PTSD with OCD?

Yes, I faced some pretty severe emotional abuse in my childhood while simultaneously being excluded at school. Wasn’t fun. Not sure which came first but either way it certainly didn’t help.

Does anyone else notice a direct link between having a PTSD trigger and then an OCD spiral? I also find that because my PTSD has so much to do with thinking I am a “bad” person and all the guilt which surrounds it just gives my OCD more power. But keep fighting everyone, we got this 🫶

I did. I won't get into what I experienced unless you want to, but suffice to say, the trauma led to me develop compulsions, which turned into an eating disorder and addiction. (Pretty sure both of these were driven by OCD and PTSD for me.) Who knows what really came first or if the PTSD caused the OCD or if I always had OCD and just happened to also go through horrific trauma, but I developed PTSD and OCD around the same time and had both as long as I can remember (since I was 6). I'm 32 now, and it just got worse over the years. I'm in a position where (I think) the PTSD is getting better, but the OCD is what's really strong now.

Yes!! Being sexually abused really exacerbated my OCD and made the intrusive thoughts sooo much worse. For me, my PTSD really presents through OCD and disturbing intrusive thoughts. I have had compulsions / intrusive thoughts since I was a child but honestly being traumatised has made it a million times worse!!

Thanks so much for sharing your experiences. ❤️How are you all finding that ERP works for you so far?

Yes, I suffered living through a dysfunctional family unit as a kid and then was bullied in middle school so there really wasn't a way for me to escape from the trauma. I ended up having to repeat two grades because I didn't like going to school. Ended up diagnosed with OCD and ADHD because I used my daydreams (hyper-fixations) to escape reality but then started getting intrusive thoughts halfway through HS.

Me. My ex was really abusive, and it directly contributed to all of my OCD fears. He attributed thoughts to cheating. So, when I was having panic attacks because I was having sexually intrusive thoughts about people, he told me “the next time you have a thought like that, tell me so I can break up with you”. And at one point my OCD convinced me I had a crush on someone, and he shoved me when I confessed to it. And equated all of this to “just like my ex girlfriends” who actually cheated on him. And told me that if I thought about someone else during sex, it ruined it for him. Constantly punished me and shamed me and told me my thoughts were disgusting. So now I’m kind of afraid of any interaction with men other than my partner. (My current partner is amazing and supportive, nothing like my ex, luckily) But it’s been honestly really difficult to navigate another relationship.