xokyaxo
- Date posted
- 1y
Is this common?
I’ve had the same themes of ocd on and off for years. I have a new theme i’ve never had before now. Has that happened to anyone else?
VGHVGH
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y
One thing I’ve learned is OCD isn’t truly about the theme. It’s about uncertainty and can attach to anything that is important to us or that we feel responsibility towards.
OoOcCdD66OoOcCdD66
- Date posted
- 1y
As the person above said, OCD is not defined by the theme. It can be ANYTHING. And I mean that. In your ocd journey, you'll find yourself fearing things you've not even necessarily read other having before. OCD is not defined by the theme, it is defined by the behavior that the theme causes. For me, I've had so many different themes/worries pop up I can't even keep track. Sometimes multiple in a day. Right now I have about 5 or more "themes" that keep weaving in and out or even happening simultaneously. It's a very ruthless disorder. But I think the more you and all of us embrace ERP and what we need to do, we will manage! In fact I know that! ERP has helped me many times and in general is why I'm able to still function despite being a wreck on the inside sometimes. And I'm far from perfect...I still give into compulsions despite me knowing better. But as you probably already know, compulsions do nothing to help in the long run. Often times it makes it worse...not only by reinforcing the fear, but also sometimes broadening them or creating new ones. Example being reading someone else's story, either out of a need to compulse or just curiosity, and then snowballing. You may take on their fear despite it not being yours, or it may add gas to the fire if you are experiencing a similar theme. Just stay strong and do the work! I'm sure you're no stranger to it. I believe in you and all of us!
ah727ah727
- Date posted
- 1y
this has completely happened to me trust me. when my ocd first started at 13 it was more aimed towards fear of loosing things so i was a hoarder to an extreme ocd level. today my ocd centers around losing people. basically i’m scared of never seeing people again which makes relationships really hard in the breakup. a lot of times you might think your ocd has switched themes but really you still have the same core beliefs and like i do in losing people or things and it takes a second to realize how it’s all connected.
Related posts
Anonymous
- Date posted
- 23w
Late onset OCD
Anyone else develop it in their 30s? I’m 33 and just started showing symptoms in October 2024. So far have only been diagnosed with GAD , PD and depression.I started having intrusive thoughts after a series of panic attacks . My compulsions would be googling. I have made an effort to stop though because it only makes me feel worse. My intrusive thoughts have been around fear of going crazy
ConstantPain
- Date posted
- 23w
Dealing with a lot. Need support and company.
My last and almost life long theme/sub-theme largely subsided recently and my ocd felt like it wasn’t even an issue. Then I went on winter break from uni and being alone made my mind come up with a whole new topic to obsess over. TLDR on my fears, my advisor wouldn’t email me back for a while about signing up for classes so my mind started to worry “what if he doesn’t in time and you can’t enroll this semester and you lose this whole life you just built and all these new friends” So when that issue was resolved my mind found other scarier ways I could be uprooted from my current life and friends that I’ve grown so attached to. Then my mind remembered back when I was struggling with false memories and scrupulosity and I essentially made a post on a forum 2 and a half years ago saying I did something or was convinced I did something that I never actually did. Now I’ve been spiraling about someone finding it reporting me and I either get seen as a horrible person or arrested or something over something I never actually did but “admitted” to out of fear of going to hell. My mind won’t let it go and keeps finding new reasons for it to be “valid” “logical” or even inevitable. I feel like it’s just hanging over my head and I can never rest easy. Especially when I try to focus on my daily tasks or plan for the future I get this horrible flair up of “why plan for the future when this could come back in that future and you get uprooted from all of it” my mind won’t rest without certainty being uprooted won’t happen but certainty doesn’t exist, at least not with ocd. This sucks and I miss being care free.
hopefulxmess
- Date posted
- 14w
Intrusive emotions. Anyone else?
I posted about this the other day and a therapist responded that if it has the usual ocd tells, then it’s most likely ocd. I’m just wondering if anyone else has experienced this. They say even if it’s new for you chances are others have had the same or similar ocd experience. So, this is new for me and just like when I get an intrusive thought i’ve recently been getting what I call intrusive emotions. I will feel something like sad or jealous in a situation when in reality I don’t feel that way at all. For example, my ocd targets certain family members and if one of them is watching tv and thinks a woman is pretty i’ll suddenly feel sad or jealous when I don’t actually care or feel that way because that’s my family member and I don’t think about or feel for them in any inappropriate way. Also, sometimes when I have a harm intrusive thought my ocd will say that I want something horrible to happen to my family member and I will feel like I actually want it but that’s not what I want or how I feel at all. Is there anyone who has had this or something similar happen?
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