Monday is another day!

[Guest AnnieX]

Was not sure how to start this post or what to say other than I need some support .

A therapist once said to me " your trouble is everything has to be black or white" . I took this to mean I didn't sign up to the gradually increasing your exposure to a situation or thing it's " all or nothing" .

So my question is ; I am currently facing an all or nothing moment - if your goal can be reached by small steps why bother ? Just jump straight in and hope your ok .

Is it possible to jump straight in and achieve success ?

[Gemma7]

I am in a similar place I feel. Is it possible to just jump in at the deep end and it pay off? I would say so as long as the fundamental cognitive part of the therapy has been gone through thoroughly. It is also possible to feel overwhelmed and it set you back but it will vary from person to person.

I read somewhere that its best to attack ocd as fast as YOU can and thats the best advice I can give.

[Guest doris]

yeah I agree with gemma7.

you can jump in a little quicker if you feel you can handle that. the reason I work slowly up is usually that's all I can handle.

Plus I think it's a little like taking on an exercise program. some people are like--I'm not going to bother with working up slow, i'll just get in there and go for it. but then the next day you wake up and feel all sore and lousy, and you won't feel motivated to go back to the gym any time soon. whereas if you take it a little at a time you find that the process is a lot less painful and more sustainable for the long term.

I find ocd is one of those things where it's best to aim for long-term endurance rather than one big sprint.

[Guest AnnieX]

Having read your replies Gemma and Doris. Thanks.

Yes; maybe I need to learn to walk before I can run . Oh I don't know !

[taurean]

Black and white - or all or nothing - thinking is one of the 10 cognitive thinking distortions identified as contributing to mental health and anxiety issues.

The standard approach to these thinking distortions is to challenge them with a more rational response; in the case of this one, showing how unhelpful ii is and working towards building up the grey in between!!!

So my answer is - jumping in with both feet to try and engineer a quick fix in OCD is unlikely to be successful. Not for nothing do we regularly advocate taking small steps, building up exposure work - since this has been found more likely to be successful.

So my view is:

Don't disregard dealing with the black and white thinking - its's not helpful and needs tackling.

And take the exposures slowly and build them up - Rome was not built in a day - the prize of a - usually-attainable - significant improvement by doing this is too valuable to miss.

[Guest AnnieX]

Thanks Taurean , I have looked this up in the Internet and recognise myself within all the thinking distortions. Now I jut need to see if I can get help for my thinking or perhaps just try to be less negative. I will build a little at a time because I am struggling to jump straight in . Thanks for your help .A

[taurean]

:original:

We all will have elements of at least some of these - when they get ouf of hand and dominate our thinking they need to be tackled.

I had problems with 4 of those thinking distortions but have reduced those elements right down be challenging and reframing my thinking ( standard therapy approach for these).

I am currently working on my wife's "mind-reading" distortion which is very unhelpful! !!