sooo I can't help myself... I miss twitter too much :( but I wanna start fresh. My new accounts @CatQuarry!! I'll work on refollowing people in the next few days/uploading a backlog
For reference I’ve had OCD for 20+ years, I first started experiencing obsessions when I was 5. I began intensive therapy for it in 2019. The therapy I went through was short term & provided tools to identify and mitigate new obsessions that arise without relying on compulsions.
The leading therapy for OCD is called exposure and response prevention, or ERP. Most people just call it exposure therapy. This is exactly how it sounds: you expose yourself to criteria that’s triggering your anxiety and causing obsessions
people have qrted with louis wains "i am happy because everyone loves me" piece but his Peter drawings are what do it for me. you can Feel the amount of love that he had for this cat
It can be difficult to do on your own, at least at first, because you can overexpose yourself and cause the anxiety to become worse. I always tell people they should try to find a therapist that can lead them through this process.
So how do you apply it to intrusive thoughts, particularly with something scary like POCD? The answers simple, but not easy: you let yourself keep having the thoughts. You don’t allow yourself to distract your brain. This in itself is exposure therapy.
Most people don’t know this, but OCD gets worse the longer it goes untreated. I went from being mildly scared of shooters at 5 to not being able to leave the house at 20. This is why you can’t allow yourself to perform compulsions; it’s only going to hurt you in the long run.
It’s a very fine line, because if you let it go for too long you can spiral and, once again, make the obsessions worse. This is why I once again recommend seeing a therapist that can work you through this. No matter what though, DO NOT start performing compulsions.
That’s it! Sorry this was so long lol I’m very passionate about OCD even if I don’t really talk about it publicly anymore. Also reassurance thinking/seeking (thinking “I would never do that!” at POCD) is still performing compulsions.
If you have any questions feel free to ask! I cant claim to be an expert but after living my entire life with this disorder and doing research for years I feel like i have a pretty solid grip on how to explain things