Exposure

[gingerbreadgirl]

The point is though I am triggering myself day after day by watching TV but the anxiety doesn't dissolve it gets worse. 

[Angst]

5 minutes ago, gingerbreadgirl said:

The point is though I am triggering myself day after day by watching TV but the anxiety doesn't dissolve it gets worse. 

 

[Angst]

Handy is talking about habituation. The behaviouralist principle that exposure to a toxic thing will help in that you get used to it. That the anxiety will decline.  There is evidence for this in terms of minutes and hours but days?

You are exposing yourself to stimuli. But is the stimuli the same? Is watching tv the negative stimuli or particular images combined with verbal utterings?

 

[gingerbreadgirl]

I understand the principle of habituation and I've done that with lots of obsessions. 

It's watching TV that bothers me, not being able to predict what might happen. 

[Angst]

TV involves a number of genres. If I watch detective stories or murder mysteries I can predict that the detectives will locate and arrest the culprit. If I watch soap operas I know that the end of an episode will be a cliffhanger so people will tune in next episode. Most Hollywood blockbusters shown on tv have the hero fighting the villain in the final scenes and winning -  Bond, Mission Impossible, Batman, Harry Porter........Personally I find non standard genres refreshing where I cannot guess the conclusion. So is the answer watching very predictable genres? Most -not all - have very little contact with reality. They use dramatic narratives.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Angst

[lostinme]

2 hours ago, Handy said:

Trigger yourself. Sit with the anxiety until it dissolves. The tricky thing is we don’t know how long that is going to take based on the trigger strength. Minutes, days, .,,,

Yes handy I get this, it’s ok changing your behavioural responses to something, however if your only changing your behavioural response and not understanding the cognitive side of things this can be what keeps us stuck. 

[lostinme]

2 hours ago, gingerbreadgirl said:

The point is though I am triggering myself day after day by watching TV but the anxiety doesn't dissolve it gets worse. 

Exactly gbg, the same as me  It’s ok changing our behavioural response however the cognitive side of things is just as important and I think this is where we remain stuck?

[lostinme]

1 hour ago, gingerbreadgirl said:

I understand the principle of habituation and I've done that with lots of obsessions. 

It's watching TV that bothers me, not being able to predict what might happen. 

The same gbg, different theme but same scenario  So I understand totally what you are saying  

[Angst]

39 minutes ago, lostinme said:

Yes handy I get this, it’s ok changing your behavioural responses to something, however if your only changing your behavioural response and not understanding the cognitive side of things this can be what keeps us stuck. 

My post was attempting to clarify the cognitive side. GBG specified that she feels a need to predict about what might happen. That is common in OCD. I am under anxiety at the moment because I want to predict what will happen in the course of building work at my property. I cannot: it is old property with four co owners. I am in the midst of anxiety with checking behaviours.

But watching tv is much more predictable with distinct genres.  So watching predictable genres might provide temporary relief but it might be termed avoidance. So, for example, watching independent movies which tend to have non standard narratives might be a more effective strategy.

Edited July 16, 2019 by Angst

[paradoxer]

gingerbreadgirl, I know you know this, but it can be liberating to keep it in mind, the triggers aren't the problem.

Never mind the TV, with OCD life is a trigger.

The above is along the lines of 'when everything is contaminated, tainted - nothing is.'  

[gingerbreadgirl]

Thanks for the input everyone I appreciate it x