So my family dog, who has been with me my whole life, is most likely getting put to sleep tomorrow. And the thought makes me feel so sick and upset. And because of these emotions, my OCD feels worse and my fears aren’t leaving my brain again. Can being sad about something else cause OCD to flare up? Even when it’s not linked?
Hi there! I think it absolutely can--anything that causes stress or strong emotions can cause the OCD to flare up. I find that sadness is a hard one for me, as I don't always deal with with it. I have learned it is very important to allow myself to feel it and to be easy on myself. Losing a pet is so painful--be gentle with yourself and celebrate your memories with your dog, and reach out to your support network as needed.
Firstly, I’m so sorry you’re going through that. Losing your childhood pet is an unimaginable tragedy. Stress and enhanced emotions definitely isn’t a bff for OCD. Whenever I’m upset or stressed my thoughts get a lot worse too. It doesn’t have to be linked the brain works in awkward ways sometimes. Any emotional burnout especially loss has a really strong impact on our bodies, both physically and mentally. It’s important to remind yourself of what is true. It helps me to write it down and if I feel like my thoughts are getting worse I will go and read it and take deep breaths. While breathing I imagine inhaling the good thoughts and releasing the negative or compulsive ones when I exhale. Again, I’m so sorry for what you’re experiencing right now. Sending my support.
Hi! I am so sorry to hear about your dog. I had to put my dog to sleep last weekend, and it definitely caused my OCD to try to bait me in with lots of different things. I had to figure out some response prevention messages to help me, like “These thoughts are thoughts, not threats.” I also needed some time just to grieve the loss of my pup. Losing a pet is so hard, so take your time and be patient with yourself.
OCD gets triggered by any dramatic change. Iv had it be triggered by happy things, like buying and moving into a house, and then it got mega triggered when i had to put my kitty to sleep. OCD doesn't have to be linked in any way to what is happening in your life. It just happens to trigger simply because a routine has changed, that's all it takes. I'm so sorry to hear about your loss. It gets better. i thought id die with grief but its been 6 months now since she passed and i still think about her but I'm not so sad anymore.
I’ve been dealing with this harm theme for almost four months now, and well obviously life hasn’t been the best for me, the thoughts really circulate on hurting others, why couldn’t they just been about me instead? (I apologize to those currently suffering from self harm ocd) it’s gotten to the point where I don’t know if my thoughts are really intrusive now, and it doesn’t help that I get urges to act on these thoughts. Why have I been cursed with such vile thoughts why me why now. The only good news so far is that I’m finally going to see if this is ocd or not and get diagnosed by a psychiatrist once I start college here in a few weeks(Thank gatos for my college has mental health resources) but honestly it just doesn’t really feel like ocd. I don’t know if I feel anxiety because it’s not the typical anxiety I feel. While my compulsions are mental it’s just wierd. Like I’m worried that ERP wouldn’t work for me. Sometimes I get thoughts like, how do people live without these thoughts? And how do they occupy their time? I know I used to be like other people, yk where I wasn’t worried or concerned because of these thoughts, like yeah I’ve had intrusive thoughts before in the past and they absolutely scared me, but I was just able to get over them. So why now does it feel like i can’t shake them off? Why do they have to show up everyday? And why have I become so apathetic? Like my empathy and sympathy feel like they’ve disappeared? And it’s so bad that sometimes I feel like if someone close to me just passed away I would feel nothing. Like when I heard my abuelo had skin cancer I just felt nothing and I was obsessing over the fact that I didn’t. Has anyone ever felt this way? Is it just ocd or something worse?
Hi all. Kinda freaking out here. It’s the girl with the dog here again. It’s 5:30 in the morning here and I am legit in a freak out. This is going to be long so please bear with me. My intrusive thoughts about my dog have gotten so bad even with ERP, I can barely function. I am constantly seeing in my mind her being chopped into pieces. Over and over again. And it’s like I suddenly become aware of different body parts that I’m seeing in this images, so if I am around her, I become aware that she has them, and it makes me feel like I’m so freaked out I’ll do something to her because I’m freaked out by them. It’s usually her neck, or her internal parts, etc. I get near her, get reminded, and all these images start coming and it feels like I’m being pulled/will do these things. All day every day. Not to mention the fact, that I consciously think of the thoughts and sometimes still feel like I’d do them. It feels like I’m actually considering doing these horrific things. And I have different feelings that go with them - physical sensations, urges, etc. It puts her in every horrible violent situation and makes me feel like I’d actually do these things to her (i.e - see her being pulled apart - I get a weird feeling in my chest with these thoughts that feels like I’d actually kind of black out and do them or be okay with it; almost like a sense of dropping calm thought my body?!). I ate meat today and it made me think of someone doing that to her - and made me feel like I would - and would be okay with it. Sometimes I get these waves of this feeling that it would be no big deal or I wouldn’t care. Frankly, I’m freaking out. I feel like I will actually end up acting on these thoughts. The longer this goes on the more I feel like that. I also feel like I don’t care about her anymore and that scares the living shit out of me because then I feel like I don’t value her and that it wouldn’t bother me to act on them. I have loved this dog for 8 freaking years. What the hell is wrong with me?!!! I feel like my thoughts about her are SO much more violent and the rest of it is just so off - I then start scouring the internet for stories of people with harm ocd, and instead found a story of a guy who went into psychosis and killed his pet. Which of course makes me feel like with everything I’m seeing and already feeling…let’s just say it didn’t help. Am I a lost cause??! Is my dog unsafe with me? I feel like she is. I don’t sleep anymore because of these thoughts so I’m literally up all night watching tv because I’m so scared and convinced that I will do these things. I don’t understand what happened.
Hello, my wife has OCD and is having swirling / respective thoughts about our dog (whom we’ve had for 8 months). The dog is a runner and has run away a couple of times. We have installed an invisible fence that now has the dog very timid to use our back yard. My wife feels suffocated that we have to walk our dog for exercise and bathroom activities. She obsesses over the invisible fence, situations of finding someone to care for the dog when we go away, fear of him running away, and the activity of having to walk him every day. We have handled all of these situations pretty seamlessly but she continues to obsess and seek reassurance. She has threatened to get rid of the dog (who is truly a love). Her panic and mental breakdowns, irrational scenario thoughts, continued “but” statements to solutions, and continued need to talk is hurting the family. This is not the first situation - there have been many obsessions since moving into this new house, including the house, the move, a paved driveway, hardwood floors, and more. There is always an irrational obsession - it’s really adversely affecting the family. Any thoughts / support would be much appreciated.
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