- Date posted
- 2y
False memories
Can someone please explain false memories related to OCD? I feel like I have had these but have never realized it’s related to OCD
Can someone please explain false memories related to OCD? I feel like I have had these but have never realized it’s related to OCD
False memories in OCD is basically like picking up on any doubt. For example, let's say you said something mean to someone once as a little kid, and one day you encounter a person you went to elementary school with. From there you start wondering, what if I said something mean to that person I encountered when I was little because I said that mean thing to that other kid? and you keep and keep on ruminating without having any evidence that that actually happened. Of course, false memory doubts can be much worse than that. For example, you could wonder if you ever killed someone without remembering. Ya, it sucks.
this might trigger someone so pls read with caution - - - it’s like going back in ur memories and being like “wait but what if this actually happened and ur just purposefully forgetting that it did to make urself feel better” it’s so annoying 💀
That is a great question. When our intrusive thoughts cause us to compulse, we are trying to figure out the answer , so our brain will proceed to give us a scenario of how something might have happened. And the more we compulse, the more the brain tries to “fill in the blanks” and hence false memory occurs. For example, if I think I hit someone with my car, and I compulse by checking my car for damage or blood, and I don’t find any - then I am ok - or am I. Ocd then says well maybe you barely hit them - so they fell over but there is no damage to your car. And then there are more compulsive behavior until I have many scenarios in my head. That is how false memory happens. I hope this helps.
@Jeffrey I am so unbelievably late to this post but I’ve been dealing with this this morning. Exactly how I feel!
Can it feel like you literally remember a false memory happening? And it feels like the memory has always been there and you vividly remember it happening that way? Because I don’t even know if I’m experiencing a false memory or not but god it feels so fucking real. Like I literally remember it happening. But what’s weird is the original memory was kind of different. 2 years later, the memory is not the same, but it feels like I literally remember it happening. And in this memory, I’m fucking snapping. I’m acting on my thoughts. I feel like a fucking psycho. I hope this is just OCD
How do you know the difference :( I genuinely cannot keep living in this torment. it all started with an ‘intrusive thought’ where I had like a hazy flash of something reading an article. and I remember thinking ‘what if’ and ‘what is this’ and then that intrusive thought turned into me ‘remembering’ something else. which caused me panic. then I started trying to find evidence because it contradicted what I remembered this entire time. this was last year in like september. fast forward to march this year, it came back up- but this time stronger and with more ‘details’ and what nots. and I’ve been ruminating on it since then trying to remember and connect and It’s like I’ve added all of these details. but are they real? or is this just my OCD? I just feel like if it were real I would have never been able to keep it to myself. but also what if it was so traumatic that I blocked it out? because it all makes NO sense for me to do something like that. but it also fits what I was thinking at the time. idk
I’m reaching out for educational and self-awareness purposes, hoping to better understand something I’ve been mentally struggling with for several years. Around five years ago, I began having a deeply distressing memory involving the fear that I may have acted inappropriately toward my younger sister when I was around 13–14 years old. The details are vague, fragmented, and unclear—but ever since this thought first appeared, I’ve treated it as if it were a real event. I’ve carried immense guilt, fear, and anxiety for years, convinced that I must have done something horrible. Despite asking my sister (who remembers absolutely nothing, has never shown signs of discomfort, and has told me more than once that she would’ve spoken up if anything had happened), the doubt and guilt never went away. The memory feels real, yet there is no external confirmation, no direct recall, and no evidence beyond my own mental images and fear. I’ve also struggled with obsessive thoughts in other areas, such as health anxiety since childhood—frequent doctor visits, checking my pulse, obsessing over illness—and only recently learned about false memory OCD, which aligns with my experience. I’m not currently seeking therapy but would greatly appreciate your professional opinion from an educational perspective: Does this sound more like a real memory, or more likely a false memory created by OCD or anxiety-related mechanisms I am stuck between a normal person or a s*xual abuser
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