So I have a question for everyone in here I want to as clearly as I can describe my harm OCD including my obsessions, spikes, and compulsions and I want to see if anyone in here can relate to my experience. It’s bizarre for sure just to let you all know. So my obsession is that I will harm everyone I encounter when I’m out in public, including people I just randomly walk by in the store and or elsewhere. Even if I’m just sitting in my car parked and seeing people walk by outside my car. When I physically look at them my spike immediately occurs and most of the time it is an 8 or 10 out 10 intensity level. Next is my compulsion. So what I do for my compulsion is I have to keep physically looking at them either for a few seconds or until they walk out of site. By doing this I’m assuring myself that I couldn’t have done anything to them because I see them walking away and their just fine. It’s just so exhausting and repetitive. This specific theme has been going on strong now for at least a year and a half and I just can’t shake it. Any help or ideas or similar experiences would be greatly helpful. Thanks!

I don't have the same OCD type as you unfortunately, but I know we're suppose to go towards our fear or do the opposite of what our OCD tells us to do. What happens if you just stand outside a store like you're waiting for someone, don't make any eye contact with anyone at first, just let them pass by, and not check back to see if they're okay. Best to come up with exposure ideas with a trained therapist though. Have you tried the SOS feature on this app?

No I actually haven’t tried the SOS feature yet.

For me, I avoid my neighbors and their dog (both are a lovely couple with the most chill dog) because it triggers me. If I made an encounter with them that day, it is hard for me to leave my place without checking my stove and thinking about them. Even writing this makes me feel bad.

Wow I understand JCM. My anxiety flairs up just as easily as yours I feel your pain.

A therapist suggested imaginal exposures where you write down the worst case scenario and practice reading it outloud to yourself several times a day until your anxiety has gone down. I honestly have not used the SOS feature myself. Just wondered if someone else out there has used it.

This may sound like borderline reassurance, but sometimes I will say to myself, "well, I can't be responsible for them 24/7. I have to go to work now."

Ok, I’ve been to a psychologist but she was a worthless excuse for a PhD practitioner. She would literally stare out the window behind me. The best piece of advice she gave me was to put a family Polaroid in my wallet and look at it when I felt my anxiety coming on after a spike. I told her I felt that I had pure ocd as well and she acted like she had never heard of that type of OCD. She had to print out a copy from a website that I had been reading for days. She was a waste of my time. She prescribed no ERP of any kind. I got no benefit out if seeing her.

Yikes! I'm sorry that you had that experience. I never took medication. A therapist suggested that I take a DNA test to see what medication would work best for me and that it would be expensive. I did not follow her advice. Started out with ERP with a therapist, then did ERP on my own with the aid of another therapist.

ERP has changed my life immensely, but there are still rough edges I need to still work out.

Did it all work out in your favor?

For other resources that I found to be helpful, check out: The OCD Stories on You Tube. Huddle.care with Dr. Maggie Perry, NOCD on YouTube (Taylor Newendorp talks about pure OCD).

Awesome! Thanks JCM I will surely check these out.

I see