- Date posted
- 5w ago
Question: What causes OCD. Nature and/or Nurture?
Why do some people develop OCD?
Why do some people develop OCD?
OCD can be caused by trauma, medical, genetics, or environmental factors.
Both
OCD is like the ultimate overachiever in the anxiety world, it takes a little bit of nature, a little bit of nurture, and then just runs way too far with it. On the nature side, genetics and brain wiring play a role. Some people are just born with brains that love to hit the “what if” button over and over. Studies show differences in areas responsible for decision making and habit formation, which can make it harder to let intrusive thoughts go. On the nurture side, life experiences and learned behaviors can reinforce OCD patterns. Stressful events, certain parenting styles, or even just accidentally discovering that compulsions provide (temporary) relief can all fuel the cycle. So it’s kind of like making a really weird soup, your brain provides the ingredients, and life stirs the pot. What ingredients do you think went into your own OCD recipe?
This is a great question. While I'm not clinically trained, I do have my B.A. in Psychology, and this is something I think about often. I think it's a mixture of both nature and nurture, but I also think it can be one or the other. For some people, it may be genetic, while for other people it may develop as a result of a traumatic event. How do you think nature and nurture play a role in OCD? Do you think it can be both or just one or the other for an individual?
Hey guys! So I struggle with OCD, especially harm, relationship and moral stuff and I am somewhat recovered now. However, my current girlfriend has started showing signs of OCD but it’s abou5 something I don’t know much about so I wanted to see if anyone on here had thoughts about it. She is constantly thinking about food (when to eat it, what is healthy, what is too much, what is too little) and controls the thoughts by giving in and controlling her entire day around food. She don’t really know the feeling of being full. She never starved herself and always eats, but then she feels extremely guilty afterwards. Her thoughts do have to do a lot with her body image and not gaining weight but also not losing any either. Does this sound like ocd or an eating disorder?
Anyone else develop it in their 30s? I’m 33 and just started showing symptoms in October 2024. So far have only been diagnosed with GAD , PD and depression.I started having intrusive thoughts after a series of panic attacks . My compulsions would be googling. I have made an effort to stop though because it only makes me feel worse. My intrusive thoughts have been around fear of going crazy
Trying not to seek reassurance, but rather connect the dots on my OCD and possible reasons as to why I am the way I am. I have severe OCD (or at least I hope I do) mainly surrounding POCD. I've had symptoms of OCD the majority of my life but this theme has come up more recently. When I was a kid, and i'm talking 6-7, I was first exposed to some really gross adult content online. It was introduced to me by a friend of mine around the same age of me. I saw some really disgusting things that a 6-7 year old should definitely not see. This was not a one time occurrence, as I had been exposed to taboo topics online years to come after that, such as the same friend introducing me to Omegle... And i'm sure you can imagine how that went, theres a lot of genuinely disgusting human beings on there. Coming back to the reason for making this post; is it possible to early exposure to this content could be one of the reasons I struggle with POCD? It genuinely scares me to death because you hear that real p*dos dealt with simular situations when they were kids, so thats kind of making me feel that this could be more than OCD, and I could be a genuinely bad person. My POCD feels so real, that at times i'm fully convinced its not OCD. Sometimes I can't even distinguish the feelings of attraction between a younger person and an older person, except for the feeling of anxiety and fear. Its really hard to explain without going into detail, but it just feels so real. Some feedback on this would be great, thank you all.
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