does anyone else have an intense fear of developing schizophrenia or psychosis. This has been a really heavy theme for me as well. I’m constantly checking to see if I have symptoms or if I’m gonna go crazy or develop these. it’s so scary.
Hi, cows12465! My name is Anna and I am one of the therapists at NOCD. I have treated several people with this OCD subtype. This theme is called schizophrenia OCD. Check out this article to learn more: https://www.treatmyocd.com/what-is-ocd/common-fears/fear-of-schizophrenia-ocd If you think this might be what you are experiencing, feel free to reach out to NOCD's care team to schedule your first appointment with an OCD specialist. Just know, you are not alone and you have people here at NOCD ready to help.
@Anna Newton thank you!!
Yes I have the same fear of 3years and it’s so hard. I have a fear of losing control/ going crazy I’m constantly on edge of feeling I’m going to go crazy. I question everything
@Lilly2442! yes yes!
Hi I’ve had this theme and many others it will pass in time. I think ocd knows how to impersonate schizophrenia. It will make you believe you have something that you don’t. It will make you doubt yourself because that is what ocd do. Stay strong it will be ok.
@Tam1990 thank you so much!!
i have this too!! very common ocd theme — you are definitely not alone!
Yep! I’m in erp right now working on this. The second I wake up or I’m alone or it’s quiet my brain goes right to this fear. The hardest part is accepting the uncertainty that it’s possible and allowing the uncertainty to be
@Anonymous i’m starting erp again soon!
I suffered with this obsession for years until it finally moved onto something else. I will say this was one of the harder ocd obsessions I’ve had. One thing that brought me a lot of peace is when I found out it is a super common obsession.
@Ian Bittner thank you!!
Believe it or not, these themes are very common in the OCD community. One suggestion will be using the response preventative statements to sit with the thought. They include: compulsions lead to more compulsions, I have felt this before and I will feel this again, this is an OCD thought and OCD is a liar, OCD thinks its strong but I'm stronger. I share these statements with my members to help them to sit with the thoughts and work past the fears OCD is trying to keep you stuck on. Hope this helps :)
@Shaniece Hopkins Thank you so so much!!
This is a common theme in OCD. I wonder, how would you know if you were going to go crazy? What would be the signs, and could you catch all of them? According to OCD, I would be the answer is no, and therefore you would feel compelled to keep on searching for more signs. Now, what if you spent your life looking for signs of this, and never found one. On the day of your death, would you look back and think that you had used your time wisely, or would you think, "Well crap, that was a waste of time!"? I want you to be able to look back and and think that you had a great life spent not doing what OCD wanted you to do, but doing what you wanted to do. So, if you need help with that, please let us know - at NOCD we are ready to help!
@Patrick McGrath thank you!!!
ive had this happen! once i got so wrapped up in the fear of psychosis that i genuinely believed i had developed it! but i had not developed it. i was just obsessing over it
Yup!!!
Does anyone else struggle with this? It's been the main thing powering my POCD, and it's only been getting worse. Especially when I see posts online of people sharing their personal stories relating to CSA, specifically grooming. It's so triggering now, but before this theme developed, the most I'd feel while reading posts like that would be disgust targeted towards people who did those things. Now, my first thought is, "What if I do something like that one day? What if I've done it before and I don't remember or didn't know I was doing it?" I have many, many different intrusive thoughts or worries related to this theme, but it all circles back to this specific fear that I'll become like the people who hurt and took advantage of me. Does anyone have advice for this? I'm not sure if I've asked a similar question in the past or not, but is this something I need to deal with separately before beginning ERP for OCD? I'm just curious and also lost on where to begin with all of this. I'm just glad I'm able to begin working through all of these issues now, rather than later in life when I'd probably have a lot more responsibilities. Anyways, any feedback is appreciated! 🤍
Hi I just have a few questions! (Im 14 btw) Okay so basically I’m really worried I’ll become a pedo/I already am and I don’t know it yet. I’m also really scared if I SA someone, even tho I don’t want to and I’d never do something like that but I feel like this part of me is saying that I will and it’s really scaring me. I feel so alone and I’m so scared I’m a bad person on the inside and this isn’t ocd and I’m gonna unleash hell on this earth I’m so scared. I’ll get a thought like if I’m walking past someone random it will be like “What if you sa them?” And it scares me so bad I feel horrible for thinking that. Is this apart of it? I feel like I’m always fixated on the topic of sa to check if I would do something like that, I don’t know anymore I just feel like a bad person (btw I have not done anything like that to anyone!)
Recently ive been getting very scared to even be angry bc of the horrible thoughts I have and it feels even more real when I'm angry or even annoyed. Rn I was not even super annoyed at my neice but I felt a twinge of annoyance since she went up to my face and was yelling at me while I was resting on the bed and I got this image of doing something bad to her and I felt my hand twitch very little. I got nervous and felt relieved when her dad told her to stop screaming for no reason. I've been hyperfocusing on my bodily reactions (mainly my hands or how I'm feeling like did I just enjoy that? Was I considering???) And I've noticed the small twitches whenever I'm mad or annoyed and it's scaring me so bad! Like do I want to act out? Am I holding back??? I used to not even twitch at all when mad and I felt 100% sure I'll never act out but now it feels like I don't know bc what do these twitches mean?, I do know I don't want to ever act out but it's so scary. Recently whenever I feel angry once the argument is over I cry really bad after I'm alone and I pray so i never want or act out. And when the annoyance passes I also feel so guilty and want to stay away. Im scared these are real urges and i research for many many hours to make sure they arent urges or impulses and i also tend to ask chatgpt or here if the anxiety gets so bad 😕
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