Confused about anxiety vs. OCD and seeking advice on managing intrusive thoughts.

How my therapy session went

My therapist said I don’t have ocd and my intrusive thoughts and mental obsessions are just from anxiety/depression. I don’t really understand it and think anxiety with compulsion is literally what ocd is. I asked my mom to explain in and I kinda got it but still am confused. My therapist also said it matters more if it effects my daily life which it does daily and I think is a big part of what causes my depression. Anyways my mom was pretty upset with me and says she thinks I worry to much about having ocd. She says I want to have it which is not true. Is it possible for me too be like this is an intrusive thought and still use exposures to help even if it’s not ocd? Idk I’m just really confused and need advice.

Username: tinydancer tinydancer

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 2y ago

I went through two therapists that told me I didn’t have OCD and that it was just anxiety. Self diagnosis is tricky business and it’s sometimes wrong but I would say trust yourself and find someone who specializes in it. They will be able to tell. I am now getting ERP from NOCD.

Username: Rohan123Rohan123

Date posted: 2y ago

ERP are great for anxiety, but u have check with a therapist about doing it. But for now you can just try relaxing activities.

Username: Maybe,MaybeNotMaybe,MaybeNot

Date posted: 2y ago

Hey friend sounds like you probably have OCD. I have OCD and I’m also a therapist that treats OCD. Unfortunately some therapist are just not educated on OCD. And unless your mother is an OCD specialist, I’m sorry but you can’t take her word for it either. Yes I would definitely do ERP, leave that therapist, and go find someone that is specialized in treating OCD. If anything the therapist is probably going to make it worse. And nobody wants to have OCD. I’m sure your mother had good intentions but that is such an ignorant thing to say. However it does help to know if you have OCD when you have it so you can treat it properly. But yes you can use ERP whether or not it is OCD. I use it for clients a lot that just have generalized anxiety.

Username: Maybe,MaybeNotMaybe,MaybeNot

Date posted: 2y ago

Username: Brave through Brave through

Date posted: 2y ago

You seem to have great advice could you help me too.. certain questions torment me…Posting even when i forget because thats how i know it will be ocd cause if i don’t then it feels like its true and my bi friend saying its normal for straight people to change into being bi cause they notice girls like we with both the genders and its the most easiest one.. and also i wouldn’t care if i dont post but i still did cause i knew its going to tell me its ocd but do i even wanna hear that do i need to hear that will that help do i believe it… and why wouldn’t i care if i don’t post but force myself to do it another reason to tell me its denial right?!? What do i do?! Its like I don’t care but i still do but if I don’t then what does that mean all this posting is fake but then what am i doing if its fake and i just force myself to without feeling anxious about it?!? Also when guys ask me out i feel weird i am trying to run away from them convince myself I don’t have feelings for a guy or do I actually not and I delusional i feel so out of place what do i do !?

Username: Maybe,MaybeNotMaybe,MaybeNot

Date posted: 2y ago

@Brave through Sorry this is really hard to understand because of the way you typed it, but you 100% have OCD. Stop analyzing your thoughts. These are all unanswerable questions, so stop trying to answer them. You have to sit with the anxiety of not knowing.

Username: Evelyn4416

Date posted: 4y ago

Having a difficult time talking to my mom about my OCD diagnosis. She thinks that’s not what I have and that I’m probably just searching for something to call it. She associates OCD with the hand-washing and cleanliness, however I deal with harm and religious OCD. Explained I thought it was general anxiety but with the obsessive intrusive thoughts and mental compulsions I’ve been experiencing I suspected it could be OCD and had that confirmed by my therapist. Anyone else have a hard time talking with their families on the subject?

Username: Angel

Date posted: 3y ago

I think I’ve been misdiagnosed. I went to go and get an assessment done with a therapist because I’ve been stuffering from sexual intrusive thoughts and anxiety for about 10 months now. He gave me a few questionnaires to answer and then he said he doesn’t think I have ocd but he thinks I may have clinical depression. I’ve told him that I have these thoughts all day everyday and they make me anxious and miserable but he still doesn’t think I have ocd. Maybe it’s because I don’t have any physical compulsions and I don’t want to argue or doubt a professional but I really think this is more than just depression. I’m not sure what to do now and it’s scaring me because a if a professional says I don’t have ocd then maybe this really isn’t ocd and I am acually the monster the thoughts make me feel I am.

Username: lor

Date posted: 3y ago

This is half a vent session, half me asking for advice but: My OCD symptoms started on april 2020, one month after the pandemic. that has led me to constantly question whether it’s OCD or anxiety and of course i can’t really diagnose myself but it behaves very differently from anxiety. i’ve also been doing research and reading about OCD for over a year and i honestly honestly think i have OCD because i fit basically all the symptoms? anyways, I finally brought it up to my therapist a few appointments ago and i felt like they kind of dismissed me? not sure if that’s normal. they told me it’s could be because of heightened anxiety and to practice “thought stopping”. that has made me feel sooo bad about myself because i start spiraling and believing my intrusive thoughts MUST be true because of what they said, and because it makes me feel like I’m just using the OCD label for “attention”. i’m not sure if i should bring it up again in a future appointment? or maybe find a new therapist? or maybe I don’t have OCD at all? I don’t know what to do

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Confused about anxiety vs. OCD and seeking advice on managing intrusive thoughts.

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