Fear of going insane

You are not alone in this! Mine caused me to think I was going to sleep walk and act on my thoughts due to psychosis. It is a scary feeling. Try telling yourself, "maybe, maybe not" and avoid giving answers to the thoughts. If you haven't already, look into a NOCD therapist. They're trained in ERP (exposure response prevention) therapy and it is life changing!

You are absolutely not alone. But try to look at this as just another trick your OCD is pulling, and try not to lean into the thoughts or try to solve whether or not you’re losing your mind. You can 100% work through this.

You aren't alone at all! This is actually a very common fear for many people, even those without OCD. It's yet another variation of the fear of losing control. As for telling if thoughts are "OCD thoughts" or "real thoughts," let me offer you a different perspective that may be helpful. When people refer to "OCD thoughts," or "fake thoughts," what they generally really mean is "intrusive thoughts." I personally think it's important to make that distinction, because "fake thoughts" implies that the thoughts are fundamentally different from non-intrusive thoughts. In reality, all thoughts are just thoughts. An intrusive thought is a persistent, unwanted thought. The more you try to get rid of it, the more it comes back (this is due to the "Ironic Process"). It isn't inherently TRUE, nor is it inertially FALSE. It's simply a thought that you don't want to be there for one reason or another. All of this is to say that OCD doesn't inject "fake" thoughts into your head like some parasite. It's a disorder in which we try to "protect" ourselves from the anxiety that comes with intrusive thoughts through compulsive behavior, so much so that it deeply affects our lives. All thoughts are just thoughts, and you are not your thoughts. They aren't the problem, even the really scary ones. The problem is the way we respond to them. This is the basic premise of ERP (exposure response prevention) therapy, which I highly suggest looking into if you haven't already. It can be life changing, especially with a good therapist.

You're absolutely not alone. I go through this all the time. Whats helped me is learning to let the need to know what is OCD and what isn't go. OCD is all about control, so what works for me is letting go of control and certainty. It can be scary at first, sure. But after awhile it gets so much easier. The irony of this method is by letting go of the need for control you're actually taking control back from anxiety and OCD. I may lose my mind today, I may not. I don't need to figure it out in this moment. Tell yourself that and 5 minutes down the line you may not even remember why you were worried. Hope that helps in some way.

This is such a common theme! I have experienced this before and I have a feeling people without OCD do as well. With us OCD sufferers we just hold onto it and put more attention to it which of course causes us to think about it more. OCD is such a sneaky jerk! The best advice I can give is to lean into it--"yes, I am psychotic, oh well". "Maybe I will or maybe I won't have a psychotic break today, guess we will have to wait and see". Try singing a song about it, anything to take it's grip away and let it know we don't care about what it's telling us. The thoughts definitely feel real, that is OCD trying to get us to compulse and ruminate. ERP can be so beneficial with these types of thoughts. A NOCD therapist once said "Lead with your values not your fears". If your values are to be a kind person, stick with that!

Yes, OCD can definitely make you feel like you are crazy or are going crazy. Try to remember that this is just another one of OCD's tricks to try to get you to do compulsions. Accept and embrace uncertainty with phrases like "maybe, maybe not". For example, in this case you could tell yourself, "Maybe I'm going crazy, maybe I'm not. I guess I'll never know."

You are definitely not alone with this. But I would say that ocd is doing this to you. Can you talk about your thoughts that are making you feel this way?