False memory?

My OCD pulled out something very distressing that has driven me to the point of a near nervous breakdown and I am not sure if it is real or not. Details of the “memory” have changed considerably since it first popped into my brain. Point is it feels very real, and has that familiarity like an actual memory, it’s however pretty inconsistent with details, some seeming more familiar than others, but I can’t nail down anything very conclusive. It’s just stressing me out, I’ve been told to embrace that uncertainty but I can’t, it just keeps coming back like a stack of bricks falling on me like it’s something I actually did at one point.

blaze19star

Date posted: 1y

Hiya, i’ve been through something extremely similar, i think the only difference is my ocd fabricated the memory like 2 seconds after nothing had really happened and i was really chill about it at the time because i knew it wasn’t real but after a day i j went completely hay wire and started freaking out, the “memory” kept changing and my ocd went full crazy mode and i was stuck on it to the point of a breakdown and this was the turning point of my ocd. I went to hospital and saw a psychiatrist and during these few days of pure torture i was on the internet searching constantly for anything that would relieve my stress and i found someone talking about false memory ocd and they basically said deep down u can tell it didn’t happen, now reassure urself once and ignore all thoughts telling u it did happen, try to j act like nothing happened because realistically nothing did, have u ever had a memory before that u were so unsure of. if you did something bad, ocd would turn this obsession into a guilt obsession but no ur obsessing over whether it happened or not which is not real event style ocd and i’ve had that too. ik this is reassurance but i went through the same thing and it made me breakdown and this is the only thing that let me allow myself to give uncertainty a chance, w out this info i couldn’t cope so i really hope this helps calm down the spike so u can get better ❤️‍🩹 after a few days i came to my senses and understood that nothing had happened and my brain j made it all up which helped me realise in some ways that ocd is j bull because it can literally make up memories that are fake

Nica

Date posted: 1y

Are you speaking to your therapist about this?

Saturnus606

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

@Nica This popped into my mind only a few days ago, so no

Nica

Date posted: 1y

@Saturnus606 I suggest speaking to them when you next see the therapist, and you need to continue doing ERP on this and using your coping mechanisms you’ve been taught so this doesn’t get worse.

Saturnus606

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

It’s more scary to me cause if this is a false memory then it may be the first real complete fabrication where it didn’t exist, cause all my other memories feel real enough, Idk, it just scares me

blaze19star

Date posted: 1y

@Saturnus606 sorry i don’t really understand what u said, ur worried because you’ve never experienced a false memory before? i hadn’t till then ethier.

Saturnus606

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

I don’t think I’ve ever experienced a true false one before is what I’m saying yes, or rather I’m not sure

blaze19star

Date posted: 1y

@Saturnus606 a “memory” is just a thought, ocd can fabricate anything

Saturnus606

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y

I’ve always separated the two, Idk

dee012

Date posted: 21w

false memory help

any advice for when you get false memories that feel really real? especially something that had JUST happened, it’s like ur brain distorts it. i feel like i do something wrong 24/7 then i get over it and ocd latched onto something new

andrewt_

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 17w

Question about false memories, please help

Can it feel like you literally remember a false memory happening? And it feels like the memory has always been there and you vividly remember it happening that way? Because I don’t even know if I’m experiencing a false memory or not but god it feels so fucking real. Like I literally remember it happening. But what’s weird is the original memory was kind of different. 2 years later, the memory is not the same, but it feels like I literally remember it happening. And in this memory, I’m fucking snapping. I’m acting on my thoughts. I feel like a fucking psycho. I hope this is just OCD

scrambled

Date posted: 17w

false memory or repressed memory?

How do you know the difference :( I genuinely cannot keep living in this torment. it all started with an ‘intrusive thought’ where I had like a hazy flash of something reading an article. and I remember thinking ‘what if’ and ‘what is this’ and then that intrusive thought turned into me ‘remembering’ something else. which caused me panic. then I started trying to find evidence because it contradicted what I remembered this entire time. this was last year in like september. fast forward to march this year, it came back up- but this time stronger and with more ‘details’ and what nots. and I’ve been ruminating on it since then trying to remember and connect and It’s like I’ve added all of these details. but are they real? or is this just my OCD? I just feel like if it were real I would have never been able to keep it to myself. but also what if it was so traumatic that I blocked it out? because it all makes NO sense for me to do something like that. but it also fits what I was thinking at the time. idk

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