Tbh I don’t really remember exactly what/when I saw or read that first triggered my potential ocd (not officially diagnosed yet), not sure if it was a thought that led to research or research that led to thought. Is this normal? And can ocd first be triggered by something you read or is it like you read something + getting a thought?
Ohh.. for me , it started with a intrusive thoughts..
Hi there .. when I was first diagnosed with ocd. I started looking up all the different subtypes of OCD. That made me super anxious and I kept thinking, what if I have those too. Like false memory ocd and others but honestly , for me it is about sexual intrusive thoughts . Still, whenever I read more about other types of ocd , I can't help but get anxious again.
@calmray Ohh, well I meant like when ocd first started, the first thought or something that triggered it, but thanks for sharing
OCD can get triggered by anything. For example I have relationship ocd. So I could be having a great day no intrusive thoughts and then I’m scrolling on TikTok and someone posts “how to know he’s your soulmate” and boom the thoughts start racing “is he my soulmate” “if he’s not my soulmate we need to break up” “what if I don’t have a soulmate”
@Secretidentity Ohh, I mean like before the ocd/ocd theme even started, like the first ever thought or something that triggered you that started it all, I know that it could be triggered by something but is it necessary that you read something then get a thought? Or do you without noticing get a thought about what you read which leads you to take it seriously and start ocd?
@serenity_1 It’s not necessary that you read something to get a thought. You can randomly start thinking about something you ready and your ocd can take that and run with it. Usually that’s rumination if you’re just thinking about the thing that you read over and over. Not sure if this answers your question. If not I’d love to get more into depth about this and help answer your question.
@Secretidentity Well yeah but I mean before you first develop OCD, the first ever thought or thing that triggered you that made you get OCD, does that necessarily have to be a thought or could it be from something you read, and if it is from something you read is it necessary that that thing you read triggered a thought or can it be like you read something -> you reacted with fear -> brain flagged it as important -> brain sends you more thoughts about it and not you read something -> you got a thought -> you reacted with fear and the same as the last one, or can it come in both ways? Sorry if this doesn’t make sense
@serenity_1 You don’t really just get ocd you kinda always have it but symptoms are as strong. There are things that trigger it tho to make it worse. Yes it could stem in that way too. It can show up either way either triggered by a thought or triggered by something you read that then made you think about what you read. I hope this answers your question!
@Secretidentity Okay thanks, are you saying that someone who has ocd has always had it but it just recently got triggered? If that’s the case then isn’t a brain screening needed to diagnose..? And do you have any articles that talk about how ocd starts or what might trigger it by any chance
@serenity_1 No you don’t need a brain screening. Yes I’m saying you always have it but then something triggers it to really show itself and for me at least I was able to look back at being a kid and realize oh this was ocd I just didn’t know it. Give me a minute I know something for you to read
@Secretidentity Hey uh did you find it?
@serenity_1 Can’t find it rn. I’ll keep looking
Yes. One of my OCD themes was actually triggered by a random article I read. But it can also be triggered by a thought, past experience, past trauma… etc. Usually, the way OCD works is that your body has an extreme emotional or physical response to a theme and then your brain goes 🚩 oh, we need to remember this to stay out of danger.
@Stay.Fluid Oh so like it doesn’t necessarily need to be a thought that first triggered your OCD/theme, it can be just reacting with fear to something you read which then triggered an ocd theme about it right
@serenity_1 Yes! 👍🏻 That is why when we use the gold standard form of therapy for OCD (exposure response prevention) we are working on our physically, emotional and mental reactions/compulsions to our theme. It helps desensitize you over time. 🫶🏻 and things get better.
@Stay.Fluid Oh okay, are mental reactions considered compulsions too? 🤔 and also do you have any useful article talking about how ocd first starts or first gets triggered. And off topic but I see that ‘OCD conqueror’ flair you have there which first of all congratulations and second how much did your life improve after treatment
@serenity_1 No, reactions are just your body and mind reacting to a trigger. Compulsions are what you do to feel some form of temporary relief regarding the trigger/intrusive thought. I don’t know that there is an article like that out there. Some people have OCD from toddler years on, some later in life due to many, many different things. The thing about OCD is, even if you figure out what or how your OCD was triggered, it usually doesn’t play a role in your healing. It’s just more of an acknowledgement 🩷 Thank you regarding the flare!!! I can’t even tell you how much ERP changed my life… it’s like night and day. I never thought I would feel this “normal” ever again. Also, check out the podcast disordered if you feel called to do so. It’s a good one!
(TW- Please don’t read if you have ocd relating to one off/random medical events) ^ ^ ^ ^ okay so this is something I’ve been confused about for YEARS and completely sped up my ocd symptoms, I had a one off seizure a few years ago, it wasn’t a major one but enough to have family take me to the hospital afterwards, I don’t remember anything whilst it was happening and I was unwell at the time too. I did all the tests and nothing came back, even tested for epilepsy but I don’t have that. No one has been able to give me a reason and that set off my ocd since mine is mostly based around things I cant see hurting me or others (contamination ocd) or me making the wrong decision (rOCD, real event etc etc) (no clue I had ocd at this point though, only got diagnosed last year) I know they can be stressed induced too but I remember not feeling that stressed that night and not much was going on… Is there anyone that’s experienced the same thing?? Could it be OCD related at all?
so this all started not too long ago, for literally no reason at all. but one day i got a random intrusive thought about harming others and it freaked me out bad. since then i’ve been non stop focusing on it and im genuinely scared that i am, or gonna end up like those sick people that have documentaries about them. i’ve never had these types of thoughts before and after me and my mom looked a lot of stuff up we think i have OCD cuz a lot of the stuff it was saying was accurate to me. to anyone in here, does this sound like OCD to you? i’ve always been a nice loving person and these thoughts freak me out so bad and make me feel like i’m a bad gross person. it got to the point i don’t even like looking at myself anymore. i just wanna go back to normal man. another thing to add, when i would explain this to my mom even though i was telling the full truth on how crappy this made me feel it felt like i was lying almost? but i know i wasn’t deep down. i’m just scared that what if i act on something or get in my head too much you know?
So basically I didn’t know till my hocd started. But looking back at my life I had ocd since I was a kid. Like 6-7 years old. First time happening I remember that when I was doing stuff many times I had to say something like a little poem in my head to stop it. Then I had this thing were if I felt my left foot touch the floor 5 times I had to do the touch the floor with my right foot too. Then I had something I guess contamination??? Basically after washing my hands I had a sensation on my hand like I could still “feel” the germs and I had to wash them again. Then I started having thoughts of my family members getting hurt. I had intrusive thoughts about me hurting my dog. Then I had this obsession that a guy who used to be in my school is looking for me to beat me up. And how it’s this obsession about my sexuality even tho I never doubted or questioned it before. Is that possible??? Like can you be born with it? I’m pretty sure both my parents have it too. At least at some level. Take my father for example he had an obsession that he was going to die the moment he turned 30.
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