Hi everyone, struggling at the moment with existenal OCD, keep getting thoughts of "how do I know that everything i see, feel and touch is real" ...like literally everything... how do I know its just all not made up in my head? Its the most terrifying thought and not sure how to deal with it? .. anyone else suffer with this same thought?

Yeah it’s a phenomenon people can have without ocd but given how uncomfortable it can make you feel you obsess over it, derealization is common with people that have anxiety or depression and presumably as someone with ocd I can imagine you’re anxious. You’re not abnormal for feeling that way, for me personally just ponder if it even matters if it is or not. Everything could be unreal but as Descartes said “i think therefore i am” even if it’s all fabricated or simulated etc, you still are experiencing something, you don’t have to suffer from a nihilist perspective on it either, i mean if anything if it’s all not real than the weight of your problems in the grand scheme of it all are truly insignificant and you can make the best out of what this experience is real or not. There’s always going to be uncomfortable uncertainties we are completely out of control over, what we can control though is how we respond to them. Hope that can help it has for me.

Most people with existential OCD have these thoughts I think. And like anxious had said probably even some that don’t have OCD, they just have thought and move on. If you can allow that thought to just come and then go , refocus on anything else it’ll leave just as quick as it came. It’s the energy we put into the thoughts we think need our attention. Everyone has their take on it. I mean I took a philosophy class which is devoted to it. You can choose which thought you want to give attention to though.

I'm dealing with this right now and it's so so hard.

Horrible aint it.. does it terrify u? Do you get exactly the same thoughts?