Do not use Reddit if you have ocd or health issue

This should be common sense, but unfortunately I stumble down these rabbit holes and subreddits because I have a complicated health problem, and am trying to seek a similar community. I have sought out medical advice with no real conclusion and ocd anxiety makes things worse so I guess this is a form of compulsion? I’m not exactly sure anymore. Anyways, I had a strange experience last night where I had a bit of swelling and discomfort in my mouth and fingers. I took an antihistamine just in case, and the issue resolved itself. I posted in a histamine intolerance subreddit asking if anyone has experienced similar as there was no known trigger. Well, someone told me it was anaphylaxis and that I had to be more careful with what I ate. Anaphylaxis is already a trigger of mine, and although I know logically it couldn’t have been, the opinion of another person feels like confirmation. I am now afraid to eat or drink because of it. I am unsure if posting on subreddits was a compulsion now but please be careful with anything like that. It can make things so much worse.

Health Concern OCD

Username: djfloriodjflorio

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 9d ago

Yes Reddit, and any public forum in general, is a slippery slope (including this app!). Posting questions on public forums can indeed be a compulsion. People often do it for reassurance seeking, confessing, or just trying to find 100% certainty about something. Of course, legitimate medical questions really should be directed towards a professional who actually knows you. If that isn't available and you decide to do any online research, proceed with caution like you said. You can tell it is a compulsion based on how often you do it, and more importantly, what sort of thoughts or feelings arise when you DON'T do it. When you find yourself triggered by something you read, or sense that you're starting to go down a rabbit hole, try to take a quick step back. Never underestimate the power of a 5-10 second pause. Check in with how you feel, and simply name what you're aware of without judgement and without adding any more stories to it. "I'm aware of anxiety about anaphylaxis." "I'm aware of the fear that I might have experienced it." So on and so forth. You'd be surprised how simply acknowledging and naming our inner affects can help prevent compulsive behavior, which is normally driven by a desire to reject our inner state.

Username: Billie Ray is the dogBillie Ray i...

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 4d ago

Great advice from a fellow OCD conqueror!! :) I like to use this pausing strategy as well, it helps a lot.

Username: rj1102rj1102

Date posted: 9d ago

hi, actually just posted about this as well. not health related but false memory which is especially making me paranoid. just know you’re not alone in this.

Username: Billie Ray is the dogBillie Ray i...

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 4d ago

Yes, this definitely sounds like Health OCD to me, especially Googling and checking for symptoms online. It's counterintuitive because with OCD, the goal is to do the opposite of what it is telling you in order to gain back control of your life. You do this through ERP treatment. For example, if the OCD is telling you to research your symtpoms or post about it online, choose to do nothing and sit with the discomfort instead. Show your brain that you can handle these fears, and over time, it will learn to send you them less.

Username: Serena

Date posted: 6y ago

A suggestion. I saw a post of @OCDtreated on Twitter and I’d like to share with all of you who want to recover. “I am not a fan of OCD forums. Full of reassurance seeking.” I kinda agree with him on this. When people are troubled by OCD, they are more vulnerable to negative stuff and more skeptical with positive information. Although an OCD online group/forum can be helpful in some way (knowing that you are not alone, reducing the stigma, finding understanding), it can also be not that helpful. We talk here without any therapists’ guidance, and it’s so easy we post “unhealthy” information or questions to seek reassurance. One way to get better is to “getting comfortable with being uncomfortable”. This requires you to get more involved with your life, less from OCD. Constantly checking on ocd forums is not getting on with your life. However, I am not saying that you should not visit OCD groups any more.

Username: NM12

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 1y ago

Reddit triggers OCD

Does anyone else find their ocd is easily triggered by reddit? One example (of many) there's a plumbing sub that often shows on my feed. People post pics of plumbing nightmares and the comments are always dramatic and catastrophic. It gives my ocd so much fuel. Part of me feels like deleting reddit would be avoidance. Another part of me feels like reddit is not necessary (or even healthy) so maybe it doesnt count as avoidance and is simply cutting a toxic source of anxiety/ocd fuel out of my life.

Username: Schoolie93

Date posted: 1y ago

Health anxiety

Hello does anyone else find that maybe they read about a symptom they have and then look it up and they see so much more about it. Then the compulsions of wanting to check and recheck and figure out without getting certainty that they may in fact have this disease? I seem to loose all control when it comes to stepping back and not looking stuff up even when I know how this is going to affect my ocd and make me feel worse. I’m looking for some type of certainty that I don’t have it and there is none. Living in the uncertainty is so hard. Why as ocd people is it so important to have this reassurance when no one else in life has this either. If you can relate to health obsessions and compulsions, what things work for you to take a step back and not spiral into a hole of this ruminating over and over again. Feeling anxious and depressed. I feel by the time I realize I’m doing it, it’s too late and I’m right in the middle of it. How can I catch myself BEFORE I go to the journey of doing compulsions from things I worry about. Does it get easier over time to see the process and catch yourself from doing compulsions from something I’m ruminating about? The thought is uncomfortable but when the thought comes I just need to stop there! But I never do! Help! Does this happen to anyone else and can you relate? Any tips or suggestions? Thx

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Do not use Reddit if you have ocd or health issue

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