Sleeping-with-ROCD

the partner. A person jokingly makes a statement that the
partner is “weird”. The sufferer takes this seriously and
thinks about whether his partner really is weird. “Well, if he
thinks she's weird, maybe she is,” he thinks. This is a
thought the precedes a spike.
The response is the obsession that follows, in which the
sufferer will start obsessing over possible clues that he is
with a “weird” woman. Her behavior comes under his microscope
as he obsesses about whether she truly is weird.
This unfailingly leads to the conclusion that she is weird,
and he doesn't love her. After all, he can't love someone if
he thinks she's weird.
Response prevention is the process of disallowing the
sufferer to begin the behavior of substantiating the relationship.
He or she is intentionally exposed to spike themes, but
cannot engage the behavior that is done to bring relief. This
can be especially difficult when the behavior is secret, or in
the sufferer's mind. He or she is not allowed to begin the
analyzing the relationship. This usually goes on anywhere
from hours to days, and works to give the sufferer practice
in not letting these thoughts develop into obsessional behaviors.
Over time, restraint from acting out the response
becomes easier until the sufferer has little to no difficulty.
This therapy often includes homework. The sufferer may
be given assignments to complete in between sessions.
A common assignment is to practice “Self-Directed ERP”.
An example of these assignments is keeping a stack of index
cards, on which are written statements about the partner.
“She laughs loudly”
“I find other men attractive”
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