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“Discharged.”
Over the next few months, I continued to work through my exposure hierarchy. With hard work and determination, I completed exposures with an anxiety rating of 6/7, on a scale of 0-7. These exposures included “contaminating” the house after touching non-organic fruit, consuming a food item containing Red Dye 40, resisting the urge to seek…
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“Back… again”
Historically, I would have started this narrative with something like “Sorry I’ve been absent” or “My apologies, I had to take some time away”. The reality is that my OCD got in the way of something I love to do… again. I set out to share my struggles and successes with OCD, Anorexia Nervosa, Bipolar…
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“Is that a Light, at the End of the Tunnel?”
After all these years, I finally found it… The Holy Grail! To my extreme surprise, the Exposure Response Prevention (ERP) therapy was working. The exposure of looking at a crooked lampshade in my house and not fixing it, clocked in at an anxiety rating of 4, averaging a 5-7 min trial time. By the week’s…
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“Avoidance.”
Happy New Year! I hope all of you enjoyed time spent with family and friends over the holidays. I know I did 🙂 My 2023 New Year’s Resolution… well, I don’t have one. In my experience, New Year’s resolutions are a set-up for failure. Historically, I have established extremely difficult, practically unattainable, goals, typically around…
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“She Works Hard For The Recovery!”
A Ban Book: A notebook used to track my, daily, submits and resists to compulsions. At the time, my bans included, 1. Info Seeking, 2. Superstitious Behaviors, 3. Checking, 4. Perfecting, 5. Skin Picking, 6. Reassurance Seeking, 7. Avoidance and Distraction and 8. Hand Washing. The expectation was clear. Every time I completed a compulsion,…
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“A Much Needed Holiday Break!”
I’m back! I took time off, from writing, to be fully present during the holiday. Spending time with family is very important to me. I enjoyed hours of, uninterrupted, fun with my husband and kids. We played games, watched holiday movies and decorated the house! On Thanksgiving, I was blessed to share a table with…
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“Exposure Hierarchy”
I was eager to dive into the treatment plan, with hopes of feeling better. Thankfully, my second appointment quickly arrived. I found my seat at the end of the couch. Damon launched into an explanation of exposure hierarchies. Phew… he wasn’t quitting on me. An exposure hierarchy is a systematic approach to confront feared objects…
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“Another Couch.”
Ring, Ring… I left a message for the three recommended therapists. The first, was not accepting new patients; he was out. The second, had available appointments in approximately three to four months; he was out. The third, had an opening in a couple weeks; I took it. Third time’s the charm? I could only hope.…
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“Intero…What?!?!”
A lot has happened in the three weeks since my last post. I took the Clonazepam, as prescribed, for one week. It helped to bring down my overall anxiety and also decreased the frequency and intensity of the panic attacks. At this point in time, I was experiencing them approximately five to six days per…
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“I’m Done!”
As some of you may have seen, I posted a very intimate photo on Instagram, earlier today. It is a candid photo captured by my husband, six years ago. At first glance, it appears to be quite ordinary. I am sitting between my two children, 23-months and 2.5 years old at the time, on the…
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Smashing Stigmas 