- 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?
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?
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.
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!
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.
I’m curious how many other people experience this! I’ve been diagnosed with severe OCD for 20 years now, about 10 years ago my little OCD brain came up with a series of words. It is saying everyone in my families name and then something negative, and then something positive. Since my brain attached to this series of words, it hasn’t stopped repeating in my mind. Like I said, it’s been 10 years, and this “phrase” is constantly repeating over and over in my head. When it’s finished, it just restarts again. My brain is constantly exhausted since it’s always talking. It’s kinda hard to word this so idk if it’ll make sense to you but let me know if this is something that you might experience as well!
Okay so I’ve dealt with harm OCD from the beginning. Started off with harming my kids, going to jail and then harming myself. The harm to myself stuck around for a long time. Then it went away and other themes picked up but it keeps coming back. This is like the third time it’s come back and every single time it comes back it feels worse. It feels like this is the time something is going to happen. Has anyone ever dealt with this? With old themes constantly coming back and feeling more real? Please any advice is greatly appreciated. Thanks
Anyone else feel that when they aren’t experiencing a theme that their ocd is almost non existent. It almost makes me feel like I’ve been faking it, and also makes me feel ridiculous for obsessing over things. I feel sorry for myself :/ I know that my themes are valid and felt very real in the moment, but after I “get over” them I just can’t believe that I was obsessing over something that either wasn’t true or didn’t apply to me. I would also like to know how to prevent themes from reoccurring. Health, religion and existential OCD themes tend to take turns throughout my life, I just didn’t know that was it ocd. Trying to break the cycle.
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