Really need someone to talk to about my pocd and identifying if the memories are just false memories or not. Research tells me if it’s something you can’t remember for sure and are distressed by then it didn’t happen. Please someone help.
Having such a hard time right now with my pocd and not identifying false memories from real ones and my false memories seem to happen within a blink of an eye when I am thinking about an intrusive thought and then when I snap back to reality I can’t tell the difference
Hi, I'll try to help if I can! :) What's up?
@nae nae I’m having a really tough time differentiating false memories to real memories especially with pocd. One min my mind feels great that I didn’t do anything bad would never then next min it’s back and hard to tell
@OCDSUCKS51 I've gone through the same thing. Honestly, for me, I just had to sit with that uncertainty about whether or not I did or didn't do it. Which was really difficult, but once that worry began to fade more, I was able to tell it likely didn't happen. I'll still have "what if" thoughts pop in and out, but I just don't care about the specifics around that memory (false or not) anymore. Trying to solve whether or not it happened will just lead to more rumination and checking, which are mental complications. And that'll only end up feeding into the obsession. :(
@nae nae Thank you for your reply. Did you ever have the thoughts pop into your head and within a minute of thinking it hit you so fast that you basically had the thought and then when you snapped back into reality couldn’t tell if it was real or not? Feels like it happened in an instant and I could tell I didn’t do anything but my mind won’t know for sure because I have 0 reassurance? My spouse knows I’m a good person and it’s not in my character but wasn’t around for reassurance so it’s basically in my own mind. I have researched and if you don’t know for sure and the memory isn’t known for a fact then it didn’t happen. Feel like I would know for sure if I did something there would be 0 doubt. Thanks for taking your time to talk to me. Just a tough thing for me right now.
@OCDSUCKS51 Yes, I have! I'm sorry you're struggling with this, too :( I think you'd know for sure too if it really did happen, but we just have to accept that whether it's real or not, we'll manage. It's so frustrating to deal with.
This is seeking reassurance and researching it is also a compulsion, so you are doing 2 compulsions for this false memory and that's only going to feed it and make it stronger. best thing you can do is say " if it didn't matter then it doesn't matter now" and not continue to give it your attention.
@TexasOCD41 How do I do this when it involves family ? It’s such a tough thing inside I know it didn’t happen. But your ocd won’t let you move on. Did you have like a 10 second almost day dream while doing something and then when you snap back into reality you can’t differentiate what happened ? This is what I’m dealing with.
@OCDSUCKS51 - iv remembered a full blown event, that actually happened, i just couldn't remember when it happened and the timing meant i either did or did not cheat on my husband... so yea, it felt impossible to not try to investigate that. but i know its OCD, i know OCD will keep my locked in if i let it. I just told myself, if it didn't matter then, it doesn't matter now, and how i remember it isn't important, what is important is living in the present and being happy today becuase tomorrow isn't promised.
@TexasOCD41 Understood but mine seem to happen instantly then I get caught up in my thoughts and can’t remember after the fact it’s like a daydream almost
@OCDSUCKS51 - doesnt matter how it happens. devil is inthe details. its still OCD
@TexasOCD41 So your saying it’s exactly how I feel it is and in my head all false memories which I agree with completely
@OCDSUCKS51 I don’t fully understand what you’re trying to ask me
Without trying to seek reassurance, I’m wondering if anyone has insight on identifying an intrusive thought vs reality. Something that’s always really helped ground me in moments of false memory ocd is clearly remembering the exact moment the thought arose and how it started as “what if I cheated and don’t remember.” Then the images come and are extremely distressing, but I’ve always found some comfort in coming back to that moment of “this started as what if.” It feels like my brain is almost getting more creative with the thoughts now, and I’ve been having probably the worst anxiety of my life the past couple months after another intrusive thought entered my mind. I woke up after a night drinking and thought to myself “did you kiss your friend and don’t remember?” (Didn’t happen, undeniably proved). The rest of the day I stayed anxious about other things I could have done and poured over all my memories of the night. Then the next day I finally had found some peace based on all the evidence from my friends who were with me that nothing bad happened. I then thought “what about when you went to the bathroom,” which I hadn’t really been thinking about before, and then my mind immediately started flashing with images of me performing sex acts in the bathroom with some person who has no name, face, details, or anything I remember about interacting with them. I think I’m just concerned that this was a moment of genuine memory recall since I hadn’t been thinking about the bathroom before, and it was more of a sudden flash of images and “did you do that” vs “what if you did that.” I’m wondering how others are able to identify that something is an intrusive thought vs reality.
any advice for when you get false memories that feel really real? especially something that had JUST happened, it’s like ur brain distorts it. i feel like i do something wrong 24/7 then i get over it and ocd latched onto something new
Hello everyone I need some advice. I’ve struggled with what I think and hope is ocd for a long time. It started when I was 14 I had a concussion and my brain convinced myself for 9 months that I had this concussion. Then I had a gf at 15 before we were official I did a terrible thing im regretful of it for sure. I kissed another girl. I told my now ex girlfriend about it and I started to overthink the situation and think maybe I slept with the girl or maybe we did more than kiss. In reality we didn’t. when I turned 16 I started having thoughts of maybe I cheated on her with other girls at our school. It would be false memories of me sleeping or doing things with 4 or 5 other girls. That eventually went away as I would ask reassurance like a crazy person. Then one day what I believe was either Christmas time or new years around that time I had this thought “what if I SA’d my ex little sister?” This thought tormented me for so long I couldn’t believe it. As she was so young it would be impossible for me to do that without someone noticing plus that’s absolutely horrifying and disgusting and I’ve never ever ever ever been alone with her or desired to. Then what I knew would happen came along with me thinking I SA’d my little sister or my baby brother at the time. It was a horrible experience. Then it went to me thinking I was a pedo without the false memories. Then it went to my other siblings thinking I did something to them in their sleep, I did something to the pets, etc. As I got older I realized what ocd was and what I was going through and it eventually all went away. But as time goes on I’m now almost 24 I have spiraled back into thinking I SA my ex little sister. It’s crazy because I’ve never had that desire or anything at all it would absolutely break me if that was true. With something like this saying maybe not maybe it did is crazy because it’s a serious thing. I’m getting therapy on Monday and am just wanting my life back. I just recently got engaged to my beautiful fiancé and I want to be regular again. Anyone have any advice or even have gone through the same scenarios? It’s just so tough.
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