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@serenity_1 It’s things I’ve learned from researching and from therapy. The core fear is the fear behind the obsessions

@serenity_1 I think so yes, a therapist would be more knowledgeable about this though

@serenity_1 That’s great that you’re planning on it :) You will really benefit from it. ERP is life-saving! For your questions, both apply actually! For example, someone can have a contamination fear. Let’s say they are afraid of having dirty appliances. Well someone might imagine that the person is afraid of germs because they are gross but their main fear is actually different- the person could have a fear of accidentally spreading germs to their family and the germs kill them (a fear of harm so they get intrusive thoughts of accidentally killing family members). Or someone can have relationship OCD and mainly get thoughts about being a bad partner. All of the above count as obsessions

@serenity_1 Of course, thanks for taking the time to ask me questions :) I could be wrong because I’m not an expert to be completely honest haha but in therapy I learned that an obsession can be anything. Someone could have both an obsession about cleaning and also an obsession about accidentally killing their loved ones with those germs, as those two OCD themes (harm and contamination) would be intertwined. So they obsessively make sure their house is clean and spend lots of money on cleaning products and they obsessively ruminative and seek reassurance that there’s no chance they could accidentally kill their loved ones. There’s no specifics about what repetitive thoughts you need to have- to qualify as an “obsessions.” So you are very correct that you can either have the same thought coming up again and again as an obsession and/or you can have thoughts with different content coming up again and again. Some people mainly suffer from symmetry OCD. That’s their ride or die theme so to say lol. While others suffers from a variety of OCD themes like a mixture of harm Ocd , sexuality OCD, contamination OCD, etc. Intrusive thoughts aren’t always obsessions because even people without OCD have them. But if you focus on your intrusive thoughts repeatedly- they become obsessions.

@Love1another<3 But it’s the most common in OCD to have several intrusive thoughts under one theme or multiple themes (since OCD is like an onion that has layers).

@serenity_1 That’s totally okay :) A lot of people experience thoughts that don’t fit into a specific theme. Ocd therapists often have told me that the content of my thoughts don’t matter. The themes are only useful so it’s easier for people to google and feel that they’re not alone because they can see other people talk about that theme. But aside from that, all OCD is treated the exact same way, no matter the content, which makes life easier and more convenient haha. They’re all treated with ERP 👍 Correct I did get diagnosed here at NOCD. They were very helpful ❤️ I had a free call and they got me set up with a therapist. But you also have the option to choose your own therapist (as long as they live in your state and take your insurance). You are able to ask questions during the free call and also when you meet your therapist. You can ask questions about OCD all throughout your therapy actually (as long as they aren’t constant reassurance-seeking haha). I hope that all helps and those were great questions you asked 💕

@serenity_1 That’s very natural to doubt yourself especially if you don’t have a diagnosis yet so that’s totally normal. Btw there is a theme of OCD called “Meta OCD” where people have OCD about having OCD haha. A common intrusive thought is “do I even really have OCD?” So that’s totally normal could be something to keep in mind. I remember they asked me a bunch of questions to screen if I was suitable for multiple disorders like OCD, social anxiety, depression, phobias, etc. I think for OCD they asked me if I had unwanted intrusive thoughts, they asked what my obsessive thoughts were about, and they asked me to describe my possible compulsions (both physical and mental). Then when the therapist finishes the questionnaire, they decide for themselves if you have OCD or not and they’ll tell you. So the therapist will do most of the work in diagnosing you, you just have to be honest so they can best assess you 👍 I’m sure you can ask whatever questions you’d like after they finish diagnosing you as well <3

@serenity_1 I believe it was the first session that I got a diagnosis. A therapist will definitely give you a lot of OCD education. Mine did that for me 👍❤️ No worries at all :)