Guilt 😔

I made a mistake years ago that I later corrected, but I’m now stuck in intense guilt and self-hatred. Two people witnessed it, and chatgpt says it's my OCD telling me this means I can never succeed because they could expose or blackmail me in the future. I feel a strong urge to confess, explain myself, analyse what the mistake says about my character, with chatgpt cause I'm too ashamed to discuss in therspy, and get certainty that I’m not a bad person. How can I respond to this as an OCD episode without using confession or reassurance as a compulsion?

Generiname

Date posted: Yesterday

Please don't use chatgpt for ocd. It's been widely known as the worst thing to use for ocd and won't help in the long run

XwitnessX

Date posted: Yesterday

@Generiname Reiterating the above! 👆 Use the resources you have on hand here as much as you can and avoid chat. People are here to help a lot more than that ever will even if it doesn’t seem that way 🙌✨

Anonymous7777

Date posted: Yesterday

Okay hear me out, I’m not a professional… It seems that your ocd is wants certainty about what that mistake means about your character and future. You said you made a mistake years ago and later corrected it. In the sense that you made a mistake, learned from it, changed the behavior, and grew…If so, that’s important. Healthy guilt can help us recognize mistakes, learn, and grow. But ocd tends to turn guilt into endless self-punishment, even after change has happened. As for the two witnesses, I can’t say much because I don’t have the full context, but I will say this: people make mistakes. That doesn’t mean they should be written off, cast out, or treated as beyond hope. We are human, not perfect. Personally, with my faith, God gave me mercy and grace when I didn’t/ and still don’t deserve it. That reminds me to try to give others mercy and grace too. Is that hard? Absolutely. But I’m not better than anyone else. I’ve made mistakes too. This does NOT mean you will never succeed. But I also don’t want to feed the ocd by giving reassurance over and over. The real goal may be learning how to tolerate the uncertainty without confessing, checking, analyzing, or punishing yourself. I really recommend that you open up to your therapist when you feel safe to do so. Not to get reassurance, but to get help navigating this. You can say something like “This has been bothering me so much, and I don’t want reassurance. I need help responding to this as ocd.” I say this because there are compulsions and thoughts I’ve felt deeply ashamed to talk about too. But I realized I need help from a professional because it was troubling me too much. Sharing hard things in a safe therapeutic space can be part of healing. Take care, and take it easy.

XwitnessX

Date posted: 17h

@Anonymous7777 Beyond helpful thank you ❤️✨

simpson578

Date posted: Yesterday

Currently experiencing this same issue of feeling intense guilt over a mistake that I now know was a compulsion. Also used chat gpt so no judgement but I agree with other commenters it is unhealthy. My advice is open up to your therapist and a good friend you trust and take it easy. You’ll be okay.

Anonymous

Date posted: Yesterday

This is such a great question.

Be a part of the largest OCD Community

Share your thoughts so the Community can respond