Has anyone ever had an intrusive thought of thinking you’ve might’ve swallowed something dangerous and you can’t trust your own mind? And you feel like you need to go in to get checked out? Any advice or reassurance?
Thank you so much for sharing this - I know how real and terrifying that feeling can be. You're definitely not alone. Intrusive thoughts about accidentally swallowing something dangerous, or worrying you might have, are actually really common in OCD. This kind of fear can show up under different themes like health OCD, sensorimotor (somatic) OCD, harm OCD, and even responsibility OCD, where there's this overwhelming pressure to make sure you haven’t caused harm, even unintentionally. OCD creates a strong sense of doubt and urgency, making you feel like you can’t trust your own memory or body and like you need to know for sure nothing bad has happened. That fear often leads to checking your body, seeking reassurance, or even going to the doctor “just in case.” But as hard as it is, those responses can actually keep the OCD cycle going. It’s so hard when OCD makes you doubt your own memory or actions, especially when it feels so real. But one of the most powerful (and difficult) things we can do is practice sitting with that uncertainty - accepting that our brain might keep throwing out doubts, and choosing not to respond to them. It’s not easy, but it’s what helps us break the cycle. This video might be helpful with that: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhKmY1IeFf8&t=35s You’re not alone in this, and you’re doing something really strong by talking about it. It’s so tough when OCD feels that convincing. Is there anything that’s helped you step back from the spiral when it hits?
It's completely normal to feel anxious and seek reassurance when dealing with intrusive thoughts, especially when they involve your health. You're not alone, and many people experience similar fears. The important thing to remember is that these thoughts are a manifestation of OCD, and they don't reflect reality. It's brave of you to share your experience, and it shows strength to seek advice. If you’re struggling and need more assistance, remember that help is available. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at NOCD to find out how we can support you. Also here are some helpful resources: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/what-is-magical-thinking-ocd/ https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/strange-thoughts-no-thought-is-off-limits-for-ocd/ https://www.treatmyocd.com/what-is-ocd/common-fears/is-sensorimotor-ocd-the-same-as-somatic-ocd
yes. i actually had a thought just like this at the beginning of this week. convinced myself i swallowed something that id found in the kitchen and even though i knew i set it aside, my brain went "well what if you didn't" and I got so scared that I got out of bed and went to check in the early hours of the morning. My mom went to the bathroom around the same time and she asked me if I was okay and i just went "mhmm" and went to bed still anxious. It's not my major theme at the moment but every now and then i'll go "what if i did?" And I just tell myself if something were going to happen to me, it would have already since it's been a week. Regardless, I've also just allowed myself to think that it's not something I need to figure out rn if nothing has happened yet. OCD likes to play games with you to get you to engage with the scary thoughts.
@moon027097 That’s actually really reassuring to know that I’m not alone. Does it feel like you need go and get checked out Becuase you think something’s going to happen to you?
@NOAHAHMED yeah, I've had that thought several times this week but i try to sit with it and let the feeling pass. if something hasn't happened to me by now, i doubt i've done anything to myself that requires any urgency. remember that OCD can be very powerful
@moon027097 Can I ask what object did you have a intrusive thought about
My mind keeps telling me “something is wrong with you. the weird feeling you are feeling or the weird tingling you are feeling or there is a weird mark on your body. Those are actually a severe symptom and by ignoring it you could die!” Or especially the constant, “go to the emergency room because this impending doom you are feeling, yeah that’s because your gonna die shortly” It doesn’t help whenever people say “well if something was wrong your body would tell you” because my mind keeps telling me that what I’m feeling is proof something is wrong and I need to get it checked out. That I actually am severely sick and that I need to get it checked out as soon as possible, that if I get one more test than I’ll be okay because it will prove nothing is wrong. How do I tell my mind that it’s just anxiety whenever my mind keeps telling me “well if you keep saying that you could be ignoring something more serious.” Or “the doctors are just brushing you off..something is wrong with you” It’s hard to live with my thoughts whenever they are constantly coming up with ways to challenge me and challenge logic. New reasons on why I need to get this checked out because “I’m just being ignored” or “no one is listening to me so I’ll just end up dying” My symptoms range from weak and shaking legs and body to dizzy and unbalanced and dissociated. Recently I’ve been getting this tingling feeling inside my head and on the back of my neck. And my temples have pressure on them. My body keeps coming up with new symptoms I need to worry about, whenever most of them are probably caused by severe and constant anxiety. So severe I can’t even leave the house because I constantly worry about whether this is severe and something will happen if I leave the house. I need immediate ways to start fixing this because it’s especially horrible whenever my period comes around and my anxiety/depression is already higher than usual. I’ve even started considering taking medication (Zoloft, 25mg) which is another trigger for me, I worry about the symptoms I might get from taking it. That’s how you know it’s gotten pretty bad whenever I’ve come to taking something that I’ve been actively avoiding. What are your thoughts? Do I take the medication? What are ways I can deal with my symptoms that seem so severe in the moment but pass by once I’m not anxious? What are ways my thoughts can ease and I stop taking every symptom as something serious, because at the end of the day my anxiety is most likely the reason I have these horrible symptoms. I’ve always been extremely healthy and everytime I go to the doctors they express how healthy I am with all the tests I’ve had.
Does anyone else relate to the above being the go-to mantra when OCD wants to manipulate you? It's a hard one to shake for me personally, if you have any tips for overcoming this particular thought, it'd be much appreciated! The current example: There is a sticky fly trap that hangs from the ceiling above our drying rack. I removed a strainer to strain my pasta and worried it hit the fly trap (even though I have no reason to believe it actually did). At first the voice was saying "better safe than sorry" and I was able to "overcome" it to drain my pasta but now that I have a bowl of pasta sitting in front of me, I can't get myself to eat it. Update: I asked my mom for reassurance and she gave it to me so, now that I'm eating the pasta, I'm worried, what if she was wrong. This is a pretty common version of a spiral for me when it comes to contamination and consumption, it's just very hard to shake the "better safe than sorry" mantra. No reassurance please, just tiprs to get over the "better safe than sorry thought." Thanks in advance for your insight and support!
This might contain triggering content, but I'm also wondering if others have dealt with this similar thought, and if so, how to deal with it? Overall, I've been doing so well these past few days. I'm able to eat again, which I hadn't been able to do because of how much anxiety I'd been experiencing. I'm spending time around loved ones and not just rotting in my room, and I've been able to wake up without immediately being bombarded by intrusive thoughts. When things first got really bad, I'd wake my mom up every night for reassurance, but I haven't done that in a while either. I'm really proud of myself, but there's still this nagging thought in my mind... While looking through others posts on here, hoping to find advice that'd fit my situation, I ended up making things worse. Someone mentioned how they had a fear that they'd purposely search for illegal content (related to POCD). I panicked, and "what ifs" flooded my thoughts. "What if the intrusive thoughts affect who I am as a person, and I do that?" I'm terrified that I'll search for those things, which I know means I wouldn't do it. But then, another person on here said they'd actually looked for those things, and that freaked me out even more. Does that mean it's possible for that to happen to me? I don't want to do that, but I keep having intrusive thoughts surrounding it. I've been doing so well these past few days. I'm just... stuck. I don't know what to do. I've spoken with other people who have the same fears, but how do I manage this? It's not something I've even thought about before seeing those posts. I've been practicing accepting the uncertainty, but I'm really struggling with this one. I hate this. This morning, I woke up, and the intrusive thoughts were back. It's just disheartening.
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