Helpful Reminder in Our quest for certainty

@VGH That is so beautiful! You are always so wise! The phrases you mentioned gives a lot of self compassion on top of not engagement! You pointed out accepting the thoughts no matter how real it is? For example the outcome in this case would be death and losing my life due to almost getting ran over by semi truck. How do we accept it when it’s a real event that happened? Brain would try to mental review event hoping to find safety that we are safe but it would pull us to further rabit hole right? Thanks for advice!

@Anonymous You are always so nice! There is a talk I listened to, I will try and fun it and post it here where what about the worst things, scariest thoughts etc and it really helped me because the answer is “yes you have to be willing to have the worst happen”. I will look for them in a bit and post them here❤️

@VGH My therapy sessions will end soon unfortunately end of this month. I would love to venmo and support your work as you really know how to recover and understand the struggles behind it.

@Anonymous Reach out anytime on here, I love this community ❤️. This podcast may help https://youtu.be/FMr6CiHBU3U?si=mnPTKF9Ybyb78vbR. I’m looking for the other one.

@VGH I love mark freeman and Ali greymind and Nathan Peterson and will watch the video you sent. For me all my ocd fears are regarding health ocd where the outcome is what if I die, I am young 24 and have it live enough yet and what if my ocd compulsions makes me target in public and people end up hurting me cause I have ocd. For example I had a trauma experience in college as there was a college shooting and I was in the building and had to block doors with chairs while the person was banging open the door. Luckily police came and I was saved but every since that had trauma about gunshot and dying or dying in car crash. I notice that sometimes when I hear loud gunshot noises I have to check my body because of the somatic sensations I am worry what if I got shot and don’t know it. I then Google and seen cases where people didn’t know they got shot until later due to adrenaline so I have this thought what if I got shot and not find out until hours after and then it’s too late. The problem with accepting the thought is to me it’s life or death as gunshot is scary and how can I accept I can possibly die young due to gunshots and just makes me sad as if my life is over. Sometimes my ocd is tough and In the moment act like I got shot and have a lot of physical body sensations and dizziness. I know it’s ocd but what if I got shot and don’t realize it until hours after and it’s too late. What are some non engagement statement I can use for this scenario and what would the exposure be to help recover? Thank you VGH, blessed to have your support in my hardest moment

@Anonymous I am so sorry this happened to you. Your brain is trying to keep you safe, but in an unhelpful, ocd way. I am not a therapist, but as someone who has lived with health ocd for so many years, it came down to taking the risk, taking the risk I may die, taking the risk I may be irresponsible and actually cause my own death. I know how hard that is to hear, especially when I did develop some medical conditions. Facing that fear was so difficult. I too felt sad and miserable. How could I possibly enjoy my life? But, here is what it came down to for me, I wasn’t enjoying my life, I had missed so much time to compulsions, avoidance, fear. I wasn’t there for the people who loved and needed me. Some of those people are gone now, my mom and dad, I never got to be with them without my OCD fears impacting every moment. My ocd started when I was 24, I am 63 now. I didn’t get help until about 5 years ago. I’m here to tell you it won’t go away by itself. Don’t do what I did and spend you whole life doing what OCD demands. But you can do it, little by little you can get your life back. Don’t do what OCD asks. Don’t Google. It’s fuel to OCD’s fire. When you hear loud noises, resist the urge to check your body. Maybe resist for 10 minutes if that’s all you can do and then stretch that amount of time. My therapist would tell me if I couldn’t resist checking, at least delay it. When the sadness comes, don’t engage in the narrative. I would say to myself “I may die, so right now, I’m going to live with abandon, if this is my last moment I’m going to enjoy it” and then I’d go do something, anything, that would change my environment. I’d try to do something for someone else, even if was just walking outside and saying hello to a neighbor. Sometimes I’d be in tears doing this. When the fear came again “nope, I’m doing this now”. So googling and checking your body are compulsions which are keeping you stuck in the ocd cycle. I would try my best to cut back or delay those compulsions. Another compulsion is thinking about your sadness. I spent a lot of years in my head doing this. It truly isn’t helpful, it’s feeding your ocd. That is why I spend so much time in this community. I try to do things I value, rather than focus on my ocd thoughts and feelings. You are stronger than you know. You have already been through so much. Don’t give up, keep fighting back, it does take time and practice and reach out anytime. I am still looking for that other video❤️

@VGH That is so beautiful thank you for you experience as it is changing life’s and helping others who suffer. Just like you said being able to recover from ocd means willing to risk and willing to die. It’s that we need to have this strong mentality that yes we might make ocd mistakes and die at our own hands or stupid mistakes but life is uncertain we can’t let it bother us because there are people who need us. It’s this idea I rather die as hero helping other then protect myself through avoidance and compulsions as it will only strengthen ocd and make my circle smaller. Life is short we can’t control or gurantee we have tomorrow and that’s why best thing is acknowledge the hard event and then once we acknowledge we have to have the mentality to not do check for body injuries or wounds even if it means if it might be too late and delay the treatment. It’s this idea that unless I’m physically lying on the floor and can’t move no matter how scary or real the thought is we have to choose to disregard. Like it’s basically choosing which one is the best of the two evils. Either regret and be more stuck or trust and try to live each day and maybe through time life can get a little better

@Anonymous You are so right! I’m so happy you are on the right track❤️. I promise it will get easier with time and practice. You are wise my friend, wiser than you know, and with your insight and experience you can help others who are also going through these struggles. All the best! You’ve got this!

@VGH So for example of Gunshot noise. Because I get somatic sensations like stabbing pain when I hear the noise it makes it feel so real. I get we have to accept that we might die but when is it do we need to go to doctor to get it checked out and going to doctor would be reinforcing the ocd right? Like how do you know if something need actual medical attention and sometimes stuff are just scary and must do exposure and sit

@Anonymous I used to/and sometimes still do think “oh I should just go to Dr to be on the safe side” nope, I go the the doctor for my yearly check ups. Period. My therapist told me I couldn’t go to the doctor unless blood was dripping on the floor or I couldn’t move. I know it sounds harsh, and there are always “what ifs” but this is the response prevention of ocd. You have to take the risk. Going to the doctors is reinforcing ocd. I had to learn that I couldn’t use the doctors as a compulsion

@VGH Oh and the second part, how do you know if it’s truly something, you don’t know. I make myself wait 2 weeks (with absolutely no compulsions including rumination). What always happens is I get clarity way before the 2 weeks is over.

@VGH Beautiful! So basically with somatic sensations let’s say trauma to gunshot noises. Every time I hear a gunshot noise or firework which I can’t tell my body sends me aching stabbing pain as if I got hit but it’s my body trauma reaction That’s why it’s bad to Google because there was always stories and cases where a person got hurt by gunshot but didn’t know due to adrenaline and high pain tolerance. My worry is if I don’t go to doctor and check it out what if bullet will be inside me or I’m dying soon. So you are saying despite this severe fear it’s best not to go to doctor because even they are professional MD doctor it’s giving reassurance right? Like even how scary it is I have to sit and not go to doctor and accept I might have a bullet inside me or I might be dying soon? Through time will I get the long term reassurance and see the situation clearly? Thanks VGH!

@Anonymous Hey there, I don’t want to give reassurance I know how difficult it is to feel uncertain ❤️. Right now, I’m experiencing uncertainty and doubt about a medically related topic. I would love to check my body, google, ask someone for reassurance, call my doctor. However I know I have OCD, I know what makes ocd worse is compulsions, therefore I am taking the risk, as hard as that is, all in an effort to get my life back. I know from experience clarity will come❤️

@Anonymous This video at 29:23 may speak to how to handle these thoughts when you have them. Hope this helps. https://www.youtube.com/live/SLLnIPuFAGE?si=21XTJmCm85hOI05O

@VGH I love the video you sent by mark. He has good explanation. Quick question for wanted to see your advice on how to accept the risk. For example my risk is dying and this regret where if I die I could of prevented it and it’s my ocd irresponsibility causing my own death. Are you accepting that dying is a small chance or are you accepting it’s just the thought of dying. Like how to deal with the thought what if it’s not ocd and it’s a real event and we choose to expose like ocd causing forever regrets when it’s a real danger? Thanks for help appreciate dearly

@Anonymous Oh good glad it helped. I’m going through something very similar so I’m accepting that anything is possible. I do have the thought “what if I’m making a fatal mistake and I die” but I am not exploring or investigating anything about that thought. Not whether it’s true, false, exaggerated, if I’m accepting I’ll die or accepting if it’s just a thought. If you spend too much time analyzing it’s rumination and it’s making it worse. I know it’s hard but try going and doing an action based value driven behavior.

@VGH Wow so basically you are saying we don’t need to figure out if it’s ocd or it’s real! Unless I’m on the ground and can’t move or walk then I would get doctor help but no matter how real the fear is the goal is to not figure out if it’s ocd or real danger. Basically choosing to disregard and accepting that It can be a real event but we will able to handle it regardless real or not. And if we die cause we choose to exposure as harsh as it sounds we just have to accept it as life is full of risks sometimes bad. Is that right mindset?

@Anonymous Yes but don’t reassure yourself with you’ll be able to handle it maybe, maybe not moving on.

@VGH I know it’s hard, but you will find the more you are willing to not know and not do anything about it the better you will feel. It’s going to feel bad for awhile, but it’s not forever, your brain will adjust.

@VGH Makes perfect sense! Would you say regret about why something happened in the past or why did past hard event occurred even though it’s not figuring out if it’s real or not is it still considered to be ocd ways of tricking us to get stuck? Regret of why did I do compulsions and getting stuck outside even more and regret why did I not stay home or take a different road path that day. Those thoughts are ocd way to trick us into ruminating. Even though it’s not ruminating to solve if something real or not thinking about why did something happen will get us to ruminate and then get back into the ocd cycle. From your experience do you relate to this? Thanks

@Anonymous I relate to trying to figure it all out and that’s a compulsion, stay strong, don’t ruminate, choose to not know❤️

@VGH Dear VGH, Could you help give me some non engagement statements I can use every time I try to ruminate I can say and it and not engage in ruminating? Any phrases that help you will be great! Thanks for help

@Anonymous Sure, “Nope, not going there” “I don’t need to do anything” “I would already know” “this feels awful, but this is how I need to feel to get better” It’s important to truly move on from these statements and not do any thinking around them. Good luck, remember it’s easier with practice, this is a process.

@VGH Hi VGH, today is Friday the 13th and bad luck day. My friend forced me to go outside to play tennis and I heard the loudest the gunshot noise in the park. I am so triggered and so worried as it sounds like gunshot noise and it’s so close to me meaning I could of died. I can’t prove it’s not a gunshot noise and feel life is over. I don’t know and so stuck can’t even move. What are some steps I can do to help exposure and get back on track as I feel this event happened and what if I almost died and I shouldn’t have had went outside. Now I’m worried if I have any damage myself as I heard ringing in ears when I heard the Gunshot noise. Any advice would be much appreciated

@Anonymous I am sorry you’re struggling. Good for you, getting outside to get some activity in. Allowing the uncertainty and all the feelings that accompany it is your path out of this. Keep directing your attention to what’s right in front of you. Do something you like, don’t engage with these thoughts. You can do this.

@VGH I meant to include thee following links you may find helpful https://courses.jennaoverbaughlpc.com/e/BAh7BjoWZW1haWxfZGVsaXZlcnlfaWRsKwjYcUPjAwA%3D--e0a804968a01e60b69108152f5384ba977c117ff?skip_click_tracking=true and https://www.youtube.com/live/DHLvyQ9Bq5Q?si=oyfdDxnYmnpaoOgY

@VGH Awesome the video is really interesting. The issue this is real event as my friend was there with me all heard the loud gunshot noise. Would figuring out if the noise was caused by gunshot or firework be a compulsion as this is a real event. I know you said the key is to not figure it out but hearing gunshot so close is a very serious danger. How can I accept I almost died and got shot and be able to move on from it. Thanks VGH

@Anonymous Hi, so what has helped me in my recovery in dealing with real events is to ask myself “what is the function of the behavior I want to do?” If the function of the behavior is to relieve distress or uncertainty, then I assume it’s my OCD and I try my best to let time pass, delay, or not do the behavior. Of course, new situations are not always as easy to discern, and when past trauma and compulsive urges come up our thinking can become muddled. I try to always allow some time to pass, then I will ask my husband about it. We have a rule, in these types of situations “one and done.” For example, my main theme is health OCD. I have had some true medical issues come up involving medication. I have had compulsive urges to check, research, ask for reassurance etc. it hasn’t been a perfect journey with this new situation. It’s normal to have questions. “One and done” has worked well for me in this situation. I would get his opinion or ask the doctor, then when I found myself questioning or wanting to double check or ruminate just “to be sure” I would identify that as OCD and practice the response prevention of sitting with the uncertainty. Another helpful trick my therapist gave me is to ask myself 3 questions when I found myself in a situation asking a question about whether the behavior I want to do is a compulsion. 1. what would I normally do? 2. What would someone without OCD do? 3. What do I want to do (in terms of what my future life will look like without all the obsessions and compulsions? I’m not sure if I ever mentioned this book, Needing to Know for Sure by Winston and Seif, but it truly helped me understand OCD and you may find it helpful. As you are going through this process of recovery give yourself grace. You have experienced trauma, your brain is trying to keep you safe. Hope this helps, you will get there, recovery takes time and practice ❤️

@VGH That is awesome! I like the idea of one and done. But in this situation, after for string for 5 hours now I can’t ask anyone of “one in done” as they are not there To me it feels like there’s nothing that can answer the question whether it was gunshot or not. sitting for a while and getting a long sleep still have shocked by the event and can’t even ask anyone about it if it was gunshot or not or why was gunshot sound there on Friday 10/13 which is considered unlucky What is my one and done in my case

@Anonymous Learning, understanding and practicing that we cannot always know for sure is what helped me. I practiced living my life even though I was scared, terrified, sad, uncertain. It felt horrible, like I was making a fatal mistake. I decided maybe I was, but more than anything I wanted to be free of my fear and anxiety and get a chance to live my life. I practiced reminding myself that my brain’s demands for certainty were keeping me from living my life. I took the risk, I focused on what I could contribute to the world. The what ifs, your search for certainty, your needing to know, is keeping you from doing the same. Don’t let one and done be a compulsion. I would ask you, how is your friend handling this situation? Often my one and done doesn’t give me certainty, but it allows me to move forward with the uncertainty. Have you done any value work? What do you value, what do you want to contribute to this world? While I was allowing the anxiety and uncertainty I focused on what I could give to the world. If I wasn’t going to spend hours checking or ruminating, I figured I had to fill that time with something. It was hard it first, many days I was miserable. However, over time with practice I started to feel better. Give it a try❤️

@VGH Hi VGH, the hard part is I been volunteering at animal shelter for years and going to nursing homes to bring gifts and play violin music every month. I am doing what i value but see my ocd every time when I feel getting alot better it would bring a real event like actual gunshot sound and then I would be sad and stuck seeing the world is out to get me, when recovery is hard already add it on too makes me feel sad. My friend reached by oh that was super loud sound and decided to go home. He dosent associate it with gunshot he said probably a car run over a water bottle causing a loud explosion sound. I choose to not talk with him about it as he dosent know ocd so I don’t want to ask reassurance All I m trying to figure out is how come I’m doing my values and working hard as I can in recovery but real event like this have to happen to me and break me. How do we deal with the regret why did my friend bring me to play tennis when it’s 10/13 unlucky day and I wanted to stay home and now I have to suffer. There was threats from terrorist in the news so with the hard things going in the world, my brain wraps it and tells me a terroist attack must happened at the park as I never heard any loud noise like that The fact that I will never find out and know I “almost” died how can I live with this regret and sadness Thanks for help vgh

@Anonymous How wonderful and kind of you to volunteer in those ways! It isn’t easy to do those things when you’re dealing with trauma and OCD. You should feel good about yourself, it took me a long time before I was able to get outside of myself❤️ I’m not a therapist, so I can only speak to my experience, but perhaps it is in your “trying to figure out” and “deal with” that is part of the reason you’re stuck. It was when I let go of the struggle, accepted all the worst, that I was able over time with practice get unstuck. I also felt depressed. I thought once I stopped doing compulsions I would feel better. I did a lot of reading, and it seemed to be a general consensus that if you follow your values (not your feelings), act “as if” you felt good things get better. Is it perfect? No, but life isn’t perfect, people without ocd don’t walk around in a state of euphoria. I listened to a talk where it was explained emotions don’t really last long, it’s the narrative we create around the feelings that keep the feelings present. It’s true for bad feelings as well as happiness and joy. I was so filled with joy when my daughter was born, but that feeling doesn’t last forever. Think of a time you were so happy. That feeling didn’t last, the same is true for fear, guilt, regret. That is unless we create a narrative around it. So, when you ask how can you live with regret, why did your friend bring you to play tennis, etc. you are engaged in a narrative (rumination) which is a compulsion which is making ocd worse. Accept it all happened, and also accept that you are going to be willing to not figure it out or engage in the narrative because you deserve to have a full, happy life. This may help https://kimberleyquinlan-lmft.com/regret-guilt-two-very-misunderstood-obsessions-ep-310/

@VGH That is so beautiful! It’s a blessing! Thanks for the guidance. It’s recognizing yes some events are real and scary and no matter what we go through we are still breathing and it means we have to not figure out all the events that happened. It’s trusting feeling sad will Be normal and that feelings don’t last forever. I always feel if I don’t know what happened if I almost got hurt or not I will never be happy those feelings are all narrative and meanings we attach. Learn to let go and accept everything that comes my way is the only way to break free and have freedom. Yes it’s scary to accept everything and not worry but in life that’s the only way

@Anonymous Hi I was listening to this talk on OCD and trauma and I thought it may be helpful for you. Hope you are doing well. https://www.youtube.com/live/DHLvyQ9Bq5Q?si=KrO0veUGv2awlbNY

@VGH Hi thanks will take a look! Appreciate it

@VGH Hi VGH! Hope you are doing amazing! I did expsoure and for the first time drove my friend to airport as I don’t drive far On the way I was turning right on green light and I see a pedestrian walking close by at the crosswalk about to cross and it was hard as they started walking out a little and it’s my green light. My phone dropped on the ground which caused a noise. Im worried if the pedestrian got hit as im not sure as what if the they got hit and I don’t know it. I did expsoure and drove straight to home and now my super worried where did the pedestrian go and why I didn’t see them in the back mirror at that time. I did expsoure and at that time I didn’t drive back to check and drive straight home but now worry I will never find out what happened. My brain and value tell me if I don’t know what happened in this event I will never be happy again. I’m really stuck and hope you can give some advice on this situation and if I should solve it or figure it out as this is a big value thing to make sure pedestrian safe and with false memory not sure if they got hit or not . Thanks for Help

@Anonymous It’s great you drove your friend to the airport! That’s the exposure. Now you have to do the response prevention part of ERP. You allow all the uncertainty and uncomfortable feelings about the pedestrian. Don’t ruminate, don’t check keep redirecting your attention every time the thought pops in your mind. If you don’t engage, clarity will come. Good luck!

@VGH Hi VGH the hard thing is when it happened I didn’t drive back and check. I regret and have this idea if only checked once then this whole week would be good now I have so much uncertainty and feel like won’t be happy until I know. So your saying me not driving back is only part of the response prevention now at home I have to keep doing response prevention despite I never drove back at the scene? My feeling is what if it’s real and my whole life will change because of this event. What statements can I use when this worry what if pedestrian was hit so I don’t engage with rumination. Could you help give me 3 statement I can try to use to not engage in this rumination with this exact topic? Thanks for help appreciate dearly and struggling

@VGH Here is that other video https://www.youtube.com/live/nUh6Ju6ZUlA?si=NiPeR1HZa9CCLrq3

@VGH Don’t get discouraged, it does take time and practice, you will get there. The good news is that life after OCD (or rather living with OCD) is even better than before ❤️). I notice that I’m more willing now (than my friends who don’t have OCD) to step outside of my comfort zone and try new things. You will get there.

@VGH Wow VGH that’s amazing! It seems like resisting physical compulsion of not driving back to scene to check is just first part then when we come home with doubts we had to resist ruminating as well. Although we can’t push thought away cause we will think it more so we need to acknowledge it! Like you said the impending doom feelings and what if it’s not ocd and it’s real is toughest. Should we first analyze whether it’s ocd or not by answering questions before we expose and not ruminate or do we just blindly trust to expose regardless if the event is real or not? Like do we need to first figure out this is a real event or ocd worry before starting to expose and not ruminate? Thanks VGH

@Anonymous Hi, analysis, figuring out whether it’s ocd or not is a compulsion. I had to learn to simply trust it was ocd.

@VGH Wow figuring if it’s ocd or not is a compulsion. How do you cope with the worry what if something Really bad is gonna happen and we refuse to protect ourselves and plan for the future. Like how do you cope with the idea what if this is real and we are lying to ourselves thinking it’s ocd and it turns out to be a real event? Thanks for help

@Anonymous Hi, I think this is why OCD is one of the most debilitating mental health disorders, we live in a world where bad things can happen. It just seems irresponsible to take the risk, right? It seems irresponsible when if we just check, or ask someone, or figure out a plan we might avert a disaster. The problem is, when we have OCD, we are always in a battle with our own brains. As soon as we figure one thing out, our brain will offer us another potential disaster to prepare for. Our brains are trying to help us survive, however, no one can ever be 100% sure that they have covered everything and nothing bad will happen. People without OCD aren’t certain, they are satisfied with “good enough”, low probability. You can see by others on this app, there are endless possibilities in terms of “disasters”. Our brains zero in on our core fears, then tries to protect us from that ever happening. So, you cope with that thought, just like you cope with any intrusive thought. “Maybe I hit someone with my car” “maybe I have an illness” I will deal with it when it happens, I have ocd, and to get better I must not do compulsions therefore I’m going to be uncertain AND go (insert something I value). INeeding to Know for Sure by Winston and Seif really helped me to understand this and gave me great tools to use. I know it’s difficult, but, if you stop compulsions, clarity does come.

@VGH Beautiful! I love the phrase acknowledging I have ocd and must not do compulsion to get better and I value recovery. What if I hit some body with car and didn’t know? I will deal with it when it happens but till then my thought can bug and protect me all it wants but I refuse to do compulsions. When you say after a while you see clarity meaning you see it was ocd event or you see the outcome did not happen? Cause will always be uncertain right? What is the clarity we see?

@Anonymous You see that it’s ocd and not real, but the trick is to be uncertain first and not keep checking how you feel about it. That’s what I wish I would have known, if you can just practice not doing compulsions, you will feel better❤️

@VGH So basically don’t focus on feelings or worries if something bad happen or not and don’t analyze Focus on not doing compulsion and through time body will give sense of clarity that the worries event was ocd or if it was a real event the worry part of the event is exaggerated right?

@VGH Like we are not monitoring how we feel we don’t care how we feel but we care about limiting compulsion and then act towards our value despite worry

@VGH Hi VGH I feel like I learn a lot about precious relapse how I got stuck doing compulsion but some days are hard and I just keep relapsing. How to fight relapse and achieving this consistency of even when we relapse we are not all over the place and can pick up and get back on track asap?

@VGH Hi VGH, happy Monday! I love how you say recovery is a marathon. Remember how you said people without ocd still check once and then move on cause good enough. I drove straight home and not even drove back to check even once. So it’s way more exposure then checking once. I have a lot of regret as I know checking repeatedly is compulsion but I can check once and would have felt a lot better. Right now what can I say to myself when I have this regret I should have checked once during the event. I been sitting with it and stomach and whole body feel sad and feels wrong. Was it careless to not check even once driving to the the event. Thanks, Allen

@Anonymous Oh my goodness this is amazing, good for you!!! No you shouldn’t check once. I didn’t mean you get one check, I meant say for example you had to read something for your job or school, one and done with something like that.

@VGH Hi @vgh happy holiday. I had one of the hardest relapse last week. Had to drive parents to airport and after dropping them off I went to gas station to use restroom but my car battery broke and I was stuck for 2 hours. During that time heard all sort of gunshot noises and at one point weird person knocking my window. I had to call Officer to come but all the loud noise happened and now I’m worried if there’s any damage that’s done on my body as traumatic to gunshot noise. I really want to call officer and ask if he heard a gunshot noise as re-assurance but not sure if this is compulsion. Right now feels like life is over and regret I didn’t go straight home and going to gas station which caused this event. Any advice means a lot

@Anonymous Hey I wasn’t sure if this was an old post. I’m having a little trouble with my phone. I’m sorry you’re struggling. Stay strong, don’t check or seek reassurance. You can do this!

@VGH New post haha. What is the best way to message you? Thanks

@VGH Is there any phrases I can say when I feel the regret that if I only checked once during that event I wouldn’t be confused on whether pedestrian was hit or not. Now I will never know, and will be exposing in misery for rest of my life. What phrases can I use here to non-engage? Thanks VGH! I’m pushing hard

@VGH *let those feelings be there

@VGH Dear VGH, I am still exposing myself for the driving event and last night there was a big fight in my apartment upstairs. The upstairs neighbor was yelling and throwing stuff and then I heard a loud gun shot noise. I suddenly worry what if during the fight they shot a gun and if thru shoot the gun downwards wouldn’t it hit my ceiling and damage my house and put me in danger. Because of the loud noise I’m worried my ceiling might be damage or any gunshot damage to ceiling. This has never been my theme before and popped up. I’m hesitated to ask upstairs if everything is okay but I just slept through and now sitting with the anxiety. In this situation is talking to upstairs about the sound a compulsion or it’s considered a reasonable concern. Now I feel like there is a hole from gunshot damage in the ceiling and I never had this before and not sure if I need to call people to check it out. My ocd has jumped thême and this caught me completely off guard. Can ocd shift like that? Thanks for help

@VGH Hi is this a group chat? Will be also able to message you directly on discord also? Never used it before haha

@Anonymous Yes! Group and and DM.

@VGH Hi VGH my username on discord is Alan, could you send me a message so I can know which username you are on discord.