- Date posted
- 25w
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 25w
the thing about memory is that it is never 100% accurate so we can never know for sure. We have to choose to accept the uncertainty of this. OCD likes to continue to throw those "what if's" in our direction. Don't try to solve them. While it's more complicated than this we are here to help and you don't have to do this alone. Feel free to reach out to our team so that we can support you.
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 25w
@scrambled - I hear you with this unclear uncertainty about whether a memory is real or a product of post partum depression/OCD/ or abuse... it's exhausting and deeply upsetting. Your experience of a thought evolving and gaining 'details' through rumination sounds incredibly challenging. Many people with OCD struggle with intense doubt about their thoughts and memories, sometimes referred to as 'false memories.' The anxiety and the urge to figure it all out can create a confusing loop where thoughts feel increasingly real, even if they contradict what you previously knew. We would need a clear assessment to be able to determine a diagnosis and thus how to best help you. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to us at NOCD to find out how we can support you. In the meantime here are some helpful resources: https://www.treatmyocd.com/what-is-ocd/common-fears/what-are-intrusive-thoughts-and-are-they-normal https://www.treatmyocd.com/what-is-ocd/common-fears/what-if-i-have-committed-a-sin-and-dont-remember https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/intrusive-thoughts-normal/
- Date posted
- 25w
Dealt with this for years over time you’ll develop more and more strength to get through it, sending you love and light ❤️🩹
- Date posted
- 25w
Going through something similar at the moment and like you I’m saying “If it was real” and I’ve noticed whatever intrusive thought I have I always try abs reassure myself with this phrase, If!! The thing is logically we don’t say “If” when something so scary is real do we. The problem is ocd doesn’t listen to logic 🥴
- Date posted
- 25w
@scrambled This sounds exactly like me. I will logically reassure myself that this thought can’t be true and I may feel better momentarily but then the OCD will step in and suggest. Maybe I can’t deal with the truth and I’m just burying my head in the sand and in denial. I too wish I’d never ruminated on this thought as I’ve just gone further and further down the rabbit hole I’ve been dealing with it for weeks. It helps though to see that even though we don’t know what each other’s intrusive thoughts are, our response to them seems to be the same pattern which would suggest that this is OCD at play. Know that you are not alone.
- Date posted
- 25w
Yes I have real memories that are from a conversation with my husband. I was using one of those memories to reassure myself repeatedly after having an intrusive thought. Gradually the memory became blurry, hazy and that panicked me that’s when ocd stepped in and said “ well maybe he didn’t say that at all, maybe he said something entirely different “ and then started offering up scary alternatives 🙄😞. Since then it’s been, well that can’t be true cos of xyz and attempts to disprove it. I too have a very vivid imagination and things can quickly feel real.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
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
- Date posted
- 25w
Hello 😭, so uhm I’m kind of in the point of my POCD where I’m just tired. I just need to get it all out and get some sort of instruction of how to just idk live? So for me my childhood is pretty blurry. I have a few real event blended with false memory events there but other than that I’m a csa victim. And the way I tried to cope? By fetishising nyself, making CP of myself, seeing my life goal as being used, raped and a prostitue. Self destructive behaviour through talking to pedophiles and seeing my only worth as if I was sexually attractive. Which made me kind of numb to CP as a coping mechanism I guess. And heres’s where my main event of REOCD/false memory ocd comes in. I have a few events in my life when I’ve accidentally stumbled across CP ish mangas or just plan abuse and not had a big reaction. Some of them I even liked the story. And my ocd LOVES playing with it, making me truly believe I enjoy and get of from CP. I’ve also had quite a few dreams. A few days ago I had a dream about me getting triggered by something I did in the dream. Which I now can’t figure out if it actually was a dream. But also moments overall where I’ve unintentionally touched my private part while my siblings are in the room or when I found a guy 2 years younger than me pretty in 4th grade. Or a few of my only friends who turned out to be younger than me, and I had talked about sexual things (like fan fictions, my trauma ect) with them. AHSHB I absolutely hate ruminating and I’m tired so so so so so so tried 😭 idk help me? Please TT
- Date posted
- 20w
I have had the same false memory/instrusive image of me doing something horrible to someone when I was 12 and they were younger. It is a memory based on a real event. I truly don’t know if it’s real or not but obviously, the more I think about it the more I think it’s true. This has led my mind to become slightly paranoid. I worry that if this horrible image in my head is true then one day the person I might have hurt will come and k*ll me. I’m really scared I feel like I won’t feel better as long as this “memory” is in my head. Does anyone have advice?
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