If you are in need of immediate assistance, please dial 911 or the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline at 1 (800) 273-8255. For example, someone with real event OCD may focus on an interaction they had as a student, decades before the time the obsessive thoughts begin. Heather M. Jones is a freelance writer with a focus on health, parenting, disability, and feminism.. May 8, 2021. ERP involves managing obsessions without engaging in compulsions. What causes OCD isn't fully established but these factors seem to play an important role in the development of the disorder. We avoid using tertiary references. However, it is now classified as its own disorder by the American Psychiatric Association. Acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT) is a type of cognitive-behavioral therapy that can effectively treat OCD. Im new here and Ive been suffering so much lately. Did you lock the door before you got into bed? In some cases, the anxiety caused by the event can be so severe that it leads to a full-blown panic attack. There is no possible way to live without a single negative thought or emotion. Fortunately, as with all kinds of OCD, real-life OCD can be treated. Hirschtritt ME, et al. This process includes identifying what events or situations cause your anxiety to spike. The most common treatment for OCD is a kind of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) called exposure and response prevention (ERP). However, with treatment and continuing mental health exercises, people with real event OCD can find relief from their obsessive thoughts. Obsessive-compulsive disorder. Still, I cant stop thinking I raped her. Should I have done something differently? Go for walks in nature, listen to uplifting music or read a book that makes you laugh. Real event OCD is a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder. But this does not mean that it also cannot latch onto things that anyone would feel bad about. To make the most of ERP therapy, you should be willing to take risks and face your fears head-on. When Real Event OCD takes over your mind again, you need not despair if youve already recovered from this type of OCD before. //-->