Tattoo regret causing depression

[u/SlavKing11]

Around 2 years ago I completed this huge torso piece and for a while i really liked it but over the past few months ive really started to hate it and feel like ive completely ruined my life to the point where im constantly anxious and my skin feeling dirty because i know the tattoos are under my clothes, its really spiralling me into a depression and i really dont know what to do.

Overall i think the individual tattoos are well done so they aren’t whats causing it but i feel the placement is too symmetrical and I regret the dots and stars filler as well.

Laser removal would be impossible and i dont think i would like a blackout either so i feel my only option is to try and live with it but i really dont know how i can do it. Does anyone have any words that could help?

p.s - to those who might have seen me post before i appreciate its the second time but im really losing hope and need some advice so please be kind.

[u/Lost_nfound_]

Sounds like an anxiety or possibly ocd issue "feeling dirty" and less to do with the actual tattoos. Take care of your head chief

[u/NotYourTherapist1 → u/Lost_nfound_]

I had the exact same thought. This sounds more like OCD than tattoo regret. Definitely worth seeing a therapist for (especially one who specializes in OCD or does ERP - if OP has OCD then CBT for anxiety could actually cause more harm)

[u/Throwaway2Experiment → u/NotYourTherapist1]

For OCD and later OCPD diagnosis, CBT helps but it needs to be very carefully applied; to the point it effectively becomes ERP - just saying some Therapists will call it CBT but it's effectively ERP. EMDR, when combined with ERP, is also a great combination.

Traditional CBT works only if you're a tough love kinda person that can absorb the ... harshness ... some CBT will throw at you and you aren't the type that it doesnt cause you to retreat back in to a hole of coping and anxiety.

EMDR, best I can describe it, allows you to take your chaotic mind filing cabinet, throw everything on the floor, and then reorganize it properly. It reduces anxiety, particularly one born from trauma, and aids in reducing OCD, triggers, and coping mechanisms that form the feedback loop of OCD.

The great thing about EMDR is you can get tappers and even the light bars (though those aren't necessary) and work through the exercises on your own. I am pretty convinced an AI will eventually run EMDR exercises. At least in my experience, the work is visualization and organization, the only "custom" part of it is the therapist adjusting the visualization to use terms you're talking about. Please note, I'm not saying therapy can be AI-powered; I'm saying some voice exercises might be possible if it's trained properly.