Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Support Group

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder, more specifically, an anxiety disorder. OCD is manifested in a variety of forms, but is most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive (repetitive, distressing, intrusive) thoughts and related compulsions (tasks or rituals) which attempt to neutralize the obsessions.

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exposure therapy

JAENYC
JAENYC
My therapist wrote up a scenario which is basically my worst fear, and is asking me as an exercise to read it 5 x a day. I am having SUCH a hard time with it- completely anxious, headache, etc etc- but is that good? When will I start to feel the positive of doing this? I really hate it but I know it must be helpful??
deleted_user
deleted_user
I've done many exposure excercises like this. I like to rate my anxiety on a scale of 1-10 and write it down before and after I do the exposure. I'll read the story/scenario until my anxiety decreases by at least 1 or 2 points on the scale. I've found that if you start at say a 10 and finish at a 10 the exposure wasn't a success. Maybe instead of reading the story 5 times, read it until your anxiety has decreased even if it's only by a small amount.

I've actually had a lot of success with this type of exposure. Sometimes it takes a while, but i've gone from an 8 to a 3 in one sitting (about 30mins of repeteatedly reading the story/scenario). After doing this a few days in a row I get bored with the story and even though the topic might still cause some anxiety, I feel like it is greatly decreased.

A key point when doing this (for me anyway) is not to do any mental compulsions. You need to fully embrace the story and really make it feel real. Let the anxeity completely take over so that it can come down naturally and not becuase you're doing a compulsion.
JAENYC
JAENYC
thank you so much. it is interesting that you have done this many times- so is it ok if the scenario I am reading now stops making me anxious, but a new one replaces it- do I just repeat the exposure therapy with the new scenario? sometimes I hate the thought of living this way but if I know this is to be expected and a part of it- it might make it easier-
sarah1854
sarah1854
Hello!
Usually when this technique is used, people are taught to relax themseleves, and THEN read it. So eventually, you are really calm about it. And yes, thenthe story will change, or you'll start experiencing the situation in real life. :)