Does anyone else’s OCD involve feeling like you have to process something in your mind over and over again until it feels just right like you processed it so that you really grasped the thought or something. For example, I could be wondering what time it is so I check my phone as anyone would. But then, even tough I know my mind did understand what the time was the first I checked it my mind is telling me like “oh re check the time so that you can really FEEL that your mind is processing the thought of knowing what it is.” And this can involve a lot of other random stuff like feeling like I have to rewatch a part of a movie for instance, as I’m already watching the movie, to fully understand and enjoy the movie even though I know my mind d did understand it or whatever. Or it can even be me focusing too much on a certain word after I said or or read it or heard it and now my mind is telling me “oh but do you really understand what that word is?” Like it almost feels as though I don’t understand English at least for that one word and so I have to momentarily go over it again and again in my mind until my mind feels as though it processes it so the meaning “clicks” in my mind and everything feels right. It’s so annoying and honestly brings stress that is annoying as heck. So does anyone else also have this as a part of their OCD? Just curious

OK, this might sound really dumb, but when you guys get intrusive thoughts, do they just come once and then go away? I’ve heard that repeatedly thinking about an intrusive thought is considered ‘checking,’ but it doesn’t feel like I have any control over how many times it comes up in my head. It’s not like I’m trying to check anything—it just keeps showing up, almost like it’s terrorizing me every time. I can’t seem to stop it from looping, stop remembering it, or prevent it from coming up. Every time it does, I feel horrified, and I already know it’s going to horrify me. I don’t think I’m actively trying to see if my feelings have changed, so is this still considered checking? How do other people get an intrusive thought and just move on? Doesn’t it pop up a million times for them too? I always thought that was normal, but now I’m hearing this could be a compulsion, and I feel really confused, scared, and lost. Is this why my OCD feels so extreme? Because I really don’t feel like I can control how many times the thought pops up.

I’m curious how many other people experience this! I’ve been diagnosed with severe OCD for 20 years now, about 10 years ago my little OCD brain came up with a series of words. It is saying everyone in my families name and then something negative, and then something positive. Since my brain attached to this series of words, it hasn’t stopped repeating in my mind. Like I said, it’s been 10 years, and this “phrase” is constantly repeating over and over in my head. When it’s finished, it just restarts again. My brain is constantly exhausted since it’s always talking. It’s kinda hard to word this so idk if it’ll make sense to you but let me know if this is something that you might experience as well!

Does anybody else experience OCD while reading? I feel like i need to remember everything in my book. And i have a feel that i need to completely understand EVEYTHING in my book (even very minor things) and if not, i feel as though im cheating or that the minor thing is very significant and that ill want to remember it even way after i finish the book (just for the purpose of knowing EVERYTHING about my book) Also, when a character says some minor things i feel the need to understand it completely or i feel the fear that i didn’t understand what the character actually meant. If youve struggled with this please give tips on how to overcome it