I’m sure it’s existed in people in the past, they probably didn’t have a word for it and people just called them crazy. People with different mental illnesses were probably all grouped into the same “Crazy” category. Did they just learn to deal with it? Or is OCD mostly a modern thing?
My therapist says that a lot of people hid their symptoms or just didn't talk about it. I have family members who acted "normal" most of the time but would occasionally say or do things associated with OCD, and I didn't notice it at the time but in retrospect that's probably what it was. My grandmother on my father's side had a lot of weird beliefs and superstitions that she mostly kept to herself, but sometimes she would warn us about something trivial that seemed like it was an OCD theme for her.
Imagine back in the cave people days , gathering around the fire 🔥 and thinking did I just hear a bear 🐻 sneaking up on me even though I just checked. I think it always existed. I gave this example just for a little joking 🙃 around and humor.
@777Q PLSSS this is hilarious 😭
Prayer and religion. Think about it… You have to say this prayer 10 times or you’re sinful. You have to give this offering to the gods or a disaster will happen. The gods are watching you and if you’re a bad person they’ll send you to hell. In moderation, theyre comforting and guidelines for life, but in excess, they are exactly like compulsive behavior and thoughts.
When I was a kid/in puberty and didn't know what was going on in my head, i became super religious and superstitious
I guess people with OCD back then just dealt with it and hid it from people. Because back then, people would just tell you that you’re crazy and threaten to throw you into an asylum if it gets bad enough that it interferes with your ability to function in society. If it gets bad enough, they just lock you up and forget about you and say you went crazy. So people tried their best to hide it and blend in with the “normal” people to avoid such fate.
Man… this is quite dark, but I’m fairly positive I would’ve offed myself if I had to deal with this without any knowledge of OCD, knowledge that other people have similar experiences and I’m not just completely insane, research and proven successful treatments. I am however extremely grateful
camping for the answer lol i think it did exist back then tho i’m just wondering how it was treated
@taurising Well, we have the power of the internet so now people can share their experiences and realize that this is a thing that affects us but back then, it must be isolating as hell to have OCD, with no one to understand you as it’s not that common and well-known.
OCD has been around for centuries, but as you mentioned, there wasn’t really a name for it. Once there was some sort of understanding of OCD, it was treated by bloodletting, religious practices, and institutionalization. Oh and can’t forget about lobotomies too 😭
It started when I became an adult, and started receiving my mental health diagnosis. I hyper fixated on each and every action I did and how it could be related to my diagnosis’s. It then lead to fixation to my physical health — making appointments and seeing every specialist I can to rule out every possibility. I currently have been suffering with obstructive sleep. I woke up the past few days with severe pain from the lack of sleep whilst believing I was oversleeping. Luckily my fit watch tracks my sleep cycle and it turns out I am not receiving any sleep. I had an extreme panic attack — bursting into tears on the phone with my mom wondering what this case might be. She told me it could be sleep apnea and that a simple sleep study could figure this out. However, knowing my family history I made appointments to every specialist I can to make sure it is nothing serious. The unknown of health can be scary to me. Watching my mother suffer with her physical health chronically since I was a child lead me to be very conscious and aware of how my body is functioning. This morning was one of the worst moments of physical pain. I should just take one step at a time with the sleep doctor instead of taking measures to see every specialist that could pertain with this issue. However, that is very hard to me. I don’t want to ever wake up in the pain I was this morning. Does anyone else suffer with health-related OCD? And if so, how do you find a sense of ease during moments like I expressed?
So maybe the title wasn't the best to to put it but when you guys start having obsessive thoughts how do you stop them before it turns into compulsions and anxiety?
I started dealing with OCD when I became fixated on health issues, particularly the fear of contracting a life-threatening disease. If I experienced any kind of medical symptom, no matter how small, that even remotely hinted at something potentially fatal, it would drive me crazy, and I couldn’t stop obsessing over it. Then one day, I started having intrusive thoughts about accidentally hitting someone with my car, and I would end up driving in circles to check if I had. Eventually, I found myself overwhelmed by a flood of new obsessive thoughts and compulsions. One day, while I was at the park, a squirrel came near me, and for some reason, I felt like it attacked me. I Googled it and learned that squirrels could carry rabies, which spiraled me into a deep fear of rabies. I became consumed with the thought I received a bite from a squirrel, raccoon, or bat any time I’m in areas that trigger me. It started off only being inside then transferred to even being in my own home. This made me obsess over every physical sensation in my body, compulsively checking to make sure nothing was wrong. One compulsion that I hated the most would to be putting rubbing alcohol on me to make sure that I had no open wounds. Every day feels like I’m walking around in a fog of anxiety, constantly worrying that I won’t even make it to old age. Sometimes, it gets so overwhelming that I just want it all to end. It stresses me so bad at times to where my brain feels like I’ve been studying all day.
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