Could this have caused my OCD?

TW: Animals When I was younger , two situations make me feel so guilty and disgusted. I had harmed a gecko and two rats. This was 6+ years ago and for both of them, I cried and felt so guilty after situations. I hadn’t thought of events until just recently and it caused my OCD to spiral. I haven’t harmed an animal since and I love my pets but my mind races and gives me anxiety of “What if you do this to your cat?” “What if you did this to your dog?” And it’s been bothering me due to the online things of like “if you harm animals you turn into a killer” and it scares me, giving me anxiety when I see them walk into the room. What do I do??

lemxn.zest

Date posted: 18h

this is very common with ocd, and the best way to deal with it is, as with most ocd, ERP. expose yourself to your pets more. dont be afraid to touch them and hold them. try not to avoid them. if you feel anxious about being by them, get closer, and let yourself feel anxious. it's important to show your brain that these feelings arent dangerous, and for as scary as it all is, you are in fact safe

Parthxus

Date posted: 17h

@lemxn.zest Been doing this since last night and it’s still pretty hard. I’ll have to do it more often but thank you so much for the advice :)

lemxn.zest

Date posted: 17h

@Parthxus yeah, i getcha. it's super difficult, but unfortunately it's the most effective method. ironic. good luck on your exposure, though :3

Parthxus

Date posted: 17h

@lemxn.zest Thank you! I’ll do my absolute best to keep on doing exposure. It’s hard for sure.

Parthxus

Date posted: 17h

@lemxn.zest Is it a good idea to do this with video games as well? I’ve been embarrassed thinking about it but there’s a Roblox game, not even bloo^y or anything but the animations and sometimes voicelines can make me anxious

lemxn.zest

Date posted: 14h

@Parthxus i think it can work. you just gotta be careful not to err into compulsion territory

Parthxus

Date posted: 14h

@lemxn.zest If I could ask, how do you get into compulsion territory for this?

lemxn.zest

Date posted: 13h

@Parthxus compulsions are anything where you find yourself doing it routinely or seeking it out because it comforts you in some way or quiets the anxiety. specifically if they get in the way of daily functioning and/or worsen anxiety shortly after temporary relief. anything can become a compulsion, so

Parthxus

Date posted: 13h

@lemxn.zest Well, I’ve actually found it difficult to play the game. The animations and voicelines make me uncomfortable with how violent they sound and are, even if it’s a kids game (Forsaken on Roblox). I played it for the first time last night and had to look away or spam the exit button to not see the animations

lemxn.zest

Date posted: 13h

@Parthxus yeah very fair. i think if it relates to your obsessions, it could be a good form of exposure therapy! ive heard of forsaken but i never got around to playing it lmao

Parthxus

Date posted: 13h

@lemxn.zest Alright! Thank you so much. And I would check it out if you’re comfortable cause again, it is based off Dead by Daylight kinda, gameplay wise.

King Silly

Date posted: 18h

Hey I was in a similar situation

Parthxus

Date posted: 18h

@King Silly Were you? How do you deal with it?

King Silly

Date posted: 18h

@Parthxus I try to let it go and let it be in the past, nothing and nobody is telling you to dig this up right now, if you’ve changed. You changed. Thats all you can do, you cant fix it, you can’t change it, all you can do is move forward

Parthxus

Date posted: 17h

@King Silly Thank you so much. It’s been bugging me for days.

Mama1145

Date posted: 17h

Everyone makes mistakes, it's hard to figure how to deal with them. No advice from me yet, other than to not beat yourself up about it. No human is perfect. We've got this

Be a part of the largest OCD Community

Share your thoughts so the Community can respond