Hello there! I'm new here can y'all share success stories of harm OCD? It could be from podcast or blogs Thank you so much and I wish you a speedy recovery and inner peace.
I have a success story. When I was a young adult, still living with my family, we adopted two adorable little kittens. While playing with them, I suddenly started to have very upsetting thoughts about hurting them. I went to my bedroom and felt horrible for a few hours. I think this was before my OCD diagnosis, but I had read about harm OCD before, so I guess I suspected something like that might be going on. The kittens were so cute and I loved them so much, I decided I couldn't stand to avoid them, so the only thing I could do was to go cuddle with them and just trust myself not to hurt them. It worked! I held the kittens, nothing bad happened, and the thoughts faded. Of course, my OCD soon found other themes to focus on -- health fears in particular -- and those other obsessions eventually caused a major crisis for me. But one of those cats became my best buddy and helped me through that crisis. Then I took her with me when I moved out to live on my own. She was such a great little cat! I'm so glad I was able to take that leap of faith.
This is such a uplifting story, thank you so much for sharing this!
I got one for ya, I'm dealing with harm OCD. I get thoughts that what If I killed someone with my car and I don't remember or what if I cause a fatal fire. Started doing ERP and it's helping tremendously. Living with uncertainty is terrifying but it gets better but you have to put in the work. This journey will be long and you will fail sometimes and that is okay. Iv had OCD since I was 10, and I just found out about it at 24, and I'm now 25. It's taken enough from me. I plan on getting my sweet revenge and I got a BIG sweet tooth. You got this friend. You got this
Yes! I would love to hear the same.
I’d like to hear some too :)
Welcome to the NOCD community! There are some great success stories here you can read!https://www.treatmyocd.com/my-ocd-journey
I am really struggling with harm ocd. ( The fear of hurting others) My ocd is very tough to combat at the minute. I feel like i’m having intrusive thoughts every minute of every single day. Except from when Im distracted. I feel guilty and foul for the thoughts. I have this strong intrusive feeling that feels impulsive, as if i’m about to act on a thought. It almost feels like I want to. But I really don’t and i’m so scared this isn’t normal. I keep thinking. “What if this isn’t OCD” “What if i did that” and it’s really worrying me as it feels relentless and as if I’m about to do it. In my head chest wrists. I feel tired of this. I don’t know much about compulsions etc but i find myself - Asking my bf if he gets intrusive thoughts like me. Asking him if he actually does and asking repeatedly. - I ask him over and over again and check if he definitely does. - I will literally try to fight the thoughts by kind of saying “ as if i’m not that type of person” Then saying everything will be okay to myself. Please can someone tell me if this is normal. Yes I may be looking for reassurance but i need to know if it is, Im scared, i’m crying. Please tell me if you’ve had this feeling of as if you’re about to do it!
Hey guys, I hope you’re well! My names Matt, and OCD has struck me again 😂 When I was 10 years old I had to attend therapy as I was having excessive intrusive thoughts. P.s. I didn’t even know this was possible at the age of 10! I then completely forgot about it, until 2.5 years ago when I started experiencing ROCD. I really couldn’t understand why I was feeling/thinking this way however, I soon after remembered my struggles as a child and then realised my OCD had returned. Also, my mum has serious OCD so I guess that could be why too. I had a a really hard battle with my emotions and mood due to this however, the last 1.5 years had been really good and I managed it well. I got married and had the best day of my life. 3 months ago, a thought about having an affair in my head appeared, and BOOM, it’s back again. I’m struggling a lot right now however, I’ve accepted that this could be a re occurring theme throughout my life, and it’s time to learn to deal with it again. I’m back on medication and have started ERP therapy, so hopefully it’s on the up from here. I’m not here to list off my triggers and thoughts as this would be me seeking reassurance however, I’m here to show that recovery is certainly possible!
Looking back, I realize I’ve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldn’t explain: "What if God isn’t real? What happens when we die? How do I know I’m real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didn’t want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. She’d say, "Maybe you’ll kill yourself—who knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. I’m working again, I’m sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If you’re scared to try ERP, I get it. But if you’re already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
