Can OCD go into remission?

I stand corrected; after my dad passed away, OCD became centered around different things. Fear of death/my loved ones passing/me dying/etc. I notice how it ebbs and flows with life as life itself happens. Is that normal? (Not seeking reassurance, just wondering if I am the only one!)

hey there! not a professional at all and actually just starting to dig into my own ocd, but the last few days i’ve actually been thinking about this a lot, because i feel like that happened to me too. it was bad when i was 15, and then it was fine from ages 16 to 18. at the start of 2022 i went through a really bad breakup and that’s when it got really really bad again. then again at the end of that year started getting better, and half way through this year bad once again. i always blamed the breakup for triggering it and causing it to be back, figured that it had gotten better because i moved on, and then bad once again when i went back to my partner. however, these past few days i’ve been extremely dissociated, and the intrusive thoughts seemed to be more chill. this fits my timeline pretty nicely too, as i was very dissociated during those periods of time where it was “better”, when it came back in 2022 i had just started taking medication to help with my dissociation, among other things (not ocd), went back to dissociation when it was better again, and got out of my abusive household when it got bad again, lessening the dissociation. i’m starting to conclude that, for me personally, despite the breakup being a big trigger, the dissociation really makes it seem like it’s better. i’m actually gonna ask my therapist about this next time i see her. just some personal experience, thought that maybe you could relate a bit

I feel like mine did have remission in early sobriety which was 2013-2016. Not sure if it was a more coherent time with having a great AA network and less stress due to working part time and going to school. I had really low self-esteem so maybe that occupied my thoughts? Also I had gone off an SSRI cold turkey but maybe that helped residually in 2014. I just remember writing about violent thoughts but it seemed sporadic. The worst of the OCD (Tiers 1-3: self-harm and breaking things purposely) has gotten worse throughout my life. When I was a kid there was a lot of low level stuff or I stoically handled it. In 2023 I went to inpatient and IOP and left my job due to stress from breaking my 1 front teeth purposely and thinking about further damaging it 70% of each day. I had to address it regardless of cost or medication side effects, or else have a horrifying life of self-harm. Now with medication and ERP from NOCD which I found through an OCD support group, things are much better, 80% reduction in self-harm thoughts and I’m able to be employed. The lesser Tier 4-6 OCDs are a little worse, but they’re manageable. Things such as SOMETIMES not being able to leave my house on time because clothes are out of order, paying to store old papers I never use, or having to bring 6 beverage bottles to a meeting to feel secure. NOCD is a success story because there are so many therapists available. If anyone is in New Jersey and looking for an in-person support group feel free to DM me. 😃

You've done it before so you've answered your own question. I currently consider myself in remission