OCD and TMS Coaching?

I think my nervous system is firing at all capacities right now. I was stuck the past couple of weeks, then I had a symptom imperative earlier this week, and now I think I am in a major extinction burst. I feel frustrated but then I keep telling myself that all of these changes in my sensation levels means it must be doing something! Last weekend I didn’t have any pain at all!

It is time to tackle my OCD and I did start working on it this week. I’ve been very scared of approaching this because the last time that I tried to stop my compulsions, I ended up in major pain and didn’t know about TMS! In 2022, I did seek help from a therapist and she tried ERP with me. I couldn’t do it. The anxiety levels that I had after those appointments were insane. I actually chose to keep OCD than to feel the anxiety in those sessions.

So now I am attempting to rewire my brain pathways from OCD by myself. I started slowly this week (thank goodness I did since my extinction burst is rough!) and basically the thought comes into my head and I say no to the compulsion. And then I do something else. Some anxiety might flare up but I move on pretty fast from it. I’m not doing this all the time. Just to the compulsions I find easy to say no to. I feel like I need to gradually build up my tolerance to anxiety.

Here are my questions:

Has anyone here worked on their OCD by themselves? If so, do you have any tips or tricks that helped you?

I finally have a TMS coach in my state. Now I would prefer not to spend any money on any kind of appointments, but I also do wonder if I might need a coach? I know that I cannot heal looking outside to someone else. But would it be beneficial to have someone to bounce ideas off of? Maybe they could see things I couldn’t? If you had a TMS coach did it help you in any way? Or was it a complete waste of time and money?

 

OCD is so different for every person. I have OCD-type anxiety, so mine involves rumination most of the time, as well as some need for routine. I had a therapist at one point (non-TMS) and I didn't find her helpful, but that could have just been a bad match. I've actually asked for a new referral from my PCP but he told me we don't have great mental health resources in our area right now.

I haven't found good methods yet for the rumination, but for the desperate need for routines I've just been working on my own on making tiny changes to my set "programs" to shake them up a bit and teach myself change is okay.

Good luck however you decide to proceed! OCD is definitely quintessential TMS.

 

I believe @Baseball65 has written about the STOP technique being effective for OCD.

https://thewellnesssociety.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/STOP-Technique-PDF.pdf

 

@Rusty Red I think if I start working on my OCD that will take some anxiety down after awhile. Tiny changes seem to work best for me at this time for sure!

@Ellen Yes! I remember reading that before. I will book mark that to read while I deal with this. Thank you!

 

Major OCDer here as well. I can empathize. I remember the day I started biting my itty bitty nails back in 1st grade, and then cycling through all sorts of compulsions, although the looping thoughts are definitely the most frustrating.

I just wanted to add that I think you should remove the concept of an extinction burst from your mind, as far as I’ve seen, it’s an unproven theory as it relates to TMS, it’s more commonly discussed as it relates to conscious behaviors like a child throwing a tantrum for attention or a dog barking for food. Believing in extinction bursts just sets us up for disappointment, and I only think it’s really possible to say something was an extinction burst in hindsight-once the pain is gone. I think it’s better to just view these ‘possible ‘ extinction bursts as flares and respond as well as possible.

Just my opinion, no where near an expert.