Move closer to OCD fears! How to Seek Uncertainty

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You've probably heard me say, "Seek Uncertainty" but what does this really mean? You may think of this as a way to move closer to your OCD fear. This is exactly how exposure and response prevention works. Let's go through how to move closer to your OCD fear or topic and lean in a little further.

DISCLOSURE: Although I am a licensed therapist. This video is not intended to replace medical advice. This is for information purposes only and should not be used to replace the guidance of a local mental health professional.

Music:
Creative Commons — Attribution 3.0 Unported — CC BY 3.0

[ocdandanxiety]

Do you step closer to your OCD or tend to pull away? What works for you? 😃

[pastelteaaniiii]

Absolutely gold advice. I can feel my head burst out due to all the cortisol pumping but i will stare right at something i assumed "scary"

[henryzhao]

Hi Nathan you played a big part in saving my life thank you

[mirp]

I have pretty debilitating emetophobia and one of my DANGER ABSOLUTELY DO NOT EVER EAT foods is shepherds pie because when I was like 6 or something i ate it for dinner and threw up the next day. So 12ish years later my dad made shepherds pie and I summoned every ounce of courage that I had and ate that shepherds pie even tho I was panicking the whole time. But I did it and I didn't get sick and I'm okay and that had been a HUGE step towards my recovery(?) from emetophobia

[giannis]

I am experiencing a major set back during this week after months of doing fine. Although I am at a state where I am feeling I am not going to be able to find my way out this time, this video is really helpful.

[iluvj]

Hi Nathan, I think your videos are great. Please keep 'em coming! I do, however, disagree with your point about being able to see the future alleviating uncertainty. For example, staring at a stove in the "off" position is pretty certain. However, OCD generates feelings that makes the sufferer unable to feel certainty and is what keeps the sufferer going back to check repeatedly. Ultimately, I think it's feelings that impact us the most and OCD can resonate so powerfully that it overrides situations where certainty is staring us in the face. Doing Exposure Therapy requires a lot of bravery to act in spite of the bad OCD feelings and may very well lead to positive feelings once a healthy state of mind is restored.

[mimihagger]

This channel is amazing honestly please don't stop

[eneidayaneli]

So glad I found your channel. I have severe OCD and feel stuck. I've been doing everything "possible" to get better and I keep getting stuck. This is the first video I watch.... I'll start watching the rest.

[SKRithvik]

Seek uncertainty? My entire body seems to be in pain whenever I stay with uncertainty 😅

[thegamingrelish]

I ruminate a lot about everything. Past relationships, arguments I have with people I know, the meaning of happiness, etc… if I don’t know the answer of something or I don’t agree with something I’ll ruminate about it. I have very little self love and confidence

[ilhambudi]

My OCD sometimes makes me uncertain about what I'm uncertain about LOL.

[Starkiller]

I did this with one of my fears. I don't know how but I am very afraid of having a severe disease, so I started learning more about the disease, how its like living with it. How it would be for me. Basically a what if my fears turned out to be true, it somehow seemed to help. I still struggle because I want to believe I don't have it so I fall back into it and its a struggle BUT I'm better after I learned that my biggest fears are not that bad and I can live normally even if they are true. All of this happened in the span of a week, don't think you have to wait weeks or months or even years to get better. You can start feeling the benefits quickly. For now all that's left is to wait for my doctor appointments.

[sheyanderson]

I'M TRYING TO STEP CLOSER. I START COGNITVE BEHAVIOURAL/ERP THERAPY ON MONDAY.

[madjidtlm]

I tried what you said and I have great results in no time i even stopped taking medication i have hocd thank you bro

[wandalewis]

When you started rubbing that controller on your face and licked it, I audibly yelped and about jumped out of my skin hahaha I am going to try this today. Love this. It sounds so hard. But I’m up for the challenge.

[iamthefiremanjj]

You are awesome brother thanks for all you do

[izzu]

Wow, never thought I’d unpurposely done ERP before when i dont even know what it was back then. At that moment I was furious with my intrusive thoughts that keeps telling me that my body was contaminated. So instead of washing those ‘contaminated’ part, i touch it with my barehand, and then put it into my face and my wet hair to makes it even ‘more contaminated’, just to mock the thought. For sure i dont immediately feel ease and peace but at least I am satisfied

[AbdulRahim-ehgt]

I have HOCD. I just can't tell what that 'H' is in that word. It's so disgusting to talk about it. I just can't focus on anything. My exams are going on and I'm unable to focus on my studies. Because when ever start studying, this HOCD thing comes in my mind and I get back to my work of reassuring myself that I'm straight. I just want to get rid of it. I hate it. Please help me 😭. I don't even know what ERP therapy is and Don't know how to do it. I'm just suffering everyday because of this. Please help me brother.😭
I'm posting this comment on every hocd video of yours, hoping to get a response of getting better.

[JackalGoldKick]

Thanks I'll try these. One of the most common ones I did was checking if the oven fully off cause I would fear house blowing up

[ft.meganmccarthy]

My obsessions are almost entirely body focused. Obsessions with pain, the movement in my joints, and the symmetry of all my parts. The main fears are 1. That I will pop something out of socket, or injure myself by moving wrong because I've been told by doctors that I'm hypermobile, and 2. That there's something I should be doing to correct it.
So my question is, how am I supposed to seek uncertainty with stuff like that? I'm not sure how I could set myself up for exposures without putting myself into a position where it's not unlikely for me to get hurt and further confirm the fear. It's hard to tell where the line is between justifying the fear, and having a valid level of self preservation when my fears aren't *totally* illogical.