Jump to content

Strategies for coping when doing ERP related stuff


Recommended Posts

Ok so I am trying the whole ERP game and it is already very uncomfortable. Essentially the first one of the night involved a book I was looking at potentially touching my lap and the first feeling was that urine was on my lap so how urine is on the book. 

Now, I ignored the feeling to clean and everything and moved on with it. I played on my computer etc. The anxiety is still there obviously and I’m tossing and turning between “the book didn’t have any urine on it so neither does my computer etc” and “perhaps it did but it’s not going to harm me”. I have a feeling the latter is the better choice but obviously the more repugnant of the choices. I’m 90% sure that it didn’t touch anyway which makes things all the more ???  Do you guys have any advice how to at this very moment embrace the anxiety. Should I just distract myself? 

Link to comment

You aren't accepting that the OCD core belief underpinning your intrusions is false or exaggerated. 

So when you go into the ERP you are still giving belief to it and the triggers, your anxiety goes sky high and your brain is trying to analyse, and ruminating. 

So the ERP won't work. 

You need to go back to the basics of, cognitively, how OCD and your particular take on it works, and accept that you are a sufferer of OCD as a result. 

Then, going into ERP and deliberately bringing on a trigger, your brain will automatically respond to the trigger and you will feel anxious, but you will know it's false or exaggerated, and will be able to sit with the anxiety. 

In due course, working such sessions on a trigger, the anxiety response will fade down to none. 

Edited by taurean
Link to comment
15 hours ago, taurean said:

You aren't accepting that the OCD core belief underpinning your intrusions is false or exaggerated. 

So when you go into the ERP you are still giving belief to it and the triggers, your anxiety goes sky high and your brain is trying to analyse, and ruminating. 

So the ERP won't work. 

You need to go back to the basics of, cognitively, how OCD and your particular take on it works, and accept that you are a sufferer of OCD as a result. 

Then, going into ERP and deliberately bringing on a trigger, your brain will automatically respond to the trigger and you will feel anxious, but you will know it's false or exaggerated, and will be able to sit with the anxiety. 

In due course, working such sessions on a trigger, the anxiety response will fade down to none. 

Do you have any recommended reading? 

I have to beat this. 

Link to comment

There are some good books in the shop on the main OCD-UK website. 

I personally favour a CBT for OCD workbook. 

"Break Free From OCD" co-written by our patron Paul Salkovskis is a favourite self-help book of mine, as also "The mindfulness workbook for OCD" by Tom Corboy and Jon Herschfield - this uses CBT plus mindfulness. 

Edited by taurean
Link to comment
On 17/06/2019 at 10:33, taurean said:

You aren't accepting that the OCD core belief underpinning your intrusions is false or exaggerated. 

So when you go into the ERP you are still giving belief to it and the triggers, your anxiety goes sky high and your brain is trying to analyse, and ruminating. 

So the ERP won't work. 

You need to go back to the basics of, cognitively, how OCD and your particular take on it works, and accept that you are a sufferer of OCD as a result. 

 

Hi taurean.  I'm not sure I agree with this.

When I used to try and convince myself it was ocd causing my problems, my brain would just respond "but what if it's not?" 

For me to recover, I had to accept that my fears were possible.  No reassurance.

Maybe I am misinterpreting what you are saying?

Cheers.

Link to comment

No you aren't. 

There are two schools of thought on this. The way you worked through. 

And the method I preferred and mention above. This is especially good I feel for such themes as harm paedophilia sexual preference, where what the OCD is telling us is that we could act opposite to our true core character values. It lies, our true core character values remain intact. 

You "pays your money and you takes your choice" as to which CBT version to use. 

 

Link to comment
On 20/06/2019 at 20:18, Carooba Manooba said:

When I used to try and convince myself it was ocd causing my problems, my brain would just respond "but what if it's not?" 

For me to recover, I had to accept that my fears were possible.  No reassurance.

As Taurean mentions there are (generally) two schools of thought on this.  I also took the approach he does.  For me, accepting doubt was accepting not being certain.  But I could still consider the odds.

For example, I went through a period where I was particularly anxious about having a heart attack.  When I felt (or thought I felt) any kind of pain or unpleasant sensation ANYWHERE in my upper torso my OCD would kick in. I would get in to a rumination loop of trying to convince myself it wasn't happening, try to talk myself out of it.  The problem was I wasn't accepting uncertainty, I felt like I had to convince myself COMPLETELY.  But of course, thats not what a normal person does.  Instead I forced myself to behave more like a normal person.  When I got such a thought I would remind myself that my OCD was at work, that my symptoms didn't match therefore it was probably not a heart attack and that was all I needed to do to move on.  Yes I was still engaging in a level of reassurance, but it wasn't compulsive.  I didn't continue to argue, I didn't continue to ruminate (eventually it took some tries of course).  In essence its the Four Steps method from the book Brain Lock.  Its worked for me (along with medication and other CBT).

Link to comment

Brainlock was a game-changing read for me. 

First it explained the author's view on what happens in the brain during an OCD attack. Not everyone agrees with Jeffrey Schwartz on this, but it made massive sense to me. 

And I certainly experienced the "Brainlock" of the title with my constantly-repeating intrusive thoughts. 

The Four Steps is a great method, for me, on top of - in addition to - cognitive behavioural therapy. 

Link to comment
On 24/06/2019 at 06:53, dksea said:

As Taurean mentions there are (generally) two schools of thought on this.  I also took the approach he does.  For me, accepting doubt was accepting not being certain.  But I could still consider the odds.

For example, I went through a period where I was particularly anxious about having a heart attack.  When I felt (or thought I felt) any kind of pain or unpleasant sensation ANYWHERE in my upper torso my OCD would kick in. I would get in to a rumination loop of trying to convince myself it wasn't happening, try to talk myself out of it.  The problem was I wasn't accepting uncertainty, I felt like I had to convince myself COMPLETELY.  But of course, thats not what a normal person does.  Instead I forced myself to behave more like a normal person.  When I got such a thought I would remind myself that my OCD was at work, that my symptoms didn't match therefore it was probably not a heart attack and that was all I needed to do to move on.  Yes I was still engaging in a level of reassurance, but it wasn't compulsive.  I didn't continue to argue, I didn't continue to ruminate (eventually it took some tries of course).  In essence its the Four Steps method from the book Brain Lock.  Its worked for me (along with medication and other CBT).

Glad it worked for you. 

I had a different experience. I tried various medications and saw a number of therapists. Wasn't until I got off medication and stopped seeing therapists (but still used some of the tools I learned) that I gradually recovered.  My OCD was super aggressive , so I had to be super aggressive in return.  The "it's not me its my ocd " technique didn't work for me.

Also, for me, every time I put a pill in my mouth I was sending the message to myself that I can't handle this and there is something to fear.  Obviously medication is a delicate topic and I'm not hear to tell people what to do, but just telling my experience.

This excerpt from ocdonline.com by psychologist Steven Phillipson touches on the "Its not me, it's my OCD" approach : "In the presence of an obsession, Schwartz's response serves as a short-term reassurance in that it offers immediate but temporary relief. Perhaps it is better to suggest to oneself that since this thought fits into the theme of the OCD, "I'll take the risk and accept the ambiguity of its legitimacy." Accepting the possibility that there may be a legitimate risk that something might be wrong can facilitate the overall benefit of the therapy. 

 

Edited by Ashley
Removed external link
Link to comment

That approach I didn't feel helpful when the OCD was targeting my true core character values and alleging the opposite. Why should I agree with it, when it's clearly  lying?

I am not personally a fan of that  approach.

Plus the idea that taking the Schwartz approach as a short-term re-assurance , or long-term compulsion, doesn't sit with me either. The idea is to use it until we have re-programmed our brain away from focusing on the obsessional thought, nothing more. We have then shifted focus away from the damaging obsessional default.  

But the good news is there are the two methods. We don't just have one choice.  

Link to comment
14 hours ago, Carooba Manooba said:

Glad it worked for you. 

I had a different experience. I tried various medications and saw a number of therapists. Wasn't until I got off medication and stopped seeing therapists (but still used some of the tools I learned) that I gradually recovered.  My OCD was super aggressive , so I had to be super aggressive in return.  The "it's not me its my ocd " technique didn't work for me.

Also, for me, every time I put a pill in my mouth I was sending the message to myself that I can't handle this and there is something to fear.  Obviously medication is a delicate topic and I'm not hear to tell people what to do, but just telling my experience.

I absolutely respect your experience.  My general thinking is, if you find something that works for you and makes your life better (so long as it doesn't harm others or yourself) great.  I also have no problem with people who want to forgo medication.  For myself its been very helpful and I am thankful for it, but I certainly wouldn't mind being where I am if I felt like I could have gotten there without it!  I'm glad you found an approach that worked for you and thats what matters.  Medication or no, radical acceptance or no, the goal is to recover from OCD and for each person that path may be a little different, and thats ok!

Link to comment

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...