- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
Recalling and analysing (trying to distinguish what happened and what didn't) is actually a compulsion which will only make the OCD worse ....Practice ERP and ignore the OCD theme - ignore and move on !
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes I’ve been going through it for almost a year now. It’s just our OCD giving the event more meaning than it needs to have and because we can’t stop thinking about it, we think that what we did was actually terrible. I’ve learned that me replaying the event over and over in my head and getting anxiety from it has made my brain think that there’s a threat so the thought of the event always pops up randomly because my brain is trying to make sure I’m aware of the “danger” but there’s really no danger. OCD sucks.
- Date posted
- 5y
Have you found any good resources about this theme? I’m trying to better understand it without seeking reassurance— most people though can only talk about the intrusive thoughts which aren’t always real events. My intrusive thoughts are a cause of a real event.. anyways let me know if you’ve found anything helpful for you!
- Date posted
- 5y
@forestlife00 Definitely check this webpage out! It made me feel a lot better and helped me realize that my reaction isn’t normal. http://www.ocdspecialists.com/real-event-ocd/ I know it can get discouraging because everyone else seems to deal with thoughts that aren’t about real events like you said, but I think our OCD can absolutely latch onto real events in the past. Most people can just brush off what we’re worried about but our brains can’t let it go and it becomes debilitating (at least for me). I’ve done so much reassurance seeking and everyone has told me that what I’m worrying about is not a big deal, but no matter how much I ask for reassurance and get the answer that I want, my brain still won’t let it go. Not sure if it’s a similar situation for you.
- Date posted
- 5y
@Chrissy417 YES!!!!! OMG IVE NEVER RELATED SO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!
- Date posted
- 5y
@thiswillpass I’m glad I could make you feel better and not so alone!! It sucks so much, but there is help out there for this
- Date posted
- 5y
@thiswillpass Well I just started seeing an OCD specialist and I’m going to be starting treatment for my real event OCD and ROCD (I’ve been having both) in a few weeks hopefully. I’m having trouble coping at the moment, but when I get the thoughts I just say “oh that’s ocd” and just label the thoughts and try to prevent myself from going through the compulsions. I’m sorry you’ve been suffering, I’m in the same boat :/ have you looked into an ocd specialist? And what is discord?
- Date posted
- 5y
@Chrissy417 Discord it's like a messaging service
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes yes yes!!!!!!!!! The worst case scenario feels so fucking real.
- Date posted
- 5y
Oh my goodness I literally thought I was the only one with this problem! I hate it I deal with false memories thinking Ive done something then I’ll ask the person i thought I did something terrible too and they’ll literally let me know that that has never occurred but my ocd will literally take no for an answer and hit me with what ifs and hit me with something innocent turning into the most terrible thing on earth
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes that’s exactly what I experience! For me it seems after awhile my brain exhausts one traumatic thing and then moves on to another. Sometimes they’re completely made up and other times my brain will tie together several completely unconnected things, but most commonly my brain will take something I have done that isn’t a big deal but then it will what if until it turns it into something really really bad that I can’t handle and it sucks.
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes I’ve definitely experienced this. I’ve struggled with false memories and I’ve also struggled with real event ocd that I then twist into something horrible through “what if’s”. It’s super debilitating for me because it makes me feel like I’ve done some terrible things that I don’t remember doing or would never knowingly do. Specifically I’ll recall a real event that happened, but if it was a long time ago ofcourse I can’t remember every detail, so then I start to twist the story since I can’t remember everything and I’ll turn it into something really bad.
- Date posted
- 5y
OCD brings up a false thought , the imagination turns it into feLlling real. It's all false thinking.
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you! I’ve actually come across that article before and have found it pretty helpful.
- Date posted
- 5y
I feel the same way. It’s as if everything I do can become a traumatic crime that I can never figure out or piece together... OCD is crap
- Date posted
- 5y
I always feel like my OCD gets worse when I Babysitt— my ocd always makes me feel like I’ve harmed kids after chnanging a diaper, helping the child get dressed or feeding them... I’m always in denial and my mind makes me feel so conivinved that I did something wrong . Anyone else experience this?
- Date posted
- 5y
Yep, you aren’t alone. YouTube: Mark Freeman “ocd and false memories” Super funny guy, very motivating and insightful offer tools and techniques.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 20w
I’m reaching out for educational and self-awareness purposes, hoping to better understand something I’ve been mentally struggling with for several years. Around five years ago, I began having a deeply distressing memory involving the fear that I may have acted inappropriately toward my younger sister when I was around 13–14 years old. The details are vague, fragmented, and unclear—but ever since this thought first appeared, I’ve treated it as if it were a real event. I’ve carried immense guilt, fear, and anxiety for years, convinced that I must have done something horrible. Despite asking my sister (who remembers absolutely nothing, has never shown signs of discomfort, and has told me more than once that she would’ve spoken up if anything had happened), the doubt and guilt never went away. The memory feels real, yet there is no external confirmation, no direct recall, and no evidence beyond my own mental images and fear. I’ve also struggled with obsessive thoughts in other areas, such as health anxiety since childhood—frequent doctor visits, checking my pulse, obsessing over illness—and only recently learned about false memory OCD, which aligns with my experience. I’m not currently seeking therapy but would greatly appreciate your professional opinion from an educational perspective: Does this sound more like a real memory, or more likely a false memory created by OCD or anxiety-related mechanisms I am stuck between a normal person or a s*xual abuser
- Date posted
- 20w
Hello 😭, so uhm I’m kind of in the point of my POCD where I’m just tired. I just need to get it all out and get some sort of instruction of how to just idk live? So for me my childhood is pretty blurry. I have a few real event blended with false memory events there but other than that I’m a csa victim. And the way I tried to cope? By fetishising nyself, making CP of myself, seeing my life goal as being used, raped and a prostitue. Self destructive behaviour through talking to pedophiles and seeing my only worth as if I was sexually attractive. Which made me kind of numb to CP as a coping mechanism I guess. And heres’s where my main event of REOCD/false memory ocd comes in. I have a few events in my life when I’ve accidentally stumbled across CP ish mangas or just plan abuse and not had a big reaction. Some of them I even liked the story. And my ocd LOVES playing with it, making me truly believe I enjoy and get of from CP. I’ve also had quite a few dreams. A few days ago I had a dream about me getting triggered by something I did in the dream. Which I now can’t figure out if it actually was a dream. But also moments overall where I’ve unintentionally touched my private part while my siblings are in the room or when I found a guy 2 years younger than me pretty in 4th grade. Or a few of my only friends who turned out to be younger than me, and I had talked about sexual things (like fan fictions, my trauma ect) with them. AHSHB I absolutely hate ruminating and I’m tired so so so so so so tried 😭 idk help me? Please TT
- Date posted
- 15w
What if you did something extremely horrible as a child that you didn’t know how horrible the events were that your POCD and real events OCD targets? Does it make the intrusive thoughts true? I'm getting anxious from my POCD and real event OCD based on real events (3 times) from when I was 13…… I don't ever want to ever be a P at all… I don't ever want to ever be a Chomo at all... i don’t ever want to ever be a rapist at all… I was 13 when these real events happened and now I'm 20... I've asked my mom about this so many times and every time she tells me that it's not serious anymore, that the person is okay and doesnt remember, and that I'm not a rapist or a P or a chomo... I didn’t realize how horrible the real events actually were… I was 13 at the time… now I’m 23… my POCD and real event OCD call me a P or a chomo because of the real events… while my mom reassures me all the time that it’s all over, that it’s not serious anymore, that the person is okay, and that I’m not a P or a rapist or a chomo, but when I was doing compulsive research, I remember when I saw a post on a non OCD forum about someone’s similar situation to mine and two people said to the person that they m*lested and that they needed to turn themselves in… I don’t ever want to ever be a P or a chomo in any way shape or form… i didn’t know how horrible the real events were when I was 13… I really didn’t… and after the real events I never did anything like that ever again, and I never once ever thought (before, and after) about doing stuff with kids in any way shape or form... I never once fantasized about kids or wanted to do anything with kids… I was 13 and didn’t realize how horrible the actions were at the time and I never did it ever again… I never once fantasized about kids before or after the real event… I don't ever want to ever harm a child in any way shape or form... I seriously don't ever want to do that to any child in any way shape or form and I seriously don't ever want to do anything like that to any kid now or in the future… I never have had any fantasies about kids and I don't ever want to... I don't ever want to ever be a P or a chomo in any way shape or form... I was 13….. and after the real events I never did anything like that ever again, and I never once ever thought (before, and after) about doing stuff with kids in any way shape or form... I never once fantasized about kids or wanted to do anything with kids… I was 13 and didn’t realize how horrible the actions were at the time and I never did it ever again… I never once fantasized about kids before or after the real event… And it’s comparing me to actual P’s and chomo’s who did stuff from 12-15 and then did stuff as adults, and making me think I’m a P and a Chomo because of it… I don’t ever want to ever be a P or a chomo in any way… 😭😭😭
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