I feel like when I’m afraid of something with my OCD I see it EVERYWHERE. Does anyone else have this happen? Like once it was fear of going blind and I saw the word blind everywhere and the next day a blind man crossing the street. It’s happened with other fears but I get so scared they’re signs. When it happens so many times I can’t help it.
This is because when we have a fear, it becomes an obsession when we compulsively are trying to find a way out of it. If we keep looking for signs of our OCD, of course we will start to notice things that make them pop up more. OCD knows how to be sneaky. If the word blind bothers you, try using this as a time to write it on a post it note and place it somewhere in your home or even write it down and see what feelings arise with the word. This will help expose yourself to your fear of being blind and soon enough you won’t be seeking any compulsions to get yourself out of it!
@Jesse Miller Thank you! That’s a good idea
It's called priming, you notice things more that you wouldn't have paid attention otherwise because your hyper focused on whatever it is.
@Anonymous I’ll have to google priming, thank you
It's sort of like the whole pink elephant syndrome, the more you try not to think about something, the more you inevitably will. Because you are so afraid of something, it draws attention to every little thing that is related to it- like when you get a new car and you start to notice all kinds just like yours. It's not that these things are suddenly present- its that your perception is sharpened to it.
It happens to me a lot. It helps that I finally recognize the pattern and I think it’s encouraging that you recognize the pattern as well. Sometimes I try to think of something else and notice the “signs“ of that and I realize that I could just as easily interpret other things I see as signs about anything. It’s easier sometimes than others but yeah this is definitely a thing.
@ChaniLB Thank you, not that I wish this on anyone but it is nice to hear I’m not alone in going through this
Very common with this theme Feel free to dm do you have insta?
@Anonymous Thank you! I don’t have insta, though :(
I just saw this video of this lady talking about coincidences and death. I know I shouldn’t have read the comments but I did. It now has me freaked out that my thoughts are facts and will happen. How do people have gut instincts? It freaks me out. Has anyone ever feared this?
For anyone else into spirituality, astrology, signs etc. Do you find this can make your OCD worse at times? For example… seeing “signs” that your intrusive thoughts are true or will come true? I’m having a horrible bout of SO-OCD right now and even just saying that I feel shame because I have nothing against the LGBTQ community. But for some reason it’s debilitating at the moment and I keep convincing myself that I’m seeing “signs” that are telling me I’m actually gay, even though I know deep down I’m not. Any advice with this? Why does it feel so incredibly distressing? Then I start to convince myself I must just be in denial. It’s never ending
My OCD tends to get really triggered by quotes, different instagram posts, TikTok’s etc. I keep having reoccurring thoughts that I did something to cheat on my boyfriend early on (we have been dating for 6 years) with guy friends I had on Snapchat at the time. Not too long ago I saw a quote saying “someone from your past is going to resurface unexpectedly”. I saw this quote at the same time I was having this horrible OCD flare up. My OCD seems to connect itself to different things like this quote. In my head this means it’s conformation that I did something and now something is going to come up and ruin my relationship even tho I don’t remember doing anything. Then today, I saw a instagram post saying that “Because of our faith in Jesus, we learn that nothing is random or meaningless”. This triggered my OCD again because now I think that I didn’t see the quote “someone from your past is going to resurface unexpectedly” on accident and that it means I did something bad. I also always see quotes in instagram saying “don’t ignore the signs you asked God to show you” and it really messes with my head. Does anyone else deal with this. I feel like it’s completely irrational but my OCD attaches itself to different things and patterns trying to prove to my mind I did something wrong. I prayed to God for a sign and to just reveal to me if I did anything and don’t remember. Is this a sign I did something wrong or is it my OCD?
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
