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.
I’m going through a really bad flare up. I developed ocd many years ago when I had my first child. Postpartum ocd. I suffer from harm and pocd. At first I had mostly mental and some physical compulsions but the physical faded away pretty early on and i’ve just done mental compulsions since. My ocd was in remission for alot of years and if the ocd would pop up now and again, I was easily able to shrug it off and not engage. A few years ago I went through a stressful time in my life and the ocd came back to stay. At first it was bad but then it got better and has been pretty mild until now. It’s been really bad this week and the physical compulsions are even back. I never thought it would ever get this bad again. My ocd is making me doubt who I am and how I feel. I know it’s all ocd and not real or true but the ocd makes it feel so real that I can’t easily dismiss or disprove it. The more I try to disprove it the more real the ocd makes it feel. I’m really struggling and don’t know how to get back on track. I don’t have access to a therapist because there are no ocd specialists near me and my insurance doesn’t cover online therapy. That’s why i’m reaching out here. Has anyone been through a rough relapse? How can I get through and past this??
Since I developed ocd as postpartum my ocd has mostly always targeted my kids. It started as harm and then switched to pocd. Both are equally very painful. For years I was mostly able to keep my ocd at bay but when it comes back it’s so bad. I have a son and a daughter and my ocd switches back and forth from kid to kid with horrible intrusive thoughts and now even intrusive ocd dreams. With each thought I get past and start to feel relief another one pops right up. The thoughts feel so real and true even though I know it’s just the ocd and not how I think or feel, the ocd always makes me doubt myself and question everything I think or do. I know other moms/dads go through this too. Please anyone who has or is going through this please tell me how you deal with this. 😪
Hi everyone, I’m Cayla. I’m a mom that’s lived with OCD since childhood, but my breaking point came more recently after having my son. I was consumed by terrifying thoughts—What if I hurt him? What if I did something awful without realizing it? I was so afraid of my own mind that I couldn’t be alone with him. The shame and exhaustion were unbearable, and I convinced myself I was broken. In 2024, I finally sought help. ERP therapy at NOCD was one of the hardest things I’ve ever done, but it saved my life. Even now, I have tough days, but I know I don’t have to be ruled by OCD. When my 12 year old daughter began showing signs of OCD, I felt overwhelmed with guilt. I never wanted her to go through what I had, but I knew what to do. I told her that I have OCD too and made sure she knew it wasn’t her fault—and that she wasn’t alone. One of the hardest parts of this journey was trusting someone else with my daughter’s OCD. I knew how vulnerable it feels to share intrusive thoughts, and I wanted her to feel safe. Her NOCD therapist was able to establish trust and genuine empathy from the start, and that relationship gave her the confidence to face ERP head-on. Seeing her build that trust made me certain she was in the right hands. ERP has helped both of us reclaim our lives, and it is beautiful to see my daughter managing her condition and making visible progress. Parenting with OCD while raising a child with OCD isn’t talked about enough, but I know so many parents are struggling with these same challenges. If you have questions about managing OCD while parenting, helping your child through ERP, or breaking cycles of guilt, drop them below—I’d love to share what I’ve learned. I’ll be answering all of the questions I receive in real-time today 4-5pm ET.
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