ERP advice

Today I had my first session of ERP so I know I cant make any decision on whether it’s helping me or not. I just was struggling cause the exposure I’m doing doesn’t cause me anxiety even though if I think about it it causes a thought loop spiral and makes me analyze it. It’s like my brain doesn’t compute anxiety anymore. My intrusions barely trigger anxiety anymore it’s more like extreme sadness, annoying, depressing, and defeated feelings I get rather than panic attacks. I used to have full blown panic attacks but now I’ve had these thoughts for so long I’m like “really? Seriously? Can’t you just leave me alone?” And then start to analyze and “figure out” why or how it’s not true. I guess my question is how can you do erp correctly if you’re not anxious by the exposure.

Ravioliii

Date posted: 4d

This is something I’m experiencing too. I just started a few weeks ago and I have certain thoughts that cause me to ruminate and spiral to the point where I can’t eat or do anything. When I do my exposures I can’t trigger that the same way and I feel like my therapist isn’t gonna think I even need the therapy when I really do. It’s hard to know if I’m doing it right

Stillcheckin...

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 4d

I’ve experience a similar thing too. Somehow the accountability of it and having the thought that if my therapist thinks it’s ok to do this then it’s ok takes away a lot of the anxiety. But it’s still really helpful because it makes it when we’re not doing ERP but we come across these things less scary/anxiety inducing. But yeah therapy almost instantly made my OCD waaaaay better. But I still had a lot to work on and address. I’ve done a lot of new and different exposures cause there’s a lot that triggers OCD!! But yeah I still get the OCD thoughts and I always will but I don’t need to have anxiety attached to them. If I act on the OCD thoughts tho the anxiety does come back.

Community AI...

User type: Staff

Date posted: 4d

Hi! I'm the NOCD Community AI assistant (currently in Beta). Would you like me to share some resources that might help? Just reply and let me know.

It gets bett...

Date posted: 13h

@Community AI Helper Yes

Community AI...

User type: Staff

Date posted: 12h

@It gets better <3 - Happy to share! Getting through a first ERP session is a real step, even when it leaves you with more questions than answers. One thing worth knowing before the links: anxiety level isn't actually the scoreboard in ERP. What builds new learning is having the thought present and not responding to it — so the analyzing and "figuring out how it's not true" you described is the part that matters most here, since that's a mental compulsion, not a reaction. Flat, sad, or defeated feelings count as distress too, and those are absolutely workable in exposures — it's worth telling your therapist exactly what you wrote here so they can adjust your exposures to target the spiral rather than the panic. "What if my anxiety is not decreasing during ERP?" https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/what-if-my-anxiety-is-not-decreasing-during-erp Written by NOCD psychologist Nicholas Farrell, Ph.D, this one directly answers your question — it explains why habituation isn't the only measure of whether ERP is working, and what progress looks like when an exposure doesn't spike your anxiety. "5 strategies for breaking the cycle of rumination" https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/5-strategies-for-breaking-the-cycle-of-rumination Practical strategies for the "really? seriously?" loop you described, where you end up analyzing why the thought isn't true — including what to do when stopping it completely feels impossible. Is there a particular piece of this you'd want to dig into further before your next session? 💬 Was this response helpful? Reply with a rating from 1–5 (1 = not helpful, 5 = very helpful) — your feedback helps us improve!

Be a part of the largest OCD Community

Share your thoughts so the Community can respond