- Date posted
- 4w ago
Help!
How can I deal with False Memory OCD? I am struggling with ruminating thoughts, and trying to figure out false memories! How can I enjoy my day without figuring it out?
How can I deal with False Memory OCD? I am struggling with ruminating thoughts, and trying to figure out false memories! How can I enjoy my day without figuring it out?
The issue with OCD - you will never actually figure it out. In my years of doing this no one with false memory OCD has ever gotten to a point where they were able to fully trust their memory. I know that may sound triggering, but the nature of OCD will just not allow it. If OCD = Doubt, then how, can you give OCD an answer that it will accept if OCD will doubt every answer that you give it. This is a trick of OCD to just get you to do more compulsions. You will never achieve the level of certainty that OCD demands, and no one ever has or ever will, otherwise it would not be OCD. If you are looking for help in dealing with this, I hope that you will consider reaching out for help from a specialist who can assist. We would be happy to assist here at NOCD at any time.
this is very scary to consider, as someone who also struggles with real events/false memory ocd but is also very sobering and comforting. my brain desperately wants me to figure everything out or one day get to a point where I'll be able to separate fact from fiction (OCD: the doubter). Do you have tips for how to resist mentally reviewing a false memory or real events? It's very hard to resist the compulsion when the thoughts are incredibly disturbing and upsetting.
@moon027097 I understand the struggle
@Tony Davies You get me ha
@moon027097 You ok?
@Tony Davies hey! sorry for not replying, but sort of lol it kinda sucks rn but im sitting with the discomfort
I wish I could give you an answer to that, but all I know is the feeling is extremely distressing. Try and calm yourself down and remember what type of person you are and if what you think you did or have done is actually something you would do as a person. I used to tell myself if I have to question if it happened, it more than likely didnt, you would know. Much much easier said than done because when the thought comes again your body heightens and is consumed by it. I wish you nothing more than peace
@jessmini Thanks, yes I hate false memory ocd it has you questioning and then you believe the false story and make it a reality
@Hi_123 Im here
I would use the phrase maybe or maybe not to not actively engage with the false memory. Try to bring your attention into the present
Hi Tony, the key to "dealing with" OCD is learning to sit with the distressing thoughts without doing anything about them. For example. Try using maybe, maybe not statements of uncertainty vs. trying to figuring the thought out. Maybe I did something like......, Maybe I didn't, I can tolerate the uncertainty. OCD doesn't have to rule your life. If you would like to learn more about OCD and how to deal with your symptoms book a free call at: https://www.treatmyocd.com/
@Darlene Friend Thank you, I am really struggling with false memory ocd, where it’s coming up with false stories
Run away from rumination — that is the best way I can describe it. It feels wrong and uncomfortable because you are not letting your OCD get what it needs to survive. When you notice you are ruminating, physically stop and say, “It does not matter,” then refocus on the present and continue with whatever you are doing. I once read a metaphor in an OCD workbook that compared your mind to training a puppy. When the puppy strays from the path, you would not yank the leash and hurt it. You would gently guide it back and redirect it. You have to treat your mind the same way. It is going to stray and go wherever it finds importance, but you just have to gently guide it back. It is hard, and it is going to feel like the opposite of what you want to do, but just do your best. What helped me the most was thinking of it as running away from compulsions. It feels wrong not to do them, it feels like avoidance, but I eventually realized that I should not be doing them anyway. Running away from them is what I should do, so keep running from compulsions.
Really good advice and help Thanks much
How do I get out of the false memory by not replying it to believe it?
Any advice? I just got triggered by false memory OCD. There is no indicator or memory of me doing anything bad, only the what if. So how can I deal with uncertainty because if I did do the false memory it would go against my morals?? Not something extremely unforgivable just like not ideal and against my morals… I don’t know if it happened. I have no memory of my false memory happen only the “what if” which is enough to scare me FOR CONTEXT: I was in the mental hospital when I was 16, and made a few friends. Some just a grade below me, so 14-15. I remember bringing up in convo someone I met previously at the mental hospital earlier in that year a different time I was hospitalized , to which a boy responded he knew her, and they did (seggsual) stuff at their school. The girl I was talking about at that time was 14. So im assuming the boy was 14 as well. 13 and up is together in the hospital, so he couldn’t be younger than 13. I have no memories of him flirting with me or me flirting with him. Or anything bad happening. Literally just “what if”.. or what if he wasn’t 14 but 13 and u said something inappropriate or flirted with him. I will never be able to know what happened and I’m sick thinking about this. 13 and 16 is NOT WITHIN MY MORALS. I am worried because the only inappropriate I guess convo had is when he was telling me what happened between him and that girl I knew. I also remember him having a bulge down there and it freaked me out and made me feel weird at the time because I noticed it. (At this time I was already diagnosed with OCD and experienced POCD) I try to tell myself maybe maybe not. But the what if it did happen makes me feel like a p33do, and me thinking it didn’t happen doesn’t satisfy me because I don’t have 100 percent certainty
im going to be vague here, but basically i did something in the past that i regret and it became a huge point of my OCD but i have talked to my therapist and i have mostly moved past it. i watched a video by an OCD youtuber that really put it into perspective. anyway, i have been with minimal worry for a few days, but now im having worries related to i think false memory? basically it’s like “oh but what if i said/ did this and just forgot that means i harmed this person im a bad person”. to me it sounds like textbook OCD but im just wondering if anyone else has experienced false memory / real event at the same time. i have a really horrible memory which is making it even more stressful. any responses are appreciated!
Hello all, I’ve dealt with various OCD themes and compulsions for pretty much as long as I can remember. In some periods of my life the thoughts and compulsions have been particularly severe, but I’ve also had years where I’m able to keep it under control. This has made me worry I don’t actually have OCD, especially because I haven’t been doing consistent therapy and my therapists have gone back and forth on whether I have OCD. In the past few years, I’ve struggled immensely with false memory ocd, and right now I’m going through probably the most severe episode of my life. I love my boyfriend with all my heart. A few times that I’ve gone out drinking I’ve had the thought before “what if I lost control and cheated tonight” and it’s bothered me severely. Two times before, it’s gotten to the point of convincing myself that because I talked to a man that meant I had cheated on my boyfriend and just couldn’t remember. It has never turned out to be true. About a month ago, I went out with friends and had too much to drink. I was really ashamed of myself the next morning, particularly because I always try to drink cautiously now that I know it can trigger my anxiety. I am ashamed to admit I do not remember the very end of the night getting in my uber and going home. I woke up anxious and extremely worried and immediately started off by worrying if I could have tried to kiss my friend and not remembered. I called him and was immediately reassured nothing had happened, I simply drank too much and went home at the end of the night. I started feeling better, but then remembered a moment I had been in the bathroom. I remembered chatting with people in line about how long the line was, and then being in the bathroom on my phone. I then felt like I remembered people knocking and saying to myself “that wasn’t that long” and leaving. There is nothing concrete that I remember that in any way indicates I cheated, and in fact I have texts with my boyfriend from the whole night telling him I loved him. My friend told me that the only time I was ever apart from him was about 5 minutes and that when he came back I was in the same exact spot he left me in. However, when I remembered being in the bathroom, I thought to myself “what if you cheated on him in the bathroom”/ “oh my god did you cheat on him in the bathroom” and then a series of images of me performing sexual acts popped into my head. I’ve poured over my memory and truly do not remember meeting anyone, talking to anyone, or even finding anyone attractive that night, but the fact that I was drinking makes me worried I’m just forgetting and these images could be real. I’ve been constantly ruminating on these fears for the past month, to the point that the only relief I feel is when I’m able to fall asleep. I’m a law student and it’s becoming extremely difficult to keep up with my classes. I’ve been google searching, asked chat gpt for advice, confessed my fears to my boyfriend, asked for reassurance from pretty much everyone in my life, and even emailed the bar asking for security footage (which I know all sounds insane). I’m a naturally guilty person and feel bad about small things, so I really don’t think I would be capable of cheating and then nonchalantly texting my boyfriend, but these images feel so real that it’s terrifying. I’ve also seen a lot about how I would “just know” and that begins to scare me because then I think “you do just know, you did it” even though I really don’t think I did. I know these posts are not supposed to be for reassurance seeking, I’m just so exhausted and feeling really depressed. I’m wondering if anyone has experienced something similar and has any advice. I’m also wondering if images can feel more real the more you ruminate on them or if it’s a sign of memory. Thank you so much for listening.
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