Are Grandma's homemade chocolate chip cookies giving you a conniption fit? You might have OCD.Alcohol OCD: Conquering Fears of Accidental Ingestion & Contamination with ERP Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) has long been dubbed the "doubting disease" for its...
OCD: Master Gaslighter of the Mind – How to Defeat Doubt with ERP (Not Logic!!!)
Feeling gaslight by OCD? Defeat OCD-related doubt through exposure and response prevention (ERP), not logic!One of OCD's most diabolical tricks is its ability to sow seeds of doubt, even about beliefs we hold strongly. Think of it as a tiny, annoying heckler in your...
ROCD
Compulsions associated with ROCD include analyzing, checking, and comparing.Although ROCD is often characterized by intrusive worries about your relationship, relationship OCD treatment often specifically targets the compulsions and avoidance behaviors related to ROCD...
Relationship OCD (rOCD) – Unwanted Impulses & Images
Just like other types of OCD, rOCD can involve unwanted, intrusive impulses and images.This multi-part series of posts will focus primarily on rOCD, also known as "relationship OCD." Part 1 focused on obsessive thoughts that are common in rOCD. This part discusses...
ROCD – Relationship OCD
Symptoms of relationship OCD (ROCD) include pervasive doubt and uncertainty about interpersonal relationships.In a previous post on mental checking, I talked briefly about ROCD (Relationship OCD), a form of OCD that involves pervasive doubt and uncertainty about...
Driving Fears & Driving Avoidance in Teens & Young Drivers
Driving fears and avoidance in teens may reflect normal development or possibly an emerging anxiety disorder.Reader Question: My daughter just turned 15, and no matter what I say, I can't seem to convince her to practice her driving. It's strange, because in the past,...
Hit-and-Run OCD vs. Other Driving Fears
Hit-and-run OCD can be distinguished from other driving-related fears on the basis of a person's core fear and his/her response to it.What is hit-and-run OCD? Hit-and-run OCD (sometimes called MVA-OCD) is a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder that involves...
OCD About Pets and Animals: Harm
Obsessions focusing on pets and animals incorporate all the common themes: contamination, checking, harm, scrupulosity, and sex.In this 3-part blog series, I discuss some of the common ways obsessions may target our lovable, snuggable friends. This article, Part 1,...
ERP Tip of the Day #2
I’m going to do this and ride the anxiety wave no matter what. Bring on the bad thoughts.It's ERP tip time. This series of posts focuses on tips to enhance the effectiveness of your exposure and response prevention (ERP). If you're interested in more ERP tips, click...
ERP Tip of the Day #1
Don't mistake rituals for exposure and response prevention (ERP). Embrace your exposures with fear, and embrace opportunities for openness, defenselessness, and vulnerability.Starting today, I am going to start posting random ERP tips as they occur to me, as there are...
Imaginal Exposure vs. In Vivo Exposure for OCD
Use imaginal exposure to address OCD based around catastrophic feared outcomes.As I've talked about in numerous posts, overcoming OCD involves learning to co-exist with doubt and uncertainty. This idea can be a bit counter-intuitive at first, as many people initially...