“Seeing Signs” is my most annoying obsession

I have health OCD, and my brain LOVES to interpret random things from my day as “signs” a certain thing will happen. Like, if I hear someone talk about vomiting more than usual, my brain says that’s a “sign” I’ll be sick. Or if I hear about a certain medical condition randomly or repeatedly in a day, that’s a “sign” it will happen to me. It’s taken a lot of effort for me to step back and tell myself basically: “I’m not an oracle. The universe is not sending me signs. My brain is just grasping into things I’m afraid of whenever I happen to hear about them.” My latest coping skill has been to exaggerate the intrusive thought sarcastically. Like, if I start to worry about having an aneurysm because I hear someone talking about it, for example, I might get the thought “That’s a sign your headache is actually an aneurysm,” and I’ll respond, “Oh, totally, my whole head is gonna explode, it’ll be crazy. I bet that twinge in my wrist means my whole hand is about to fall off too, right? Gotta look out for the foreshadowing.” Sometimes it’s so ridiculous that it helps me reframe the thought to be less threatening! Just thought I’d share.

monarchy00

Date posted: 41w ago

Happens a lot when it comes to magical thinking OCD but you need to understand that ur brain is not the truth! This is 100% normal bug make sure to break the cycle and relax

User type: Therapist

Date posted: 13d ago

Dealing with health OCD and the feeling that the universe is sending 'signs' can be very challenging, and we appreciate you sharing what that's like for you. It's great that you're finding ways to challenge these thoughts and reduce their power. Understanding that these are OCD patterns, not predictions, is key, though often hard to manage alone. Help is here at NOCD and we can assist you in finding outside help if needed.

Anonymous

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 13d ago

My ocd LOVES signs too! It’s actually wild. My ocd saw a “character” once on the Disney haunted mansion ride that made it go yup see it’s a sign your harm ocd is real and you’ll hurt your spouse someday because that was there. Like literally in a Disney theme park ride 🥴🫠 it will do anything to get us to freak out and when it works it’s so real. So I understand your pain, you’re not alone!

ChaoticCatte...

Date posted: 13d ago

I do this literally all the time. My big one is when I talk about getting sick or vomiting, I feel contaminated and I have to repeat mantras in my head until I feel “clean,” otherwise, I’ve jinxed myself and I will immediately get sick because of it. Or if I’m frustrated with something and say “somebody kill me” I have to repeat the same mantra to make sure that nobody ACTUALLY kills me, bc of the whole magical thinking thing. It’s a pain, but it sounds like you’re handling it fairly well! That technique is actually a great way of looking at it bc you’re giving your OCD less power.

Nyeeeeht

Date posted: 21w ago

Compulsion

I just realized that I have this compulsion where i search ocd forums up and down, looking for someone describing the exact scenario/event that im obsessing over right now. Otherwise it’s like i cant convince myself that it really is ocd. Its so stupid because even if I find what I am looking for, I know it is only giving me temporary relief. I was just about to post a description of the theme/scenario here, but I am proud that I stopped myself ⭐️

jjtornado

Date posted: 21w ago

My head is so loud.

I have a lot of thoughts about the universe, and they’re overwhelming—like being caught in a rip current, except it’s all inside my head. Most of the time, they’re about how small we are, how there really isn’t a “we” because our bodies aren’t truly ours—we’re just bacteria, cells, and microbes. The thoughts spiral, deeper and deeper, smaller and smaller, coiling until suddenly, I’m pulled under, drowning in a whirlpool. I’ve never felt like this before, and I’m convinced I’ve been faking it somehow. For the past few weeks, my OCD has been worse than it’s ever been in my 20 years of life. Or maybe I’m just more aware of it now. Has anyone else had their OCD suddenly get really bad? Does it ever end—if it even can? I’ve convinced myself that my intrusive thoughts aren’t actually intrusive, that my OCD is a choice, and that everything I do is intentional. As for compulsions, I don’t have the typical “If I don’t do ____ then ____ will happen” kind of thoughts. Instead, my brain simply commands, “Do ____,” and I always give in. It’s so loud in my head, and I can’t shake the feeling that I’m an imposter. Like I don’t belong here—like my presence on this app is an intrusion, invalidating everyone else’s struggles just by downloading it and daring to post. If anyone feels that way, if you think I’m intruding, I’m sorry. I only came here because I have no one to share my diagnosis with. Pouring my thoughts out, hoping someone might understand, feels less suffocating than journaling. Journaling is like letting a wound fester—each word burying the thoughts deeper, leaving them to decay in silence, for nobody to ever read but myself.

totallynotjade_

Date posted: 20w ago

My schizo ocd came back.

I was doing fine with my schizophrenia ocd (fear of developing schizophrenia/psychosis), mostly because I was obsessing on something else for a bit, but something caused it to come back. I was at work yesterday and checked out a customer, he didn’t know English very well and was very quiet. However, when he was leaving, he said “thank you” loudly while walking out and I told him to have a good night, but since I couldn’t see his face nor his mouth move, I worried that I hallucinated the whole thing and he in reality didn’t say anything while he was leaving. The voice that said it sounded a bit different, however it could’ve just been since I had only heard him talk quietly before. I’m still wondering if I hallucinated this and it freaks me out, causing my ocd to make me believe I’m developing schizophrenia/psychosis or losing my mind again. I also always read that the difference between those with schizophrenia/psychosis is those with OCD have insight and know their thoughts are crazy, but then that leads me down a spiral if what if I DONT think those thoughts are crazy? What if I actually believe them and become delusional/lack insight? So a statement that would be helpful otherwise made it worse for me. One night I had a panic attack super bad because I couldn’t convince myself I didn’t believe I was in a dream and hallucinating. Any advice on beating these constant thoughts and how to cope with it? :/

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“Seeing Signs” is my most annoying obsession

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