- Date posted
- 31w
How can i know if it is fake memory?
Fake memory ocd
Fake memory ocd
Well, what most therapists would tell you is “you don’t know, so accept the risk. Maybe so/ maybe not.” But for me, I’ll usually be triggered by a “what if?” thought several days or more after the possible “fake” event. For example, I could go out on Saturday night with friends and have a great time. Then be fine and at peace all day Sunday. And then for no reason on Monday I’ll have a thought “what if (enter some catastrophe) happened Saturday night and I don’t remember or I blocked it out or I was drunk?” And it starts a spiral. Or sometimes a few days later something will trigger me to start thinking I must have done or said something and everyone knows but me because I magically blocked it from my mind. And then, having an active imagination, I can envision whatever awful thing might have happened and start doubting if it did or didn’t. At least that’s my experience. Basically, the thoughts don’t make sense because typically if something “bad” happened one would know right away or at least fairly quickly. Not sure this helps or not. God bless !
Can i talk to you? Im in very bad position
@Dhali Can we talk?
@Looping 100% relate. I get confused because I can envision the fear, and it confuses me because I treat the image as evidence that the fear might be true
@Anonymous Im really lost and tired
Hi there! This is a great question, one that OCD loves to latch onto. If there's a question that we can't find a 100% satisfying and certain answer to, and we really, really want to feel certain, OCD will find a way to taunt us with uncertainty. ERP is incredibly helpful in these cases, as it helps people struggling with OCD build the skills to challenge OCD and beat it at its own game by leaning *into* uncertainty, rather than away from it. Here's a video that touches on this topic, if you want to check it out! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_EEriK-0VGk&list=PLJwbxpxualYpcX3SPEgNVbTEOI7gXeA5x
Thank you mme❤️
Fake memory OCD can be challenging because you are questioning reality. That is a rather hard thing to cope with. With my Members, I have found such great success with leaning into the general uncertainty around memories. What most people don't know is the system that creates memories are very flawed and highly influenced by others. This is why the justice system does not prefer eye witness testimony. Leaning into I can never have certainty on my memories and will deal with the consequences if and when they happen (i.e., the feared outcome of the memory) is honestly the best approach for it. I hope this is helpful!
Thank you mme i appreciatte it❤️
@Morgan Byler The system that creates memories can be influenced by our own imagination and visualizations I assume?
@Anonymous Whats your point?
@Anonymous My point is that she states our memories are flawed and can be influenced by others, but I wanted to know if our memories can be impacted my our own anxieties and imaginations as well
@Anonymous You think mine is false?
Nope, I recently ditched all social media
Message
Im new in this app how can i dm you?
I don’t know! I’ve never used it. Maybe there isn’t a dm feature.
Can we go instagram?
I’m happy to chat like this as well. For some reason I thought there was a separate but maybe not.
Instagram?
I don’t have insta anymore, sorry
Facebook?
Because it triggered OCD and depression
Whats the solution then
If there’s not a dm feature on this app then we’ll have to communicate in this thread. Everyone on this app can relate to what you are going through
Let me ask you i remember that i did something but i dont remember it when or how or what really happened before or after like nothing att all but im so convinced that i did it
@Anonymous What is your “evidence” that you did it? Pretend you are in a court of law and have to present this “evidence”
@Looping Nothing only that i really did it and i felt it and it stuck in my mind
@Anonymous Are you seeing a therapist, either through this site or elsewhere? You need to remember that OCD usually latches onto things that are most important to us, or convinces us of things that are very far from the truth. It’s called “the doubting disease” for a reason. Have you done any ERP?
@Looping No i didnt
@Anonymous I know you are looking for relief but it’s not easy and usually takes time. You might need to set up an ERP scenario for yourself and work on it. Or practice accepting the possibility and move on. There are many great tools and videos on this site to help you handle these times. And sometimes you just have to sit with not knowing, because there isn’t anything else you can do. I wish i could be more helpful, but know that you are NOT alone and many struggle with these thoughts and worries!
@Looping Thank you buddy❤️
It looks like the dm feature is only between users and their own therapist
Yeah
I’m reaching out for educational and self-awareness purposes, hoping to better understand something I’ve been mentally struggling with for several years. Around five years ago, I began having a deeply distressing memory involving the fear that I may have acted inappropriately toward my younger sister when I was around 13–14 years old. The details are vague, fragmented, and unclear—but ever since this thought first appeared, I’ve treated it as if it were a real event. I’ve carried immense guilt, fear, and anxiety for years, convinced that I must have done something horrible. Despite asking my sister (who remembers absolutely nothing, has never shown signs of discomfort, and has told me more than once that she would’ve spoken up if anything had happened), the doubt and guilt never went away. The memory feels real, yet there is no external confirmation, no direct recall, and no evidence beyond my own mental images and fear. I’ve also struggled with obsessive thoughts in other areas, such as health anxiety since childhood—frequent doctor visits, checking my pulse, obsessing over illness—and only recently learned about false memory OCD, which aligns with my experience. I’m not currently seeking therapy but would greatly appreciate your professional opinion from an educational perspective: Does this sound more like a real memory, or more likely a false memory created by OCD or anxiety-related mechanisms I am stuck between a normal person or a s*xual abuser
I got pure o. I don't think that's really the correct term but you get what i'm talking about. I would say that i have it because my ocd just picks and chooses what subtype it wants to bother with me today. Right now, i'm suffering with real event ocd and, hopefully, false memories. But i think i might have cracked the code on it. So my real events and false memories are pretty much private related, which makes it worse because there's no evidence or proof. There are some memories (real events) i can think about and accept that they happened. I still feel guilt and shame but i have closure from it. And there's the other memories (hopefully false memories) that i look at and just cannot wrap my head around. They feel so real like they actually happened and it gives me so much stress, but i sit there and think and think and think on it to see if it actually happened. Btw, these false memories come from my real events but in different situations and times. Like if it was true, i would accept it. Whether or not it made me feel guilt or shame, i would still accept it happened. This is what i think i figured out. I can look at a memory and know for certain it happened. I don't need evidence or nothing. The false memories make me question myself if it did happen. It's still very vivid and looks so real like a real memory, but i just can't be for certain if i did that. It makes me feel like i'm in denial of my past. Sometimes they both work together. A real event can happen but false memories can use its work to detail out the event, tryna make it much worse than it was. Or you can be thinking of a false memory but real events can try linking with that false memory to making you think you did do that. If this makes any sense or if what i’m saying is correct or i’m just crazy, please tell me. All advice is welcome. Thank you
Has false memory OCD affected you so badly that you feel that a lot of your memories period are unclear, vague, fuzzy and can’t recall correctly?
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