- Username
- gratefulsunshine
- Date posted
- 3y ago
The first intrusive thought I clearly remember happened when I was 8. I had gone with my family to an amusement part and my dad and I were on the Ferris wheel. We ended up stuck and the top. I completely freaked out. I remember thinking that I was going to fall out and that the ferris wheel was going to break and my dad and I were going to fall to our deaths. I remember saying "I don't like this. Why aren't we moving? I don't like this" my dad tried telling me to just calm down and explained that we needed to wait so other people could get on. It felt like an eternity before it started moving again. I couldn't wait to get off that thing. Haven't been on a ferris wheel since. I'm now 45. I have been afraid of heights for as long as I can remember. I also have an irrational fear of bridges especially if I walk over them.
When I was 6, I thought that if I thought about vomit I would puke, but then I couldn't stop thinking about vomit and got scared and started crying. Dad asked me what was wrong, and I told him that there were "bad things in my head". He was very confused.
Do you have that vomit fear still?
@positivityyyyy No. It evolved to other things. Now my main obsession is uncontrolled weight gain.
@positivityyyyy I do
When I first I had ocd my parents didn’t no wat to do I was takeing showers for 2 hours cause I’d get stuck doing rituals not noing the amount of time that had passed I had other problems to things to do long to do that’d I’d just stop I’d stop washing my hair cause it was to hard my sister kept telling me I was doing it on purpose to keep ppl from getting in the bathroom and another time my dad would do this little hand thing I did cause of mt ocd in a mean way telling the hospital to take me I’m not normal there’s something rong wit me and I didn’t no this then but my older sister had ocd when she was younger cause she was molested and she use to wash her hands till they bled I never had anything like that done to me my ocd just came when I went threw puberty but my dad doing that to me was horrifying and noing mt older sister had it wat did he do to her and she had something happen to her to cause it mental illness runs in my family my mom was anorexic when she was younger and relatives have other mental illness and drug addiction I get stuck wit ocd that ruins my life.
I needed help and couldn’t get it cause nowere helps wit ocd noone took the time to understand me ppl were just tlk bout me cause it’s such a wierd illness most ppl are just unsympathetic and don’t want to try to relate and understand you I wish I had better help and support round me.
What is your OCD story? I’m curious to hear about what other people’s journeys with OCD have been like. When you were diagnosed/what kind of treatment you have tried/what kind of OCD or symptoms do you have/what has helped you most? For me personally I don’t have a lot of people that I feel comfortable sharing my journey with in real life so I like having the chance to let it out on another platform. I’d love to hear whatever you are willing to share. I’ll start by sharing my journey. I was first diagnosed with and treated for OCD when I was seven (12 years ago). It started when my parents noticing that I was constantly smelling and washing my hands. I also worried a lot about my family’s safety and had a lot of magical thinking: I couldn’t throw anything away, had special walking rituals, had to touch things certain ways, etc. When I got to high school my symptoms got worse. I was re-diagnosed with OCD, dermatillomania, social anxiety, generalized anxiety, panic disorder, and depression. My OCD had morphed into just right/perfection obsessions (took me hours to do a simple homework assignment and I spent hours per day reviewing my interactions to look for mistakes), contamination OCD (couldn’t go outside, in my car, downstairs in my home, etc.), magical thinking OCD (knocked on wood over 60 times per day), health OCD, fears of losing control and intrusive thoughts. My life was consumed by my disorders so I entered a partial hospitalization program for OCD for 12 weeks. Two years later I was still struggling to function. I felt like I had tried everything. intensive ERP, 13 different medications, 11 different mental health specialists so I decided to enter residential OCD treatment. I was there for 3 months. It helped a lot to have the intensive ERP and 24/7 staff support. I got also got a much better grasp on my issues. I still struggle but I know how to deal with my obsessions and compulsions. I doubt anyone made it this far but if you did thank you for your time. I’m definitely interested in reading other people’s stories no matter how short or long they are :). Have a great day.
How has everyone else's OCD progressed throughout their lives? Has everyone else always had severe OCD or did you live regular lives beforehand and encounter one point where it went from 0 to 100. Where are you now in your OCD Journey? I'm very curious as to everyone else's stories and have left mine below if you’d like to read it. From what I can remember, I went relatively undisturbed by OCD the majority of my middle/late childhood, only having about 1-3 thoughts a year that weren't super bothersome but did create a level of distress uncomparable to regular intrusive thoughts. They were mainly about my health and about my parents safety & wellbeing. The earliest memory about my OCD that really stood out was back in 5th Grade, when I hit my head on a swing set and immediately began reciting every moment leading up to injury as well as every math equation I knew to make sure my memory was still intact. The greater part of my adolescence was essentially the same and resembled what I believed to be a normal life, just with a couple of OCD thoughts sprinkled throughout it. I was able to function pretty well albeit depressed and somewhat anxious. It wasn't until I was close to my highschool graduation that I experienced the worst panic attack(at the time) at the idea that I would hurt my parents. It was so distressing because the thought felt so loud that I believed it was genuine which only caused more distress. I was so scared that I would act on the thought that I discarded all of my sharp objects and locked myself in my room. That was my first ever severe reaction I experienced due to OCD and was back in May of this year. I actually learned what OCD was the same night and realized that many of my newly found fears including mold growing in my walls and my parents disliking me were also caused by the OCD. Unfortunately learning that it was probably OCD wasn't enough to quell my fear and I engaged in a bunch of compulsions in the months to come, worsening my OCD In the process. June was alright. July was worse(I only had like three topics for obsessions which sounds great now). Late July-Early August was my tipping point . Things went from worse to profoundly terrible in a short period. I found this app late August which was great because I had grown exhausted. September was pretty bad but not as bad as August. Now it's October and life is somewhat good now. I've become more knowledgeable of OCD (big thanks to this app and my therapist) but I'm very far from done. There's still this looming sense of anxiety that follows me everywhere. I have like 20 obsessions now, some being larger and scarier than others but those smaller ones are still apparent. But, the fear has decreased as well as the mental compulsions that came with it. My mind is quieter now. However the anxiety has stayed the same. My heart still drops whenever my worst obsession is triggered. Headaches, brain fog, sweating, rapid heart rate, sense of being paralyzed, racing mind are commonplace in my life but I've learned to sit with the physical discomfort (not that it makes it any less terrifying). Anyways, I'm here now which is cool. I’d like to listen to others' experiences to get a better understanding of OCD and maybe feel a bit less alone. feel free to ask any questions.
Hi everyone. I have PANS OCD and had it early as a child around 5. It was debilitating I went though counting, contamination OCD even thinking family members were contaminated, hand washing till my hands were raw and more I had a good childhood but it was heavily OCD based which stinks. I am now 25 and have had manageable OCD throughout the last 10 ish years. Up till late last year I got it back again worse than ever.. I am now worried about asbestos and mold and lead and household things we moved into an older home and it’s been awful. I also worry constantly 24/7 about death… also We don’t have any of those materials In our home but my OCD won’t leave me alone. I went into treatment didn’t sleep the 4 days I was there and checked myself out, I instantly regretted it and tried going back but they wouldn’t let me back right away unfortunately. I am seeing my therapist once a week and trying to live life as an adult with OCD it never fully went away but it was so manageable and now I need to learn to live with crippling OCD all over again if anyone has any advice or relates to this please comment so we can talk. Thanks Lydia
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond