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The postpartum period is by far the most psychiatrically vulnerable time in a woman's life. Erin had always some some mildly annoying obsessive-compulsive tendencies, but they were never a major factor in her life, until just after her daughter was born. Almost immediately she was flooded with horrific violent images and urges, these then morphed into a paralyzing dread of viral contamination.

This is the first of two parts. This episode is Erin's story of learning to lean directly into her fears, the next episode will be Dr. H and Dr. Amy Indermuehle, an OCD expert and Erin's therapist, deconstructing Erin's treatment and how exposure therapy helped her to reclaim her life.

Postpartum OCD
https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/postpartum-ocd/

https://www.postpartumdepression.org/postpartum-depression/types/ocd/

Exposure and response prevention
https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/ocd-treatment/erp/

Dr. H
https://www.craigheacockmd.com

On Twitter @bftapod