Hi guys. I'm new here. My main obsessions revolve about memories from my past (Real Event OCD) Guilt and Shame. It is a tricky one. Does anybody else deal mainly with this theme?

Yeah I've done the same and it went on for 3 years, unsure how bad it was, but at the time I could see it as, not my best moment but no big deal. I'd come up with a solution only to find a "what if" after a while. There'll always be, what ifs. The only solution I've found is to let the fears worries be there and not to answer them but take the anxiety. Checking the memory will keep you locked into ocd. With time, the fears will fade, once you stop giving in and checking.

Yeah my compulsions(ruminating) caused my false memory ocd. Once I stopped trying to prove the thoughts were wrong, just let them lie, despite the anxiety, they start to lose their power. Takes practice and time, and don't give in to checking memories on the subject or you just end up back on the hamster wheel.

I don't struggle as much with false memory (just occasionally). In my case I do know that it happened (Even though it was 20 years ago) but i feel the urge to check what that makes me, to see how bad it was, to justify and sooth, to compare with other people, to self-punish, to confess and to try to imagine what people would think of me.

My OCD started with that and then it shifted to false memory OCD which hit hard because I was already anxious.

Eventually I accepted I'm imperfect and people make mistakes. But don't say it to seek reassurance. Cause my compulsions actually caused my false memory OCD.

Good to know I am not the only one. What exposures did you do for the real events?

I struggle with this as well, and I think it has started to lead to some false memories, too. It's like I start to question sometimes which memories are true. I think Garrett has good advice. Not always easy to follow, but I have to stop reliving these memories. My OCD tells me that maybe this time I'll remember some little detail that will somehow make things ok. But that never happens, and I suspect that even if it did, I would question whether that was a real part of the memory, or a false memory that I made up as a part of my compulsion to try to soothe my anxiety.

My false memory OCD convinced me I somehow killed someone without knowing. As you can imagine, that almost drove me to insanity.

I even called the police because I felt I needed to confess. But there was nothing to confess. False memory OCD is one of the worst.

I hear you