7. OCD Treatment: Introduction to Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP)
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- čas přidán 5. 09. 2024
- CBT Therapist, Katie d'Ath, explains how to use Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) to overcome OCD. Katie offers individual therapy but you might like to check out BetterHelp at betterhelp.com....
Compensation received using these links supports Katie's work in helping people overcome OCD.
So you can't stop your thoughts. They come and go. But what we CAN control is how we react??
I HAVE OCD AND I BEAT IT FOR TWO MONTHS. I HAD TO DO RITUALS BEFORE GOING TO BED, BUT ONE NIGHT I REFUSED TO DO THEM AND I GOT INTO BED IN A STATE OF SEVERE DISTRESS. I JUST CLOSED MY EYES AND EVENTUALLY WENT TO SLEEP AND WHEN I WOKE IN THE MORNING MY OCD HAD COMPLETELY VANISHED.
Hi Katie,
First off, thank you so much for taking time to help countless people with your videos. My 11 yr old son has intrusive thoughts and night time has been hard for him. As many of your clients know, night time can be the worst time for thoughts to run free, often keeping them up for hours. It became a ritual for him to have to cry himself to sleep in order to get all of his emotions out each night. One day while searching the internet I found an article on meditation and decided to give it a go. We have been actively meditating for 2 weeks and it has helped my son get to sleep at night. For us this has been a miracle because we were at the point of considering putting him on sleeping meds. If you have any experience with meditation, could you please spread the word to your audience. It has not only helped my son with sleep but has helped him to gather his thoughts about being in the present when he has panic attacks. There are all kinds of articles online on how meditation can help physically change your brain and helps decrease anxiety. Meditation also helps your mind relax and take a break, which I know anyone with OCD truly can benefit from. I am not a therapist but hopefully this can help someone else the way it has helped my son. Thanks again, Jen
Hi Jenniffer. Thanks so much for sharing your experience. You are quite right that mediation can be a useful tool in helping people deal with their OCD. The main thing is about helping people to become impartial observers of the thoughts (or images). The most commonly used form of meditation is called Mindfulness meditation - usually a sufferer would go on a course of about 6 sessions to learn the techniques and practice with guidance. There are also some really good introductory meditation smartphone apps like a free app called Headspace which I would thoroughly recommend to anyone wanting a taster.
Great videos. It's been a great help. I seem to have a lot more control of my thinking and thoughts.
Hi Katie, my name is Jamie, I'm 19 and my OCD has been a big problem for me, for about the last 4 years now. I'm not sure how to define or categorise my OCD, i think the most accurate term i've found is magical/superstitious OCD, for example, if I have a fight with one of my friends or loved ones, I'll unconsciously remember what I was wearing, and next time it comes to getting dressed I'll avoid picking out that shirt. That was a less serious example. But recently I've had trouble studying, getting to lectures on time and meeting deadlines because of my intrusive (or superstitious) thoughts, a few more examples would be crossing thresholds at doorways or roads or between bollards, thinking a good thought while i'm washing my hands, or getting into bed, the list could go on and on, I am just trying to give you an idea.
I try to carry ERP out on myself, but the anxiety always lasts for so long and feels like its having a real impact on me and who I am, i usually end up giving in. I have been stuck in that up-down trend that you showed on that diagram in your habituation video for 3 or 4 years now, and am at a loss as to what I should do. If you have any advice or anything that could help me, I would be extremely grateful.
Thank you for taking the time to read this,
Jamie :)
I have never been diagnosed with ocd but i feel like I have for multiple reasons (checking, fear, anxiety,) But most of this I am able to cope with because I figured out exposure theapy on my own as a child trying to logical prove to myself that my fears were illogical and that i was trying to "train" my body not to be anxious.
But I have another problem where this works. I feel Compulsed to do things I do not want to do (self harming things) When I am on tall buildings I think "I could jump it would be easy" and i often try to avoid this by just getting off the high place. Some of these thoughts do not go away. I Had this problem under control, but a month ago I decided to "test" if the problem was gone by doing one of my triggers, and it came back. Most of the anxiety came from the fear that the problem would come back 2 years after i thought i had conquered it. This is a bit trickey of a concept because, the trigger is touching the roof of my mouth, and this makes me think I might try to gag myself. Now, because touching the roof of my mouth is not actualy harmful. I tried to avoid doing it as long as i could. Eventually I became scared to even do this in fear that it might trigger the problem i had 5 years ago of gagging myself. The other day I realized i can control what I do, and that The compulsions had to be folowed by a deliberate action, so in order to choke myself, I would have to do it Voluntarily. Now, This becomes a problem such as the one about being on tall buildings. I think "I could do it it would be easy" about hurting myself (in a non life threatening way.) The way i used to make this go away was by thinking to myself "im in control, I dont have to" and then I would tempt myself to do the action im afraid of, but then not do it. This became my ritual, but eventualy it provided no help. because the ability to hurt myself is always present.
Recently I tried to use my triggers that were not really hurting myself, but that I feared might lead to actually hurting myself. When I had this under control The Problem went away for a few hours. Then later I was struck by a fear of doing the actual thing i was scared of hurting myself, (again not severly but in a way that causes 10/10 anxiety)
Now because the way I got around the past fear was to "Do the thing I was scared of" I had the Urge to, Hurt myself, to avoid being afraid of hurting myself" As completely illogical as this sounds... It is bothering me currently.
Im unsure of what to do now because, Doing what im scared that I might do (hurt myself) Would be counter productive.
What I am trying now is, When the urge to hurtmyself comes up, Do nothing at all, and wait for the urge to go away)
This is gradualy making my anxiety go down But I dont know if there is anything I acn do because I cant Do what im scared of doing because..... Im scared of hurting myself and doing that would not help me.
(I Feel in control currently But im just scared that I am going to have to hurtmyself one time in order to stop worrying about it)
So... Should I just continue with my ignoreing the urge when it comes? and gradualy the anxiety will go down over time? Or is there anything else I need to do.
You are amazing! Thank you for sharing your knowledge :)
Hello Katie, I'm so happy I found your videos because I am currently struggling with what I believe is harm ocd. I am going to tell you a little bit about myself. I am a 22 year old young a beautiful lady. I am very passionate about my dreams and goals in life and one of them is becoming a great chef and being able to teach people how to cook. My ocd started last month so I'm almost two months into this thing and it is debilitating because It makes me feel scared and depressed. It happened one day when I remembered a scary movie that I had watched when I was younger and the images were so horrifying I than started to dwell on it and panic etc...day in and out I would question "omg am I crazy, would I do those things, no I wouldn't," on and on until I pictured harming people close to me and that's when I decided this "thing" has gone too far! I realize I have a lot of mental rituals to help myself feel better and my biggest fear is that if I let the thoughts be there it will consume me and I will like them or want them to be there. I guess that is the ocd trying to keep me in the loop. Since it's only been almost 2 months with this I've followed your advice and I see improvement and moments of normality coming back where I'll go an hour or two without thinking those thoughts and say "oh I haven't thought that in a while" if you have any advice for me I would really appreciate it thank you!
Hi Crystal. Thanks for your comment. Firstly, it's great news that you've identified your problem so quickly as it means you'll be able to put helpful behaviours in place and give up the rituals before they make the problem even worse. You are absolutely right when you say that your fear about letting the thoughts be there is a way of OCD keeping you in the loop. Ask yourself this: When I try and get rid of the thoughts or change or avoid them in some way, does this make the problem go away in the long term? You may find the rituals help briefly but they only make the problem worse in the long-term. Then try some exercises to test your hypothesis that the thoughts will consume you if you let them be there: For example - deliberately think the thoughts while doing something you consider important - do the thoughts make it impossible for you to function or is it just more difficult and unpleasant? If the phone suddenly rings or the doorbell goes and you are having the thoughts what happens to them? You may notice that when something interrupts you and you pay attention to something else they seem to disappear. This is because when we stop paying attention to them, or pay more attention to something else they tend to fade into the background as we can only really pay proper attention to one thing at a time (although you may notice there are lots of things going on in your mind at once trying to get your attention back to them - that's totally normal). As soon as I have time I will upload an attention training video which will help you practice being more in charge of what you pay attention to (you are in charge of this, it just often doesn't feel like it as we are not very good at maintaining our focus in the modern world). Keep up the good work. Katie
Thank you so much for replying! This is all very helpful! I was watching one of your other videos and I can relate to something you said, "I try not to think about it so now I am focused on not thinking about it, and I end up thinking about it more" My focus is completely off and I would really appreciate a video on how to focus on other things" You are also correct about all these thoughts that keep popping up, what-if's etc....I try not to interact with them or reason with them as they only hold me back from getting better! I call them mental-roadblocks that only stand in the way! I'm so happy to know all of those thoughts are normal and sometimes they are on re-play...its really annoying. I am in control of what I choose to focus on, I feel like these thoughts became a bad habit because now every time I am around people I have to think about not thinking of harming anyone and than the thoughts come and than anxiety comes but if I change my reaction to the thoughts and just let them be there like you said, a train that passes by. Writing this made me realize how my "focus" really is on those thoughts. haha. Thank You so much Katie for going out of your way to write to me, I really, really, really appreciate it!
Hi Katie, I'm so glad I found this videos, they have been really helpful. I have had OCD (without physical rituals) for many years. For the past years it has been really bothersome when I try to study with different thoughts (that I'm gonna fail the test, etc, etc), I used to be very sharp but since then my academic performance has declined a lot. Your techniques have positive impacted on me, the discomfort is terrible but then the way of seen life changes when u overcome it. I don't actively engage in exposing with thought since the thoughts just come alone by themselves and I try not to pay attention. My questions is the following: even If I feel well any given day, do I have to actively think about them to expose myself or just let them come and apply the techniques? Thanks a lot!
What do you do if you have a health anxiety, like fear of catching or having a disease or health condition? One can't (and wouldn't) give oneself cancer. How would "exposure" work in that case?
I'm really grateful to you..and this means a lott to me,thank you !! I've seen almost all your videos on this topic coz I'm suffering from this very badly..! need to discuss, if you're available..
Hi there. Feel free to email me on katie.dath@me.com. Katie
I wrote an e-mail to you, please do read..that can help me out..
Hi Katie, thanks for your video. The kind of OCD I suffer from is pure obsessional so I guess all my neutralizing behaviors are mental and probably unknown to be. I constantly get disturbing mental images, mostly sexual, that bothers me throughout the day. My anxiety level has gone down when I found out that I suffer from OCD and these thoughts have no meaning. However, I still get very uncomfortable when these images pop up on my head. What would be an appropriate ERP activity that I can follow to help me with this. Again, thanks a lot for you great videos.
Hi Katie, hope you can help me with this. I mostly suffer from intrusive mental images which is sexual in nature. Initially I thought I was going insane because these images followed by extreme anxiety bothered me all day long. My situation has improved somewhat after I realized that I was suffering from pure O and the anxiety has subdued a little. However, the intrusive images continue to bother me and leave me in discomfort for most of the day. I want to try ERP by myself and wanted to know how to go about it. It would be great if you elaborate how I can use this method to cure my condition.
your videos are awesome. can you make more about social anxiety? i'm noticing i have some ocd things within me, but the ocd really comes into play for me with social anxiety (over-thinking how to behave with others in different situations)? thanks.
Hi there. So glad you liked the videos. I would love to get time to expand into making more videos for other disorders such as social anxiety, however it's really hard to find the time so it may be a bit of a wait! In the meantime you can use many of the treatment processes here to help with social anxiety. In particular review the Vicious Flower video - try and work out all the things you do to try and make yourself feel better in social situations (safety behaviours) and see how these things are only short-term fixes that make the issue worse in the long-term (e.g not making eye-contact etc). Then the next step is to think what are the opposite behaviours that will be hard short-term but help in the long-term - i.e making eye-contact, striking up conversation etc. Like with OCD exposures start with a situation which is challenging but not overwhelming and be clear that in order to help yourself learn that you can cope you need to GIVE UP YOUR SAFETY BEHAVIOURS. Once you've tried in less challenging situations move on to more difficult ones - you'll be amazed how much you can help yourself just through doing this. Katie
do you think, to an extent, that everyone has some level of ocd within them? thank you so much for your reply, it was very helpful. i was assuming that i could apply the same advice in a social way. it's funny, it's like i "knew" when i aware of of my safety behaviors but now i am MUCH more clear because of these videos. you have made a huge topic my confused right brain could not understand be able to be understood by the left brain. can't wait to see more videos : ) there are few youtube videos (that i've found) that explain REAL ways to combat this bizarre problem. until next time.
You're my new obsession : )
Hey Katie, I just watched a few of your videos and I see that you really get OCD. Can I ask, because I've tried to use ERP already before - what is the best way to apply it to my compulsions? I have some kind of pure-o where basically I try to suppress any thought as I do an action, whether it's a good thought or a bad one, with an emotionally neutral one. And the thing that makes it hardest is feeling the need to avoid making mental associations; a bad thought as I do something I love, or a good thought as I'm doing something I hate. Or vise-versa, it really doesn't matter. And I always worry that association will taint that thing or thought forever. I just don't know how to accurately target this obsession, can you offer any advice in particular?
Thank u for the great videos
I have been doing what you are saying for a few weeks now. I have the germ thing and the pure o intrusive sexual, death, bad words, violence thoughts and bi polar II. I have also today been vocalising the thoughts ], wow, and you just said it! I wish I had started what I have been doing long ago which you are confirming
Great news. I'm really happy you've found the videos helpful and that you are putting things into practice. Keep up the good work!
Great video! What do u mean "habituate to those uncomfortable feelings"?
Also, how can you relate ERP to my situation-How would you recommend applying this to someone with OCD who is super particular about cleanliness and perfect operation of their new phones or other electronic devices? For example- I got a new iPhone recently and everyday I feed that i NEED to check every single operation of it from volume to speed etc, as well as keep it clean by dusting it and using special cleaning implements.
Where can I start with ERP for this?
Thanks in advance,
Jon
By habituate I mean get used to. So for you ERP would involve doing things like deliberately making your phone feel dirty and then not wiping it or deliberately turning one of the functions off and not turning it on again until your anxiety has gone down. The idea is to let yourself feel uncomfortable or anxious by doing the thing you really don't want to do and then don't try and make yourself feel better other than by letting time pass - this is what we call habituation. Your anxiety will come down naturally over time if you do nothing to try and make yourself feel better.
Sounds like "torture therapy"
What about groinal responses. I'd rather be afraid of germs than my own disgusting arousal. How is someone supposed to tackle that?
Hi there. It's hard to give you an accurate response without having more information from you. People suffering from anxiety (particularly around things of a sexual nature) often confuse anxiety symptoms with arousal. Furthermore in worrying about the possibility of being aroused we can unwittingly make ourselves aroused even when we have not actually been aroused by the trigger. If you want to share your problem in more detail I can give you a more specific response and hopefully give you a more helpful answer. Katie
Hi Katie, what do you do if you don't have anything to fear and be exposed to?
i.e. repetitive thoughts about a girlfriend's past casual lover?
He pops in my head all the time for no apparent reason!
Even though she has no contact with him and no interest in him at all.
So I don’t have anything to fear or expose myself to because he’s no longer a threat.
But still I keep thinking about him. Any advice would be much appreciated!
Thanks Katie. Great videos btw.
Hello, I really love your videos and have watched all 10 more than once to try and remind myself that I can get out of the hell I'm in.
OCD has been bothering me now for 1 month and 1 week, constantly saying something horrid inside my head. It's stuck in my head like a broken record, it's so insulting and makes me feel absolutely disgusted that horrid thoughts could get such a hold on my happiness.
I was finally starting to recover but then this year was really bad and the ocd took a hold of me putting disturbing thoughts inside my head, because of this thought my head started feeling lke there's cold water inside of it (GP told me it's all pyschological). Then went numb and I felt dissconnected with my real self, even with the numbness OCD was still replaying horrid thoughts in my head over and over again. Saying something horrible and writing it out in red writing inside my head, adding other horrid thoughts like putting horrid faces on my face.
The thoughts were so loud I got terrified, I had panic attacks and an out of body experience which I'm guessing is because my body went to sleep from over tirdness but my mind is fully awake in anxiety. According to OCD's rules I have to say the oposite of what it's telling me, it's such a long sentence and ocd replaces my words with it's horrid words. It says 'I do...' when I say 'I don't...' it says 'yes' when I say 'no' I scream at it and say no but it's still saying the horrid things over and over again loudly, it has the nerve to say it in a voice similar to mine, it has the nerve to say the statement in first person making it seem like me. (I wish I could defeat those lies) It's like I don't have controll over my own mind and body. I feel ashamed of being so week.
I fear it will ruin my new year because if the thoughts are still killing me at that time then my happiness for the whole year will be over. I can't sleep, I would wake up 1-2 hours later in the thought. GP gave me sleeping tablets last week, doesn't work well
I tried to ignore it but it's playing like a broken record loudly, the same insulting thing over and over again. I try to distract myself but it's still there over and over again. So now I'm thinking today is going to be the day I get rid of it (I was thinking this for the whole time but the ocd got attached to ruining my new days by ruining my twelve o'clocks which is the start of the new day)
Anyway yesterday I thought I was going to jump on in the thoughts by just making fun of it and looking at every one of them whilst doing a review in my head of what happend. Today was my perfect day to do that but then the ocd ruined my plans in the night (now). I don't want to give up because I don't want my new years ruined. I have made so many fun plans.
I see people for ocd however I don't think they know much about how to help it. I just talk about my problems, they listen and I go away feeling the same (completely alone with this thing and no idea how to stop it).
However your videos have helped alot. Thanks. I feel lost right now because the thought is still bothering me.
Sorry for the long comment this is as short as I can go whilst briefly explaining things.
Hi there. Thanks for sharing your experience. The first thing we have to help you to do is to take the horror out of the thoughts. OCD thoughts are generally directly attacking people's values and very out of character which is why people tend to find them disturbing. What you need to remember is that they are JUST THOUGHTS. You don't ask for them, you don't put them there and THEY DON"T MEAN ANYTHING. (Sorry for capitals but these things are super important for you to remember). Firstly try imagining that you don't understand the content of the thoughts - for example hear them as if they are in a language you don't understand at all or imagine them as being a crackly radio that you can't hear clearly so decide to ignore. The trick with this is NOT to try and change them into these things but just relate to them as if they were these things.
You are currently keeping a very close eye on your thoughts which makes it impossible for you to ignore them and makes you more likely to have them. When you look in your head and ask yourself if you're having the thoughts then they tend to arrive - so in a sense you are making them happen by trying to check they are not there.
SO -
FIRSTLY - give up counting how long you have been having this problem - it's keeping you stuck and making you notice it more.
SECONDLY - Give up the idea that the thoughts have to disappear in order for you to have a good year. The more you try and get rid of them the more they will disturb you. Imagine the thoughts as an annoying little brother or sister that you have to take around with you but you can just leave them to play while you chat to your friends so you can still enjoy yourself even though they are present.
LASTLY - it's unlikely that the thoughts will just disappear overnight (although they could) but you need to remember that it's NOT the thoughts that are the problem it's WHAT YOU DO WITH THEM. If you can train yourself to ignore them and not care about them being there you will be able to get on with your life despite them and eventually they will get bored and go away.
GOOD LUCK!
Katie d'Ath Thank You so much for replying I'll keep reading this. Your right, I have to try and ignore it...it feels like it's killing me because it's so insulting but your right I do have to just leave it. The thing that's most hard about that is that it feels like since I have gotton so far in it, it has some kind of significant meaning if I ignore it now :-( it's saying 'I love (name)' in my head and I HATE (name), it's so horrid that it would use that word when I HATE the person, the OCD make me feel like I have to say. 'I don't love (name) and I'm not going to let the OCD say horrible things to me' and avoid the other thoughts that it's telling me like repeating 'I love (name)' over and over again and making me feel really angry. I hate saying 'I don't love (name)' because I don't want to have the word love associated with that name. What I really want to say is 'I hate (name)' but according to OCD. I only win If I say 'I don't love (name)' and what's worse is that I have to say it in my head with no indications to doing it outside like moving my lips or anything. It's incredibly hard to do that when it puts other horrid things in my head. Like things about gangsters which I HATE and then saying that my face is another face (like a horrid face of a mustache and a bald head) no offense to people with that face but I don't want it in my head. I knew OCD can be horrifying but I never thought I would be going through this hell near my perfect new year. But your right I have to ignore it, just wish it wasn't killing me. I had to keep cutting my hair previously because OCD was getting attched in my hair and all I wanted to do was save my hair from OCD. So I was planning to grow it out in 2014, but if this thought is there it feels like it would be another year untill I can have the hair that I want. I'm so sad so mad and lost in hell, I'm planning to get proper help for my skin which has some scars on it from picking it to get rid of whatever thought attached itself in it. I haven't picked my skin for months and I'm really proud of myself, but OCD reminds me of the horrid thought that was in my skin the last time compulsive skin picking went wrong because of (name). I find myself wishing that I can go back to times of turning light switches on and off and re dressing over and over again, because it feels like it would be much easier OCD to have. It's funny how you feel like your in hell but when you find yourself in a worse situation you realized that that was hill compared to the mountain you now have to climb.
All I want to do is grow my hair out and stop picking my skin so that it can heel and I can go out to auditions on my path towards my future career, but OCD keeps killing me.
I'm going to ignore it as best as I can.
I'll delete this comment soon because I don't want to think that these horrid thoughts in my head is going public. Hopefully other people won't be tempted to read it. There's nothing worst than having a bad reputation thrown at me for OCD thoughts, other than having the thoughts themselves.
You should definitely grow your hair if you want to! Remember - has cutting it actually helped get rid of the OCD or just the worry of it attaching it to your hair? Grow your hair in defiance of OCD! If I'm understanding correctly it sounds like you're saying that when you want to think you hate something the OCD is twisting it to making you think 'love' instead and you hate this. The best remedy to this is to DELIBERATELY say in your head that you LOVE all the things that are abhorrent to you - it may feel bad at first but the more you do it the more you will take away the power from the OCD. It's like if someone is threatening to push you in a pool of cold water you feel fear all the time you are standing at the side knowing you could be pushed but if you jump in you'll feel cold and wet but you won't have the fear any more as you've done the feared thing and what's more the person threatening to push you in no longer has any power over you....
Katie d'Ath Yes that's what it's doing. I didn't really think of acting towrds it in that way...I'm going to try it. The OCD is saying that because I had a bad thought in my head last night and my mind was stuck on it, then it means I have to wait untill tomorrow before I can sort the thought that's bothering me out (the I love (name) thought, but I don't want the OCD to bother my new years eve. It's already ruined my christmas. So I'm going to try it today.
I'll have a rest but would this technique work if I try and remember what happened from the start since I'll be remembering the thought and all my efforts to get rid of it, or do I have to just say what the thoughts are saying?
And thank you again for your advice, I'll follow through after all it coudn't get worse than this. I feel like if I say the thought then it's almost like I'm mocking it. I think it's a good idea. It's kind of hard to decide when today to say it though, because of the feeling that if I get another bad thought whilst saying it then my recovery from the thought will be based around that bad thought So I'm going to try and rest and then say it.
And your right I can't let the OCD ruin my hair I like the idea of defying it.
I'll do this. Thank You
Edit---I just tried it and realized it's much harder to say something like that in my head but as I'm writing this I did it again and it seemed a little bit funny...but now it put a bald head in my mind. I fear I'll have to keep saying the thought which would be even worse than saying no I don't, maybe if I say the bald head too. Will it work if I say every OCD thought that pops up in my head or will that just turn into compulsion?
Katie d'Ath The thought seems to have lost it's effect now. Last night I felt like I needed to do a review in my head of how the thoughts were upsetting me and what I did to get rid of it along with the reason I was now saying the thought (so that it would loose it's power) I failed at my review because the OCD was interfering by putting other horrid thoughts in my head. I began to realized that the review may have been compulsion. Then I realized...I didn't need to do a review, I've basically just lived through the hell that the OCD was putting me through so I already know what I've been through and my efforts to stop it and that it was carrying on because I was trying to beat it at it's own game. I felt better after that and then I got a visual of the OCD looking down at me (it appeared as a person) It was sat up on a wall looking down at me, it looked bored whilst watching me do the compulsion (how insulting) I saw myself being stuck in OCD and how it looked on the outside, just how silly it looked. After that the thought didn't have such a horrid effect on me anymore. The broken record of horror stopped. It was still trying to say the horrid things but it just didn't make me suffer that time.
Today I woke up with a song in my head that I like instead of waking up in the horrid thought, now I'm just left with the feeling of being defeated by the horrid thoughts and the reminder of not doing the usual compulsion, that made the thought start it's horrid ways again. I was able to ignored it this time. Then I felt like I needed to say 'OCD had been bothering me for a while now and it was saying horrid things to me and I had to say things to try and make it stop but that hell is over now and it was just another OCD phase I'm going to just forget it whatever' however I know that if I say that then then the OCD would just put a horrid thought in my head and the cycle would start all over again.
So now I'm just trying to distract myself, I can do it but I would have like to put a lid on it with those words but I know I can't. So I'll just leave it after all I can't possible let feeling of gaining back my sanity go to waste.
Thank You again for the videos and your help---everything is very helpful
Have a happy new year :-)
Hi I am not sure if I should call you Dr. Katie? I am also not sure if you are still responding to questions since this video was done almost a year ago. Anyways, I do have ocd and I am really enjoying watching your series of videos. I have not come across something so meaningful and something that makes a lot of sense to me. I think I might have heard or read about some of the concepts you have mentioned but I think this time around listening to your videos has made it even clearer what I can do to help myself overcome my ocd or manage it. My ocd is ocd contamination and I do have emetophobia. Basically everything I do is done so I don't get sick and throw up. That is my biggest fear, fear of throwing up. I do a lot of things to avoid that.
What you say makes a lot of sense when it comes to me wanting to change my ocd pattern of behavior and way of thinking and in turn help me overcome my phobia as well but I just keep thinking to myself that this fear (fear of throwing up) is not something I want to expose myself to or keep facing on consistent basis to overcome my fear. I think that if I can avoid throwing up then why not? What I find difficult is where I draw the line to say that it's ok for me to be careful of germs and contamination so I don't get sick (since I don't want to get sick and don't think others want to in general), and where do I draw the line and say I should not be overly careful of germs etc etc to where it becomes ocd and a phobia.
In the example you gave about contamination and touching the chair and then touching other things and not washing your hands, I understand how that would work in a situation where there is less likely a chance of getting sick from doing so. However, what about in a situation where I am really anxious if someone like my father gets sick and maybe contagious and gets me sick? Do I still go the one step further and in this case increase my risk of getting sick on purpose? It makes no sense for me to get sick on purpose if I can possibly avoid it. Is this an extreme case and should I just not take it to that much of an extreme and just do "normal" things to not get sick? I am not sure how I would handle that kind of situation and using this exercise.
Can you please get back to me with your thoughts on this? I really appreciate these videos. Thank you very much and also is there another way to contact you if I have any further questions or thoughts etc or is this the best way?
Dear Katie, I have a question. With the responsive thought to provoke your OCD, my problem is that I'm a perfectionist and I want to remember all the things I done or everyone in the past(always try to look back).
For example if I had a dream that I can't very much easily recalled I would've thought about it very much and hard to make it (the compulsive thinking) goes away. But if I couldn't able to recall my dreams I feel like I have to remember it.
So does that mean if I have a perfect vision of the dream should I be thinking about it more or try not to think it more for the responsive action for the long term gain?
And if don't remember at all and i am trying really hard both to try to remember everything and try to forget all about it, what is the good way to respond or act rather than try not to think about it?
Because five years ago I already decided to leave all my OCD actions and embrace it. And it does work very well for my OCD reactions in the long term. But it all goes into the mind. Please need your help & response. Thank you very much Katie. Don't stop the videos..
Hi Rendra, If I understand correctly what you are saying is that you OCD is based around having to remember everything correctly - is that right? If so, we need to help you to live with the doubt of not being sure if you remember things correctly. So when you feel you have 'perfect' memory of a dream it feels comfortable, but the more you indulge in this the more you strengthen the belief that the only way to feel better is by having a perfect memory. Instead, you need to stop reviewing your dreams - think of this reviewing process as an intrusive thought - when you notice yourself doing it, just let it be there, let go and stop engaging in it. This will most likely cause you anxiety (in the short-term) as you will not get the certainty you desire, but the more you deal with the not being sure the less you will end up needing to feel sure. I hope that helps answer the question. katie
Yea Katie. Indeed that is right i have always been trying to remember things in the past, mostly dreams and my obsessions perfectly. Okay will try to do what you suggest and hopefully will reduce my anxiety in the long term. Thank you very much for your reply Katie..
Hi Katie, I suffer from OCD, how would ERP help with your ROCD, constant worry about my girlfriend, having negative thoughts, sexual obsessions, and almost the inability to be happy because of these reoccurring thoughts. I always end up messing up the relationship with overreacting( like her not txting me fast enough) to situations... I get supper worked up and then I "reset" the next day act better, but agian the pattern continues. I know it's all in my head, but anxiety is what kills my ability to concentrate in other activities
Hi Victor. You need to follow the same principles. The idea behind the exposure and response prevention is to do things that BRING ON your anxiety in order for you to then learn to deal with it differently - i.e to not do your normal neutralising behaviours. The more you learn to deal with your anxiety differently the easier it will get.
Hi Katie d'Ath! First of all, I'd love to thank you for making these videos. You're so good at explaining things and make them clear to me and other people with OCD. There's something I wonder; I've been having OCD since about the age of 11 (today I'm about to turn 24). It has been so many years that I somehow feel safe with my OCD, but in the same time it has gone so far that I feel anxiety and worry pretty much all the time. I got my diagnosis and medication about a year ago but have still not taken it. I tried some medication with St John's wort for a couple of months, but it stopped working after a while. Everytime I try to go against the OCD, I feel awful (obviously) and it can lead to no sleep at nights, which ruins my studying. I would like to ask you who are a proffesional: is it possible to beat OCD without antidepressive? I have Paroxetine to take and some calming for sleeping (which I haven't tried yet). Any suggestions?
Thank you for once again!
- Rena
Hi Rena. Yes it is possible to beat OCD without anti depressive but some people find it helpful to have medication to help reduce their anxiety and make it easier to engage in the treatment. If you do take medication you need to stick with it for long enough for the side-effects to wear off - most side affects will go after the first couple of weeks (although some may stay for the duration). If you feel awful when you try and go against the OCD you are probably doing the right thing when you turn against it. Unfortunately people often feel more anxiety and distress in the short term but if you stick with it you'll be amazed how much change you can make.
Katie, my problem with the obsessive mind thinking is also making me very hard to sleep i would sometimes get insomnia and also try to work out and playing my hobbies works fine. But most time even when you have a tiring body it's still very much hard to rest the thoughts. I'm on medication on/off Zoloft 50mg for the last 5 years and refuse to have a sleeping tablet.
Sorry the typo if I had a dream that I can* easily recall
Katie. Do you think Zoloft is helpful to use forever?