The Journey

So proud of you lovely. I am fighting Harm OCD and wonder what things would help / benefit me 💞💓💖💗💕💝

Thank you for providing so much hope to the community! Congratulations on this amazing milestone!

This is so encouraging, dealing with this theme right now and its been a tough couple of months. I started treatment back at the end of January here through NOCD but still have a long way to go.

Yeah, one of my favorite non-engagement responses is “I’m not doing that, I’m doing this.” It helps me to focus my energy on what is important right now. For example, I’m not killing myself right now, so I don’t have to figure out if i will or not. Right now I might be teaching, or talking with a friend, or eating or whatever, so I’m gonna focus my energy on that even if my mind keeps reminding me that I may in fact kill myself. (I’ll figure it out when I’m on the ledge) Some exposures I like to do are movies or songs about suicide. Just watching it, and then going back to my life. Also, just reminding yourself that it’s okay to be anxious. I like to tell myself, “anxiety never killed someone” or “it’s okay to be anxious sometimes” or “this is what getting better looks like.” The funny thing is that the more comfortable you get with being anxious, the less anxious you are long term. I think over time the things we obsess over don’t get less scary, we just get stronger & more courageous (and as a result they seem less scary)

Thanks for sharing about that brother. That sounds like a challenge! I try not to lie to myself. I used to say things like “I love panic attacks” or “i hope i don’t sleep” but they made it worse rather than better, because I wasn’t truthful with myself. That’s why I like “I’m not doing that, I’m doing this”. That’s my go to. Because it helps me remember that it’s not an immediately relevant thought. I am doing other things, so I don’t have time to ruminate and figure out if the thought means something or not. Do you have time over lunch break to do exposures? It will take time to get better, and there will be ups and downs. Progress is not linear. If I were to chart my progress, it would look like the stock market, up and down, but generally trending in the right direction.

Wow, thank you for that amazing reply. Im still learning and trying to use non-engagement responses, like i say them but like it my body feels like I’m lying and it makes me worry more. So I’m practicing, leaning more in the discomfort. My therapist gave me homework to watch Iron Claw, she said it has suicide in it so I’m going to watch it this weekend. Other thing i struggle is with doing exposures. I am a father and work full time so the only time i can practice my exposures are at night and im exhausted. So im trying to find ways to just sit and work on them more.