Would love to hear how other mamas are doing with dealing with Postpartum OCD….Sometimes I feel like a danger to myself and my child or worse what if I acted on my intrusive thoughts! Looking for help/advice
Harm OCD is harm OCD. I'm not a woman. Harm OCD is triggered by a)Our care for the person (infant, child, adult) and b) our perception of their weakness. A baby is entirely helpless, so the anxiety with harm OCD has to be crushing. I have Harm OCD about my parents. My mother passed in 2008. I live with my father, and he got sick last year and got severely weakened. My harm OCD is off the charts. Don't avoid your child. What I recommend is seeing a therapist of course, but also taking l-theanine, which will lower anxiety, or chamomile tea. I recommend taking a warm / hot shower or bath to relax. I recommend trying talking to your best friend about this. And I recommend reminding yourself that the reason the thoughts are so scary is because you LOVE YOUR CHILD and WANT TO PROTECT HIM/HER. You are looking out for danger and you falsely wonder if maybe YOU are the danger. ANd you aren't.
I had it after having my daughter and she’s 19 months now and I can get intrusive thoughts and accept them and they pass. I’m 25 weeks with my second and had intrusive thoughts during my baby’s ultrasound today but let them in and let them pass and I continued the ultrasound not thinking twice about it. Did a few weeks of therapy with a wonderful therapist, if you need one I can let you know her name. She’s all online and made me feel SO comfortable. She’s specializes in ocd and hears all the intrusive thoughts all day so what I was going through was routine for her. If I can offer any advice it would be to ask for help with a therapist, get a support system even if it’s online group or friends. And remember you’re scared for a reason. You love your baby dearly. Postpartum OCD was the hardest thing I have battled, you have this tiny little being you love with your whole soul and more and a mind that races with what ifs. I regret not reaching out for help sooner. But I am overall okay now, and my baby and I are closer than ever. Also AVOID COMPULSIONS. It sounds so hard but do it! And sit with the anxiety. You will prove time and time again you’ll never do anything and these are just fears.
@Kilo2001 I really appreciate it so much! Please tell me who you go to! I love hearing your experience it makes me feel like I’m not alone😊
@Anonymous https://northshoreocd.com Just shoot her an email, I believe it’s on the website and she’ll respond pretty quickly! I will say the first appointment is kinda pricey but she does offer 30 min and 60 min sessions. 30 min obviously being cheaper. She does not take insurance.
@Kilo2001 Thank you so so so much😊
@Kilo2001 Thank you so so so much😊
@Anonymous No problem, remember you’re not alone! And while it can be a battle you can totally get your brain back.
@Kilo2001 You have no idea how much this helped😊
Wow this help more than you know! Thank you so so so much!
You're more than welcome. I've had harm OCD for 28 years.
Hey all, This is so strange to share this, and I have been judged by others and misdiagnosed many times. About a year ago I worked with an OCD therapist and it was really triggering. For me my thoughts are mainly about suicidal ocd and harm ocd centered around my children of all things. Fear that I could or would want to hurt them, then feeling so horrible that I believe I’m suicidal then I go back and forth on that. After reading a few of your posts, it makes me truly have a bit of hope that I can overcome this.
Honestly ocd has been so tough these past months, like I wake up in the morning thinking I accidentally hurt my whole family and just don’t remember. And I start to question so much. And freak out thinking that I did. If anyone can relate I would love to hear from you ;) and any things that may helped you
Please comment. Just say if follows along the OCD pattern or not. I don't need reassurance per se! My daughter was laying across me and every time I breathed a certain way I was getting a groinal sensation. I kept breathing like that anyways (ugh idk why), and then my mind told me I had hurt/a**aulted her that I might as well do something else to hurt because what's more. So idk why or what overcame me other than the thought of doing it because my mind told me I had hurt her already ("my mind literally made me question what to do and I guess the only thing I could come up with was using my elbow) and causing another feeling but it came across my mind to elbow her, and I elbowed her crotch or side/thigh area. Which caused another very unwanted groinal sensation. Then I began FREAKING smooth out. And I've been stressing since. I feel like as a mom I don't deserve to be hers anymore. Idk what overcame me but my therapist says it's all OCD. I was doing SO well! Is this really OCD? This has all caused me a great amount of anxiety. I feel like a terrible person and mom. I just need help knowing if this is OCD. Not wanting reassurance. Just wanting to know if this lines up with the POCD I've been diagnosed with by my current therapist.
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