Is this normal for OCD/health anxiety?

Hey everyone. 🤍 I wanted to ask if anyone else with OCD/anxiety experiences this, because lately I feel really alone in it. My OCD keeps changing themes constantly. One moment it’s ROCD and relationship fears, then suddenly it becomes health anxiety, fear of dying, fear of sleeping, fear that I have some horrible illness, etc. The scary part is that I don’t just “worry” about it. I become COMPLETELY convinced. Like genuinely 100% sure something is wrong with me. For example, recently I had neck pain/muscle tension and immediately convinced myself I was having a stroke or had some terrible disease. Even after reassurance, normal blood pressure, normal tests, and the pain literally improving after sleep, my brain still kept going: “Yeah, but what if they missed something?” “What if this is cancer?” “What if something bad happens while I sleep?” And social media/TikTok honestly makes it so much worse. I’ll see one video about someone being diagnosed with something serious and suddenly I’m convinced it’s happening to me too. Then I start body-checking constantly and noticing every tiny sensation in my body. What confuses me is how REAL it feels. Like I know logically OCD/anxiety can do this, but emotionally I feel fully convinced something terrible is true. I also noticed that when one obsession calms down, another one appears. It feels like my brain always needs something to fear. I haven’t been to therapy in a while, and I think things slowly get worse when I don’t go. Part of me even feels like: “What if my OCD isn’t bad enough for therapy?” which I know probably sounds irrational too. I guess I just want to ask: Is this level of fear and certainty normal with OCD/health anxiety? Do other people also feel completely convinced something horrible is happening to them, even when there’s little actual evidence? 🤍

Kelly_mev

Date posted: 14h

Hi! I’m so sorry that you’re experiencing this. But if it makes you feel any better, I’m currently going through this. Except mine is all medical. 1 week I’m convinced I’m going to get serotonin syndrome, next it’s a brain aneurysm and lately I’ve been fixated on heart attacks. You are not alone! My anxiety also causes physical symptoms which then in return, fuel my OCD thoughts. Reassurance seeking is my biggest compulsion whether it’s from a Dr., family member or the internet. One thing I’m learning to do is sit in the discomfort and uncertainty. It’s hard! And seems impossible at times, but I know in the long run it will help me. My opinion, go to therapy! I think even people who don’t necessarily struggle with mental health issues could benefit from therapy! We got this! 💪🏼

KermieGal

Date posted: 13h

Totally relate to this feeling and thank you for sharing cause I think it’s validating for all of us to hear it. I’ve been wrestling with that same idea of my condition not being “bad enough”. The solution I came to is this: let’s assume WORST case scenario that it’s relatively mild compared to others. Therapy helps you get tools to manage at all levels and you walk away with some better coping strategies and someone to talk to if you have a bad stint of it. If that’s the worst case, you still walk away with something to help you. I hope it helps you like that rationalization helped me!

Angel31045

Date posted: 12h

i’ve also been struggling with health ocd and it’s exhausting. Mine is slightly different in the sense of i focus on a food making me have an allergic reaction and it moves from food to food and causes sensations and symptoms. Doesn’t matter how many boxes i don’t check my brain always says nope we must be having a reaction it’s just delayed. As for the ocd being bad enough the one thing i’ll say as i’ve lived it is i thought the same thing for a very long time. What could’ve been easily helped back then became a downhill mudslide because i thought i wasn’t doing bad enough to get help. Now here i am a year later and just two weeks ago got out of the hospital because of the physical symptoms finally catching up to me from my ocd eating issues. Don’t let it get worse, therapy helps so much and even now im 10 times better than i was two weeks ago mentally and physically. It’s worth it and you’ll thank yourself later.

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