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Just a quick question, is it normal for some obsessions to be a lot harder to coherently be able to work on recovery for? For example, as horrible as POCD is, if I stop compulsions and keep at it consistently within weeks I feel a lot better and am able to be consistent to the point now I laugh at some of the stuff I worried about and shrug it off but with other obsessions it seems no matter how hard I try for weeks to stop compulsions and even when I successfully keep at it, the dreaded feelings and anxiety never seems to go away and I end up stuck on a particular obsession for what seems like, forever. I'm also trying exposure but when I try to trigger myself it doesn't seem to work? I'm flooding my brain with everything I fear but it never feels quite how it does when I randomly get triggered. So then I try to allow myself to deal with the anxiety being there when I randomly get triggered and it does pass, but I just feel like I'm trying so hard for weeks and weeks to not ruminate, not fight my anxiety and for particular obsessions it seems to all be for nothing because they are still strong, yet with other obsessions I put in the work and they fade. I don't understand the logic here as I'm told stopping compulsions works but it only does for some obsessions. I feel lost here or maybe I really am doing something wrong or slipping up in regards to some obsessions. Maybe some obsessions are a lot more personal and scary to me so they're harder to break the fear? Any thoughts?

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Unfortunately recovery isn't an easily quantifiable process, you can't just follow a list like: avoid compulsions for 7 days and the anxiety will go away.  Some intrusive thoughts are stronger than others, some compulsions are easier to stop than others, some compulsions are easier to identify than others.  In my own life I've had some intrusive thoughts that only impacted me for a short time, and some that lasted for years and years before I started getting a handle on them (and really getting in to CBT, I wish I'd known about that a lot earlier).   Of course its frustrating to struggle with recovery for any length of time, we all want to feel better/normal NOW.  But OCD recovery is a marathon not a sprint, it takes time.  Try your best to be patient with yourself and your journey.  Be proud of the progress you are making and the learning you are doing.  You'll keep getting better and before you realize it youll reach your goals.

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