Can you?

@jay4572 Great!!!!! Let me know how your practice goes!!! Just remember that NOTHING bad will happen if you hold something sharp. Your OCD wants you make you afraid, but nothing bad will happen. Check out this video : https://youtu.be/hwkpqNpHfkE?si=rmfQbGotm4fnUCBR

@Tea and Honey It's by Nathan Peterson, one of my favorite therapists. He talks about doing treatment for exactly what you are talking about.

@Tea and Honey You got this!!!! It's a journey, but you got it!! :):)

@Tea and Honey Can I keep in contact with you via this thread?

@jay4572 Yes!!!!!!! Absolutely!!

@Tea and Honey I'm looking forward to hearing from you!!! I really enjoy talking to people on this app :):):) 😀😀 let me know how you are doing :):)

@Tea and Honey Hi! So today I was chopping up onions with a sharp knife and it was hard but I still did it!!

@jay4572 I'm so proud of you!!!!!!! Yay!!!!!!!! This news makes my day!!! 😃😃 You are just going to get better and better

@Tea and Honey Thank you it was hard and I saw a mental movie and it was scary but I pushed through

@jay4572 That's exactly what you are supposed to do!!!!! Keep up the good work!!!! :):):) keep me posted how you are doing

@Tea and Honey Tyy so much I appreciate it how can I just let the thought “ride out”

@jay4572 Well thoughts cause they get scary ig from all my lupus pain and such

@jay4572 I think it would help me more to understand what your experience is like. For me, I had repetitive sentences and sometimes images. I had to learn to just let them "run freely" without stopping them or fixing them. Yes, this can be scary. But it's worse to let the thoughts really interfere with our lives by giving them meaning. Can you explain more what your experience is like?

@Tea and Honey It’s scary images and thoughts sometimes and I try to let them run freely

@jay4572 Yep. That is exactly what OCD does. Everyone with OCD has scary thoughts and images. Yes!! Practice letting them run freely!! Even if you have to practice for five minutes at a time. You can build up to ten minutes, and then fifteen minutes, etc. every minute you spend practicing this is a WIN for your OCD recovery. The "riding out "part is related to the ANXIETY that is always triggered when you let the thoughts "run". In other words, you are supposed to allow the thoughts to run freely and then "ride out" the anxiety that comes when you do that. You are supposed to "ride out" the anxiety like a surfer rides out a wave. Let me explain more... Our anxiety actually has a pattern like a wave. It gradually increases upward and then spikes up, and eventually it flattens out and subsides and goes down again. Think of it like a curve on a graph. The anxiety goes up high, but it will always come back down again with time. This is because our bodies cannot sustain a high-level of anxiety 24/7. Eventually, the anxiety will subside on its own. When we have OCD, we allow ourselves to "ride out" the waves at anxiety. We even allow ourselves to experience the PEAK of the wave, which is the worst and scariest part. However, we know that the anxiety slide back down again eventually. The point is that we don't give into compulsions. If we give to compulsions, we can bypass the wave altogether. If we give in to compulsions, we never have to ride the anxiety peak. The compulsion keep us a low level of anxiety all the time--without ever taking us on the wave. It takes courage to deny the compulsions (which means that you don't try to do anything to fix the thoughts). Instead, you allow yourself to experience the anxiety that comes with the wave. My friend, who has OCD got a wave tattoo on her wrist. It just reminds her that going through her day managing OCD means she will experience waves of anxiety. But experiencing those waves is a lot better than allowing the compulsions to control her life. . Remember, fixing the thoughts is a compulsion. Also, fighting off the thoughts is a compulsion . Also, AVOIDING the thoughts is a compulsion. Instead, you have to let them run freely and then ride out the wave. This was a lot of information. You probably have a lot of clarifying questions? I'm here to answer all your questions!! this might be more information than you can take in all at once

@Tea and Honey So just let them run its course in your head with no stopping not even the images?

@Tea and Honey Also I have a question I don’t want medication can you do this naturally? And are you doing this naturally

@jay4572 Correct!!! Even the images. The images are really just the same thing as the thoughts. Don't try to stop anything. Just let the thoughts and images run freely. If you try to stop them or avoid them, that is a compulsion.

@jay4572 That is a great question!!! I was doing really well with my OCD, and I decided to go off my Prozac. I tanked really bad. I just couldn't handle the emotional swings. I realized that I really needed the meds, and I was so happy to go back on. Through this process, I learned a lot. I believe that just about everyone with OCD actually needs medication. The medication really helps a lot!!! I highly recommend you get medication. You might be able to do some natural meds after you get a lot better. But I would start with the real meds until you feel like you are managing your OCD really well. Personally, I haven't been able to make it on just natural things. But it could be a goal that you have over a long period of time. But start with the real meds first!!

@Tea and Honey The meds will help you!!!!!!

@Tea and Honey My family is against it and I personally don’t wanna be dependent on it

@jay4572 I'm on a low dose of Prozac. Probably the lowest dose possible. There wasn't any issue with dependence at all for me. Medication does two things: 1.) It turns down the volume of the intrusive thoughts, making them easier to manage 2.) It flattens the anxiety a bit, making the waves easier to manage. I don't really feel any different on meds Do you think your family might be more open to it if they researched it? I totally think meditation is the way to go

@Tea and Honey I mean, I don't feel different on meds a day to day basis. In other words, I totally feel like myself. But I do notice the medication makes a difference when it comes to my moods and the depth of my spirals.

@Tea and Honey You could research 5-HTP . I think I used that instead of Prozac for a while. It's natural.

@Tea and Honey Can you read the message if I post it in this comment section?

@jay4572 Yes!

@Tea and Honey Hopefully you see it!

@jay4572 I'm looking. I don't see any comments except the one where you said hopefully I could see the comment...

@Tea and Honey Were you wanting advice on what to do with intrusive thoughts?

@Tea and Honey Can you not see my reply?

@Tea and Honey Yes I do please

@Tea and Honey I also have an overview of ERP therapy that I can send you also. It's fairly long. But if you're interested, let me know. Tell me what you think about handling the thoughts in this way that I described above . Normally people with OCD have objections to treatment. We all do. But I think it's very important to work through the hundred questions we have and all the objections we have so that we finally feel comfortable enough to go forward with treatment. I'm here to talk about your questions and objections if you want. People who are religious usually struggle with religious intrusive thoughts. People who care about kids usually struggle with pedophilic intrusive thoughts. People who care about morality usually struggle with violent or sexual thoughts. These are all very common. If you feel like OCD your makes you a monster,, that's just a trick of OCD. It actually doesn't matter what the theme is. All OCD is the same. And it's all treated the same way.

@Tea and Honey Thank you so much is it possible for me to talk more via any social media?

@jay4572 Sorry, I only do this app. :):)

@Tea and Honey I can’t do erp as of yet however I want to know if intrusive images are also a thing?

@jay4572 Yes, images are absolutely also part of OCD. So are urges.

@Tea and Honey Have you done ERP?

@jay4572 Yes! I recommend ERP very highly. It has changed so many peoples lies. I am a big proponent of it. Have you started it? Do you want help with it?

@Tea and Honey NOCD is a very good place to get ERP therapy. They take most insurance.

@Tea and Honey They don’t take my insurance and I currently can’t pay for it

@Tea and Honey @Tea and Honey I’m scared that I will act on it to “get it over with” but I don’t want to at alll like I have no desire pls help

@jay4572 Do you want to talk about what ERP therapy would look like for you?

@Tea and Honey Yes please

@jay4572 I'll send you an overview of ERP therapy. Remember that this applies to ANY theme. After you look at this, we can talk about specific ways that you can practice ERP. Remember, ERP takes a LOT A OF TIME and practice. However, if you put the work in, you will get sooooooooo much better. It's a lot of work though. One second, I'll post the ERP info below

@jay4572 If you put ERP in a nutshell, there's a couple main tenants that are REALLY important to understand. Here they are... 1.) You have to treat the thoughts as though they don't mean anything (because, in real life, they actually don't mean anything!) 2.). You have to deny yourself any safety behaviors that you do because of the thoughts (because these are all compulsions) 3.). When you deny the safety behaviors (i.e., the compulsions), it will cause your brain and even your body to go into anxiety mode. (In other words, your brain freaks out because you feel like you did something that was NOT SAFE.) 4.). But you have to "ride out" the anxiety feelings until they subside on their own. The more you practice doing this, the easier it gets. The anxiety spikes will get smaller and smaller. Eventually, you will be able to prevent yourself from doing compulsions without feeling anxiety. ----------------------//////-------///////------- Okay, so let's talk about each of these things, one at at time. ERP can be done on your own, but it's easier with someone else's help. First things first, a therapist will sit down with you and make you write a list of all the things you are scared to do, from the least scary to the most scary. And then you will go out and practice doing those things, starting with the easiest things. Okay, let's start with #1. You have to treat the thoughts as though they don't mean anything. There's a few things that are important to understand here. Remember that I said that you have to TREAT the thoughts as though they don't mean anything. I said this because you are always going to have doubts and fears. You are always, at some level, going to half-way believe that that your thoughts actually have meaning. But that's okay! You don't have to believe this fully. You only have to ACT as though they don't mean anything. OCD is called the "doubting disease" for a reason. For every decision you make, you will always have doubts. And that's why recovery from OCD means that you have to learn how to "take the leap" and go forward EVEN THOUGH the doubts are still there. I can assure you that the thoughts don't mean anything. And you can mostly believe it. But even if you don't believe it fully, you have to make the decision that you are going to ACT as though they don't mean anything. In order to recover from OCD, everyone has to change their relationship with their thoughts. Everyone starts out afraid of their thoughts. They believe that their thoughts are DANGEROUS and that there is some connection with their thoughts to the outside world. This is the big trap of OCD. But we all have to learn that the thoughts mean nothing. However, we also have to learn that WE CANT STOP the thoughts. And we should not try. We have to stop fighting off the thoughts. We have to learn to ALLOW the thoughts while at the same time doing nothing about them. I'm going to copy and paste something that I wrote previously: -------////////--------------////////-----------//// The key is to STOP fighting off the thoughts. You need to just accept that they are in your head, and that they are MEANINGLESS—and it doesn’t matter if they are there or not. This is very important for OCD recovery. ERP therapy trains us to never fight the thoughts. If you try to fight them off, they’re just going to get worse. My therapist explained it like this: Imagine a tree planted by river. The leaves from the tree fall off and float down the river. You watch the leaves fall, but you don’t try to stop them. You just let them float down the river. This is the same with ALL intrusive thoughts. It doesn’t matter if these are bad thoughts about God, violence, sex, attractions, etc. All intrusive thoughts are the SAME. You just let them fall off the tree and float down the river. Here’s another analogy: Imagine a swarm of angry bees around someone’s head. The bees can’t really bite or sting, but they are very annoying as they swarm around the person’s head. They’re not really harmful to the person, but they are disturbing just because they are there. This is the same thing as the intrusive thoughts. They can’t really harm anything, and they don’t have any real power. But they are distracting and disturbing because they are there. If you take a stick and try to fight them off, they’re just going to swarm around even worse and get even stronger. It doesn’t work to try to fight them off with a stick. They will always keep swarming. In the same way, we can’t fight off the intrusive thoughts. It’s impossible. Besides, the thoughts are meaningless, and they can’t hurt us anyway. So don’t try to fight them off. Here’s one more analogy: Imagine your little brother is always saying mean things to you. Sometimes he shout means things; sometimes he whispers mean things; sometimes he shows you ugly pictures that he has drawn. He’s always trying to tease you and always trying to get you upset, and he’s always saying horrible things to you. If you shout at him to stop doing it, he’s just going to do it more. You have to accept that you can’t stop what he says. But if you ignore him and don’t give him any response and don’t get upset , he will eventually get bored and stop trying so hard. It’s the same with the intrusive thoughts. You can’t stop them. But if you get upset every time they come into your head, you are giving them power. You OCD (like a little brother) is going to feed you more of the things that “rile you up.” But if you don’t get upset and don’t care if these things are coming into your brain, then you can go about your life as normal. In this way, you are showing that these thoughts really have no power over you. Your OCD will try to trick you into giving “meaning” to the thoughts by saying maybe you will like them or maybe you will accept them, blah, blah, blah, blah blah blah. Don’t listen to the OCD. Practice strict ERP no matter how you feel and no matter how the OCD tries to tell you the danger you’re in if you start ignoring the thoughts. The truth is the thoughts don’t mean anything, so you can ignore them. You can’t make them go away (like the bees), but you can give them no power by acknowledging that they are meaningless. -----///////--------///////---------//////-------///- Okay, let's talk about #2. You have to deny the compulsions. When you boil them down, all compulsions are SAFETY BEHAVIORS. They are designed to negate the thoughts and keep you safe. It's important to remember that AVOIDANCE can be a safety behavior. For example, if you avoid saying certain words because you don't know the intentions behind it, then you are actually doing a compulsion. In ERP therapy, you have to practice denying the compulsions. However, you don't do this all at once. That is way too scary, and no one can handle that. Instead, you start with the very easiest compulsions. It's also important to know that many compulsions can be inside our heads. In my case, I had all these terrible sentences in my head toward God. And I thought I had to put a "not" next to every sentence in my head in order to "negate" the sentence. And I was exhausting myself trying to remember every sentence and make sure I put a "not" next to them in my head. I was doing these compulsions all day, every day, hundreds of times a day. I remember the day that I first stopped doing this compulsion. I stopped fighting the sentences in my head, and just let them "run" freely. It was a huge step for me. Now, I am no longer a slave to these sentences at all. Remember to not get discouraged if the treatment takes longer than you expect. The OCD journey tends to take a long time, with baby steps, and lots of circling back and starting over, lol. Just remember that this is part of the process. -------///////--------////////--------///////-----// Okay, let's talk about #3: The Anxiety Episodes When you deny compulsions, it feels unsafe. It feels like you are going to die or that someone you love is going to die. It feels like the consequences are huge, like the end of the world or some terrible disaster. Let me give you an example. When I feel like I did something "unsafe," I can usually pass over it and realize that I am okay. I have had years of practice doing this. But every once in a while, when I deny a compulsion, it feels so UNSAFE that I spiral into an anxiety pit. It can take hours, days, or weeks before I feel better. What you have to understand is that this is a NORMAL part of the recovery process. It seems strange to say this, because the episodes feel so awful. But in order to defeat OCD, we actually have to practice putting ourselves though the terrible anxiety that always accompanies "breaking the OCD rules." ---------///////---------//////-------------///--- And lastly, let's talk about #4: You have to "ride out" the anxiety episodes. There's no way to defeat OCD without pain. It takes a lot of work. But if you put the work in, you can get to the other side and start living the life you have wanted to live! So, it's important to understand this going in to journey. It's going to take a lot of work. It's going to take "pain" in the sense that you are going to make yourself experience these awful anxiety episodes. However, this is the only way to recover. But you have to take it slowly. Start with the simple things. And then take baby steps. If you don't, you will be overwhelmed and it won't work. Let's put this into an example. Let's say Jake has OCD, and he is afraid of crossing bridges. First, the therapist will ask him to just THINK about a bridge. If that causes anxiety, then Jake can practice thinking about bridges and then accept the anxiety that comes. The next session, the therapist might ask Jake to sit next to a bridge. This might cause even more anxiety. Jake has to practice sitting next to the bridge and "riding out" the anxiety that comes. The next time the therapist might ask Jake to put one foot on the bridge--and so on. The point is that at each step, Jake is successful at the required task, and he allows himself to experience the waves of anxiety that come. Yes, anxiety is like a wave. It has a peak, and then it slides downward after that. No one can stay in full anxiety mode forever. So we have to train ourselves to allow the anxiety to run its course. Eventually, it will get better. And the more we practice, the anxiety peaks will get smaller and smaller. And eventually, we won't have anxiety at all when we deny our compulsions. Okay, feel free to write back and talk to me about what you think. :):) I aways enjoy talking to people on this app.

@Tea and Honey Some of the post below repeats what I told you before. But keep reading. It's an overview of the whole of ERP

@Tea and Honey Like I said, let me know what you think. We can design some "exposures" for you so that you can practice denying your compulsions!

@Tea and Honey Thank you so much and yes I would love to work on exposures to practice denying compulsions

@Tea and Honey Also sorry for replying late!

@jay4572 Great!!!! What is the first "exposure" you want to do? In other words, what is a little, small thing you are scared of doing? Let's pick one and try it together!!! :):):).

@Tea and Honey Hey was at school had a long day but small thing scared of doing is holding sharp knives or sharp stuff

@jay4572 Awesome!!!! Let's plan some exposures around that. Does it make you nervous to walk through a room with a sharp item in it? Are you able to start with something small, like dull scissors? Let's make the exposure something that is manageable to you--and practice, practice, practice!!! Keep doing it until it becomes kinda easy :):) What exposure do you think would be best?

@Tea and Honey What themes do you struggle with??

@jay4572 I struggle with religious OCD mostly