that I would to get the compulsion to decontaminate again. How can I stop myself from giving in?

4) Any other helpful advice will be very much appreciated 

I am very grateful to this community and really value being a part of it. Sending a virtual hug to all you wonderful people 

Dave

 

Hi drac sorry to hear your having a bit of a rough time at the moment, you was doing so well. 

1) When you start doing cbt it's better if you can achieve not doing the compulsion you decide to tackle at least three times a week, then eventually try to do it at least once a day on a daily basis. Unfortunately you can't put a time limit on it, it varies from one person to another.

2) It really is an individual preference to how quick you want to push yourself, but personally I would start at the least anxiety provoking compulsion and work through them one by one at a pace you are comfortable with.

3) You need to start slowly and with the easiest compulsion first, just take it one small step at a time.

 I have been doing cbt for quite some time now, and I'm tackling numerous compulsions daily. I started at the least anxious one and then I  just keep working through them one at a time until I feel comfortable with it, before picking another one to tackle.

Hope this is helpful to you.?

[PolarBear]

ERP is just one part of proper OCD recovery. I don't want you to solely concentrate on ERP, expecting to get better. It's more a case of a little of this and a little of that.

On the cognitive side you need to watch what you say to yourself. You need to start developing an attitude of, "Maybe this is contaminated, oh well." That's the kind of attitude you need to have. Don't sit there and try to rationalize whether something is contaminated or not. Simply accept that it may be but it's not going to upset your world and you can go on with your day without worrying about it.

Then there's compulsions. You can work on not doing them at any time. You know that using those wipes and 'decontaminating' things is a huge compulsion. You can decide to not use them. You can start when you get the urge to use the wipes, decide you're going to delay using them for two hours. You'll get anxious, but that's okay. It won't hurt you. At the end of the two hours, see if you can go an hour or two more. If you have to use them, use them. Then the next time the urge comes along, try to delay again. You'll find over time that delaying isn't all that scary and you'll be able to delay for a longer period fo time. It will be slow going but you can increase the delay over time and every time you do it's a win toward recovery.

And of course ERP. You can do an exposure a day. You should be starting out with an exposure that won't raise your anxiety level too much but enough that you notice it. And you repeat that exposure (and of course practice not performing compulsions) every day until doing so no longer raises your anxiety. When you reach that point, you start a new exposure that is going to challenge you a little more and raise your anxiety level a little higher. Then you do that every day until it no longer bothers you.

A bunch of small steps will get you down the road as sure as a few big ones. And it's a little less stressful on you.

[snowbear]

29 minutes ago, PolarBear said:

You know that using those wipes and 'decontaminating' things is a huge compulsion. You can decide to not use them. You can start when you get the urge to use the wipes, decide you're going to delay using them for two hours. You'll get anxious, but that's okay. It won't hurt you. At the end of the two hours, see if you can go an hour or two more. If you have to use them, use them. Then the next time the urge comes along, try to delay again. You'll find over time that delaying isn't all that scary and you'll be able to delay for a longer period fo time. It will be slow going but you can increase the delay over time and every time you do it's a win toward recovery.

I agree with this advice. And I also agree with Polar Bear on not neglecting the cognitive side. 

It's important to use the delay time (when you're actively resisting de-contaminating) to challenge the idea that the object is contaminated in the first place. Ask yourself to consider whether it needs cleaned at all.

Is your anxiety about 'real' risk, or just a feeling that something has been contaminated because you have negative thoughts about it? If you reply 'real risk', ask yourself how rational your assessment of that risk is compared to other people's assessment of the same risk. If it's more a gut feeling than real-risk reasoning then challenge your negative thinking about the object or situation.

Emotional reasoning plays a big part in things feeling contaminated, especially if the contamination 'spreads' easily just by considering the possibility one item might have come into contact with another. 

Challenge your thinking. Don't assume that because something feels contaminated (or you've thought about it in that way) that it means it is, in reality, contaminated. Start to get your head around the idea that something you once thought of as contaminated can be 'cleaned' by changing your thoughts rather than needing antibacterial wipes. 

Aim to get to a point where you can happily dismiss the idea of something being contaminated at all, rather than simply aiming to reduce how anxious you get when things 'are' (feel) contaminated. 

[drac31]

On 09/12/2016 at 19:50, lostinme said:

Hi drac sorry to hear your having a bit of a rough time at the moment, you was doing so well. 

1) When you start doing cbt it's better if you can achieve not doing the compulsion you decide to tackle at least three times a week, then eventually try to do it at least once a day on a daily basis. Unfortunately you can't put a time limit on it, it varies from one person to another.

2) It really is an individual preference to how quick you want to push yourself, but personally I would start at the least anxiety provoking compulsion and work through them one by one at a pace you are comfortable with.

3) You need to start slowly and with the easiest compulsion first, just take it one small step at a time.

 I have been doing cbt for quite some time now, and I'm tackling numerous compulsions daily. I started at the least anxious one and then I  just keep working through them one at a time until I feel comfortable with it, before picking another one to tackle.

Hope this is helpful to you.?

Hi lostintime,

I apologise for the delayed reply and thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post 

Your advice is excellent and I will take onboard everything that you said. It is clear to me that it would make sense to have a clear plan in place and feel that a CBT will be able to assist me with this. I just have to find one now, which I'm finding easier said than done, even in the private sector. I will keep looking and am sure that I will find someone soon 

Sending you my very best regards 

On 09/12/2016 at 19:50, lostinme said:

Hi drac sorry to hear your having a bit of a rough time at the moment, you was doing so well. 

1) When you start doing cbt it's better if you can achieve not doing the compulsion you decide to tackle at least three times a week, then eventually try to do it at least once a day on a daily basis. Unfortunately you can't put a time limit on it, it varies from one person to another.

2) It really is an individual preference to how quick you want to push yourself, but personally I would start at the least anxiety provoking compulsion and work through them one by one at a pace you are comfortable with.

3) You need to start slowly and with the easiest compulsion first, just take it one small step at a time.

 I have been doing cbt for quite some time now, and I'm tackling numerous compulsions daily. I started at the least anxious one and then I  just keep working through them one at a time until I feel comfortable with it, before picking another one to tackle.

Hope this is helpful to you.?

 

Edited December 11, 2016 by drac31

[drac31]

On 09/12/2016 at 19:50, lostinme said:

Hi drac sorry to hear your having a bit of a rough time at the moment, you was doing so well. 

1) When you start doing cbt it's better if you can achieve not doing the compulsion you decide to tackle at least three times a week, then eventually try to do it at least once a day on a daily basis. Unfortunately you can't put a time limit on it, it varies from one person to another.

2) It really is an individual preference to how quick you want to push yourself, but personally I would start at the least anxiety provoking compulsion and work through them one by one at a pace you are comfortable with.

3) You need to start slowly and with the easiest compulsion first, just take it one small step at a time.

 I have been doing cbt for quite some time now, and I'm tackling numerous compulsions daily. I started at the least anxious one and then I  just keep working through them one at a time until I feel comfortable with it, before picking another one to tackle.

Hope this is helpful to you.?

 

On 09/12/2016 at 21:09, PolarBear said:

ERP is just one part of proper OCD recovery. I don't want you to solely concentrate on ERP, expecting to get better. It's more a case of a little of this and a little of that.

On the cognitive side you need to watch what you say to yourself. You need to start developing an attitude of, "Maybe this is contaminated, oh well." That's the kind of attitude you need to have. Don't sit there and try to rationalize whether something is contaminated or not. Simply accept that it may be but it's not going to upset your world and you can go on with your day without worrying about it.

Then there's compulsions. You can work on not doing them at any time. You know that using those wipes and 'decontaminating' things is a huge compulsion. You can decide to not use them. You can start when you get the urge to use the wipes, decide you're going to delay using them for two hours. You'll get anxious, but that's okay. It won't hurt you. At the end of the two hours, see if you can go an hour or two more. If you have to use them, use them. Then the next time the urge comes along, try to delay again. You'll find over time that delaying isn't all that scary and you'll be able to delay for a longer period fo time. It will be slow going but you can increase the delay over time and every time you do it's a win toward recovery.

And of course ERP. You can do an exposure a day. You should be starting out with an exposure that won't raise your anxiety level too much but enough that you notice it. And you repeat that exposure (and of course practice not performing compulsions) every day until doing so no longer raises your anxiety. When you reach that point, you start a new exposure that is going to challenge you a little more and raise your anxiety level a little higher. Then you do that every day until it no longer bothers you.

A bunch of small steps will get you down the road as sure as a few big ones. And it's a little less stressful on you.

Hi PolarBear,

I apologise for the delayed reply and thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post 

As always, your advice is excellent. I like your idea of delaying the carrying out of a compulsion and it makes a lot of sense. I intend to apply this and will let you know how I get on?

I am sure that small, solid steps will be far better than big, unsteady steps 

Sending you my very best regards 

Edited December 11, 2016 by drac31

[drac31]

On 09/12/2016 at 22:09, snowbear said:

I agree with this advice. And I also agree with Polar Bear on not neglecting the cognitive side. 

It's important to use the delay time (when you're actively resisting de-contaminating) to challenge the idea that the object is contaminated in the first place. Ask yourself to consider whether it needs cleaned at all.

Is your anxiety about 'real' risk, or just a feeling that something has been contaminated because you have negative thoughts about it? If you reply 'real risk', ask yourself how rational your assessment of that risk is compared to other people's assessment of the same risk. If it's more a gut feeling than real-risk reasoning then challenge your negative thinking about the object or situation.

Emotional reasoning plays a big part in things feeling contaminated, especially if the contamination 'spreads' easily just by considering the possibility one item might have come into contact with another. 

Challenge your thinking. Don't assume that because something feels contaminated (or you've thought about it in that way) that it means it is, in reality, contaminated. Start to get your head around the idea that something you once thought of as contaminated can be 'cleaned' by changing your thoughts rather than needing antibacterial wipes. 

Aim to get to a point where you can happily dismiss the idea of something being contaminated at all, rather than simply aiming to reduce how anxious you get when things 'are' (feel) contaminated. 

Hi snowbear,

I apologise for the delayed reply and thank you so much for taking the time to reply  to my post 

Just like PolarBear, your advice is excellent. I particularly like your suggestion on challenging my thinking, the idea of altering my thoughts to change my behaviour. That is so much more positive than the OCD response. I am going to apply this and let you know how I get on?

Sending you my very best regards 

[Emily]

Hi! I relate to a lot of this. That feeling you described about your heart and you head I totally feel the exact same way. One of my main compulsions is making checklists, and I often dread doing them because they are time consuming, just as you said about decontaminated things. You know it's irrational and time consuming but you still feel the need to do it, I totally feel the same way. I think it's great that you did ERP and were so successful. I did it dor a couple months and felt a HUGE sense of improvement. Sorry that I don't have any specific answers to your questions.  I just wanted to say I relate and good luck with everything  feel free to message me any time