does anyone else have trouble separating themselves from OCD? i constantly fear that i’m faking symptoms, don’t really have OCD, and am fooling everyone around me into liking me. my brain tells me my intentions are to hurt others and i’m just using OCD as an excuse. i don’t know how to shut this pattern of thinking down. i’m deathly afraid that i’m a horrible person.
I actually relate to this so much I feel like I could have wrote it myself.
Meta OCD is a real jerk. OCD is a liar. It will tell you that you don't have OCD and that you're not a good person. This is a thing for me a lot of the time too. Your best bet is to talk back to OCD. Use non-engagement responses. Fighting the intrusive thoughts won't help. Accepting that the intrusive thoughts are there and that you don't have to listen to them helps. Your brain could tell you all day long that you're a tomato. You can actively think about being a tomato. It doesn't mean you are a tomato. So feel free to push back and tell OCD that you don't care what it says. When you feel brave, you can say "sure OCD, maybe I'm using you as an excuse, whatever". Try different things like "I don't know the answer but I'm not going to figure it out. I can handle not knowing." You can do this!!
@ReadyForImprovement thank you for this. my only trouble is, i can’t handle not knowing if i’m a bad person. i have to know because i don’t want to be a bad person. i don’t want to hurt people. i don’t know if i will ever be okay with not knowing that
@ocd_punk I'm the same way. I thought it was impossible. I've had this my whole life and I'm 40. But I'm getting better. You can too!
Sometimes i feel like im using ocd as an excuse. What if i dont really have it and im just freaking myself out? Does anyone feel this way
Does anyone else ever feel like they don’t feel “bad enough” to have OCD, or that they don’t feel “the right way” for it? Or like they’re just saying they have OCD as an excuse? Because i was so much better for like 3 weeks now and now im on my period and i started doubting again. So because of that im scared that i was feeling to good and that my fear is actually true.
Does anyone have any advice for how to know the difference between ocd and real feelings/thoughts? Sometimes an intrusive thought will come in and I immediately know it’s ridiculous and I can just leave it alone and it won’t bother me but other times I really really don’t know. It’s when ocd hijacks and twists my real feelings and thoughts and tries to manipulate me into believing they’re something they’re not or something that doesn’t align with my true morals or intentions. But since it’s twisting and mixing with real feelings I get so confused and scared. Everything gets jumbled and I feel like I can’t trust myself or my own mind. Yet other times and other topics I can laugh off and push away just fine. Make it make sense. And then I start to think well maybe I don’t have ocd at all and I’m just in denial because I don’t want to accept that these scary/concerning things are true about myself. Or maybe that’s just the ocd talking.
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