Major confusion about Truth

Can anyone answer this? I have always since I’ve had ocd since birth, not known what it is like to not have all themes of ocd- for example, I have always seen the world in a contaminated and unclean way, non-moral people as threatening and hostile. Now the question is: many therapists say that do not provide reassurance that things ARE clean, people are not hostile, etc. BUT, how would I even know what reality really is, what truth really is, If I don’t have the understanding first that okay- things actually ARE clean. Please reiterate this point. How am I supposed to know? It was literally 20 years later that my mom once mentioned to me that people are really happy, and they work joyfully. It opened my eyes and I thought Why has no one mentioned this to me- understandably so, everyone thought I was normal like them and they don’t even imagine what it’s like to be in the OCD STATE. I never felt this way? It made me understand that life, reality and people are very very much different and it was OCD which has distorted the lens from my eyes. Now the real thing is- to get normal and better, would it not be helpful for a therapist to point out every single way a NORMAL human being experiences and interacts with life? But if they keep hiding this aspect that okay- things are contaminated, they are dirty, the sufferer will never know logically what really is the truth, unless of course their ocd gets cured. Even when ocd is curing, I feel lost to know what is the truth. Is it important to know the truth?

Tea and Honey

Date posted: 1y

I hear you. I think about philosophical and spiritual questions a lot. I think about life and truth also.

Tea and Honey

Date posted: 1y

I don’t thing it’s just reassurance-seeking to want to know what is the real truth about this world, because this would be a starting point to understand what reality is without OCD. It’s very true that when we have OCD, we see the world though a distorted lens and we really don’t know what it would be like to live a normal life without OCD. What is that like for other people? We can hardly imagine it. In summary, I think it’s okay to pursue knowing the truth as long as you are not tortured by the question or tortured by your pursuit of the answer. I understand everything you are saying. I think we OCD sufferers are often by nature very thoughtful

Sanchi_dur

Date posted: 1y

@Tea and Honey Yea, you mean not make it an obsession (ocd type) but this is where perhaps CBT therapy comes? (Which is realistic and positive reframing of thoughts?)

Tea and Honey

Date posted: 1y

@Saanch If I am understanding right, then CBT is a way of retraining your brain in a positive way? Then yes!!!!! That perspective you just said sounds awesome to me:):):) I do this every day. I am constantly reminding myself of positive truth. But I will say that from experience that it’s very hard to not let things slip back into obsessive mode. I know this from experience. Even when I think I am not making things into obsessions, I usually am. That’s because OCD pervades so much of my life and conscious. But if CBT can remain a POSITIVE way of retraining and helping your mind and brain, I think that sounds perfect:):)

Sanchi_dur

Date posted: 1y

@Tea and Honey Yes, I agree. It happens with me too. I fall deep into the dark hole of obsessing without even knowing it.

eugeniodepalo

Date posted: 24w

Double standards for certainty?

Do you ever feel like people without OCD have an easy time just saying “you need to accept uncertainty” only because they’re not subject to the same level of fear and anxiety as an OCD sufferer would? I feel like they don’t really accept uncertainty, they’re just naturally more certain about things. For example, if you ask anyone whether they think their loved ones are real or not, they will never answer with “maybe, but I’ll never know for sure”. They’ll just say “of course they are”. Isn’t that what certainty is? For me, as I’ve been suffering from existential OCD most of my adult life, such a question absolutely terrifies me. The mere thought of my loved ones and the world not being real sends me into a spiral of anxiety and depression and never ending certainty-seeking behavior. I just can’t stand the thought of that horrible scenario being true. How can one accept uncertainty about such a thought, when it completely undermines all my values and beliefs and world view? Can non-OCD sufferers really accept those nighmarish scenarios? Am I misunderstanding what ERP and therapy is about?

Anonymous

Date posted: 21w

Help please 🙏

Guys, does isolating yourself from society make OCD worse? Because I go out these days and I feel like my questions are illogical. Because it seems that alone, everything becomes bigger. It seems that we disregard everything. So something that you would or wouldn't do doesn't seem to have an answer because you don't consider the other. Is this real? Because for example, one question is whether I would take advantage of someone. But the question is, does that someone exist? It's not something that's in my head. In real life, we're all human and you see them that way. So your debt is answered with no. Because that's how you are, when placed in society. You would only do some harm if you didn't consider this, but that would be your values, right? So OCD asks some questions that disregard things, right?

anonymous00001

Date posted: 19w

Looking for “proof” that it’s not OCD

Hey all, I’ve been having some ebbs and flows in recovery, but for the most part I’ve really had a lot of improvements in quality of life since starting treatment in 2023. Something that really trips me up is ruminating on my past and looking for “evidence” or “proof” that the things that I’m obsessed with are real and not OCD. I spend quite a lot of time doing this. I wasn’t fully aware I was doing it until recently. Example: that I’m secretly gay and lying to everyone (I’m bi), that I’m a horrible person deep down, that I’ve never actually loved any person including my family, that I have the “wrong” political or religious beliefs. I look for proof in every corner of my past. It makes some sense that I think this way because with my previous therapist, who I saw for 8 years and did not diagnose me with OCD, we would look for evidence and proof that my obsessions are irrational and I learned to deal with them that way. At the time it was a lot of health concern and contamination themes, but I literally learned to ruminate and search for relief. But I just kept getting sicker and sicker until I got diagnosed with OCD. It’s a frustrating compulsion that keeps showing up for me. What if these scary things are true? What if it’s not OCD at all and I’m in denial? Have I lied my way into thinking I have OCD? It’s so hard. Anyway, I’m curious if anyone else has come across this in recovery? Let me know your thoughts and I hope you’re well. ❤️

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Major confusion about Truth

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