Ive had a rough morning So i had a panic attack and then accidentally saw a news article on sex offendors and getting a life semtence which triggered of my themes. I guess theyll pass sometime

Both. Yes and yes, I’ve had themes run the gauntlet of the umbrella of “what if I’m a horrible person or did a horrible thing” and it will latch on to real events at times and twist my memory and reaction until it is out of proportion. You’re definitely not alone in your themes. POCD was a theme for me for almost a year, it got to the point where I couldn’t even look at a child without anxiety, but the exposure helped and now I’d say it’s 80 percent gone. I still get fears about it here and there but it’s a world away from how I felt. Of course something else took its place, but there is always hope !

Hey I just responded to your other post hahah. I just wanted to chime I. And say I have the same theme as you. And what works for me in this instance is saying, well if I was I’d cope. I’d live through it and I’d find peace again. I always accept that the fear could be a reality because it takes the power away from the intrusive thought for me. If I’m terrified of that reality than I resist the thoughts and try to fight my way out but if I accept that maybe it could be a reality, then the anxiety spikes momentarily but eventually gets lessened.

Damn thanks. Like me, do you also suffer from real event themes of OCD? Or POCD?

Same thing here, real event and POCD. Best weapon is to become cynical - When you see those news smile and say, yeah I am evil but right now I don' want to rape anybody, I want to feed my dog or go exercise.

Fernando ha well ive never seen or heard of that!

Catpants, thanks :-) how did you get over real event themes as traditional ERT isn't working a lot. As instead of "Oh god i might harm someone close to me" its "OH GOd! Ive molestered someone!"( when i havent really, my mind just bends and twists things out of reality) Ive tried imaginal exposures and that failed

What I mean is that you need to agree with the OCD and then do something aligned to your values. With real life events the imaginal exposures are the best - If they didn't work then you didn't do them properly. Make sure you create them under the guidance of a behavioural specialist. For example, if your obsession is that you molested someone, or if you are not sure whether you did, then write a script that states the consequences of that, worst case scenario - Going to jail, never enjoying life due to guilt, etc. It must create anxiety, if it doesn't then it's not the right approach. You need to read it and/or record it and listen to it at least 20 times a day, to a degree where it is boring. Your OCD then will throw you a new question that will scare you, then you do another script. The thing is this - Let's assume that you did molest someone, now what? Report it to the police? There is no evidence. Kill yourself? Like that's gonna help someone. Go on with your life, man. You are an imperfect human - live your whole humanity.