Living with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can feel like being trapped in a room with a bully who never stops talking. The constant intrusive, unwanted, or repetitive thoughts (obsessions) and the draining compulsions can steal your peace and joy. Compulsions can look different than portrayed in the media or online and include avoidance behaviors, rituals, checking, reassurance seeking, confessing, and rumination, some of which are mental compulsions that others cannot see. You might have tried to fight back, only to feel more exhausted. But what if the path to freedom isn’t about fighting harder, but about learning to face the fear differently? This is the core of Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, a powerful tool that offers real hope.

Understanding the difference between an information-seeking question and a reassurance-seeking question is a crucial step in loosening OCD’s grip. This distinction can help you identify a subtle but powerful compulsion and begin to reclaim your peace. It’s about learning to walk by faith, not by the fleeting feeling of certainty.

Have you ever felt an overwhelming urge to do something, even when it didn’t make sense? Maybe it was checking that the door was locked for the tenth time or washing your hands until they were raw, or even asking reassurance-seeking questions to loved ones or ChatGPT. If this sounds familiar, you might be dealing with compulsions, a key part of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD). It can feel isolating and confusing, but you are not alone, and there is hope for peace.