danny02

Date posted: Yesterday

To all therapists out there.

The more I talk to people with ocd and the good brave sufferers on this app I’m starting to see a bad trail of miss information and poor therapy execution. Also can we please be honest with the sufferers, medication is not going to properly fix anything. Medication that pumps unnatural amounts of a neural transmitter, numbing emotions, causing loss of libido, genital numbness, weight gain, migraines is not fixing any biology, it is artificially changing biology. What changes real biology is good therapy. The biology of ocd is not what people think it is, and to be honest science is not solid on it either. What causes ocd in a individual is not black and white, Is it the chicken or the egg with ocd science, but the good news is science shows it doesn’t matter, and it is not a rd block to recovery. Now I am not against people taking meds. I’m not against people doing anything that brings them relief and gets them freedom, I don’t want anyone to suffer and everyone is in a different position in life, with different life stressors, and meds are necessary to stabilise and get them out of a dark hole. I was in one myself once and meds got me out of it, but meds never fixed my problem, meds masked my problem and gave me others. Please let’s be honest with them. Neural plasticity is a real science, meds are a poor understood one. Therapists please make it your goal and please remind yourself to Execute your therapy well and with passion and clarity. Some people want to try do it without the meds, but they just don’t know how. So please encourage them and show them the way, they are stronger then you think. Lots of love. From Former OCD sufferer who loves the power of psychology.

Anonymous

Date posted: Yesterday

I completely agree with you. I have been on too many different medications that never fixed the real problem and eventually gave me other problems and made things worse for me. I never used to deal with tics or weight gain but now I do. I feel exactly how you mentioned artificially my symptoms have been “masked”. I wish there was another way. Lena

danny02

Date posted: Yesterday

@Anonymous There is. Therapy is very effective when you a coached through it properly.

HOY

Date posted: Yesterday

I agree too

Emp

Date posted: Yesterday

Medication is the reason I am no longer suicidal on a daily basis. Medication got me to the point where I could engage in therapy bc I was so depressed I couldn’t engage. I’ve progressed a lot in therapy but without meds I might not be here still. Just my experience.

danny02

Date posted: Yesterday

@Emp Thank you for your response. I’m happy you are making progress and I do not disagree with medication. I just want people to know that it is the therapy that is doing the work. The meds are assisting you in doing that work and for therapists to encourage people who want to try do the work if they choose to do it without the meds. Not everyone has a good experience on them and I want them to know the therapy works. You are kicking butt with your therapy. And I am happy you shared your experience with me. Keep going with what you are doing. ❤️

Anonymous

Date posted: 19h

How do meds mask symptoms? When I first started taking meds over a decade ago they were a lifesaver and really took care of the symptoms. Then they didn’t work so well and I am now off of them. I wonder if in the final years I was on them that they were masking something? I have also recently discovered that therapy is most effective, but I am open to going back on a med if it truly helped.

danny02

Date posted: 15h

@Anonymous They mask your symptoms because they suppress the anxiety and other uncomfortable feelings that you are told to face during therapy causing real habituation to occur. You can’t habituate to a feeling and make real change if it’s suppressed. Hence the high relapse rate when people come off them. I’m glad you are feeling better ❤️

Anonymous

Date posted: 8h

@danny02 - That makes sense. When I was first diagnosed with OCD at age 15, I didn't even know that ERP therapy was an option. My mom found me a psychiatrist and he put me on Vibryid. That worked like a miracle for the duration of the next school year, and then some mild symptoms returned for about three weeks in the middle of the next summer. My psych increased the dose and in two weeks I was back to normal. This cycle continued for the next year and a half until I cut my meds off cold turkey. When I spiraled into the worst bout of OCD I had experienced since my first encounter with it, I noticed that even new meds did not solve the problem. It was only then that I learned about ERP. After a lot of fear and hesitancy, I worked up the courage to do the homework my therapist assigned to me. Eventually, I once again found peace. About a year later, however, the OCD returned. I think this was maybe because I overreacted to something related to my theme, not knowing how to properly respond to it. Then I had to find a new therapist, who wasn't very nice, and I went through ERP again. I also changed medications several times. After another year and a half of struggle with ERP and some important behavorial changes, I broke free and had the best two years of my life. Then in March of 2021, the OCD symptoms returned for no reason at all. Since then I tried numerous meds, Ketamine, TMS, but none of it worked. I started ERP again in March of last year and I definitely noticed some improvement, but I have also regressed and have not reached my goal. I am also off of all meds at the moment. I am open to trying one again if it could truly help, but I am very skeptical after trying so many to no avail.

danny02

Date posted: 7h

@Anonymous Yep I know how it feels. It’s important to take erp with you for the rest of your life. Best thing for us is to never give into doubt and to always remember to sit with uncertainty and uncomfortable feelings as old triggers can be re triggered but for a different reason and in a diffrent way, this is why erp is now apart of your life and a discipline you take with you. Every time you keep responding the right way the brain will let go more and more until your like oh I’ve been here before I know what to do. Don’t beat yourself up for getting re triggered also, you just teach your brain it’s important again. Just respond with erp and see it as the opportunity that it is, to condition that amygdala even more and make yourself even stronger.

danny02

Date posted: 7h

@Anonymous Also don’t forget to have self compassion for yourself.

danny02

Date posted: 7h

@danny02 Also give up on the so called goal. What your real goal is is to be able to sit with the feelings and uncertainty, thought and build tolerance to them and acceptance that they happen and are happening when they happen, and get really good at moving on with it happening This is the goal and it is a exposure while living life at the same time. If you want to lessen the distress the feeling or thought ,uncertainty it brings more then also choose to deliberately bring it up on purpose and do exposure to it until it does not bother you much any more or at all. But goal is not to get certainty goal is to be ok with uncertainty, opinion, doubt when it presents itself and it not really bother you. And to learn to act in accordance with your values. Do what you want to do even when your brain makes you feel like you’re not allowed to do it.

Anonymous

Date posted: 7h

@danny02 - Exactly. That IS the goal. Trying to get there.

danny02

Date posted: 7h

@Anonymous Don’t give up! You got nothing to loose only more freedom to gain. ❤️

danny02

Date posted: Yesterday

A lot of people I am seeing are not making much progress because they don’t understand why they have to do what they have to do, why it is so important to commit to the therapy, and what therapy is. There are many ways erp can be implemented also that clicks for the individual and makes sense. Not every ocd problem is simply about uncertainty also. I see so many therapist poorly execute the therapy because of poor insight about the condition.

danny02

Date posted: 15h

I am not anti medication I’m just stating the facts. It’s not a competition and I’m not saying you can’t make real change on the meds I am just stating the science of how the brain works and why therapy alone is proven to be more effective then meds alone. I want to encourage people to real participate in their therapy to make real solid change. And like I said people who want to do it without the meds have just as much a right to participate in therapy this way and should be encouraged. I’m not saying they are better than people who do it without the meds. Like I said it’s about getting better not a competition.

danny02

Date posted: 15h

There is no limit to how far you can take your recovery. You are not biologically flawed.

danny02

Date posted: 14h

What people don’t realise is it’s those hard uncomfortable moments that are your opportunity to make a real change. Instead of trying to fix them willingly choose to feel them. I was anxious for months on end with some of my obsessions. Some of them took longer than others to get over. But once I understood how it worked I would hit it hard and get over them even quicker. And when I got so good it got to the point where it would not even turn into anything all together, I became an anxiety uncertainty seeker instead of an anxiety uncertainty avoider. Sending a nice strong message to my brain and amygdala forcing it to change.

danny02

Date posted: 12h

You are all way stronger than you know.

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