Fear of telling anyone

100 percent. I am scared to look weak or crazy. That people will take advantage of me if I tell them how my brain is processing situations. This is why I don’t have friends or get close to co workers.

I feel this too, one thing I talked about today with my therapist is I’m going to write down one thing I’m scared of (low level to start) on paper on my desk each day. I will look at it as a reminder that it’s a fear but that it’s not any more likely to come true just because I’ve written down or said it aloud. We discussed how if we flip it to a good thing we can acknowledge that saying or writing it doesn’t make it come true necessarily either. Phrase it as “im scared this could happen” not “this will happen” maybe?

I have had the same feeling like you’re giving the thing power by way of bringing it up and making it more real or something. One thing that has helped me is that I told myself that is exactly what OCD would be telling me to do so it stays alive. Because it knows once it is exposed it has no legs to stand on and will be debunked. We are not our thoughts or feelings just the observer of them 💜

Yes this happens to me way too often. I basically jinxed a lot of unfortunate things by telling people what I’m afraid of.

This is a trap of the OCD. It is an OCD thought that something really bad will happen if you do _____ (fill in the blank with something harmless). Examples from my OCD in my life: I feel like I will lose my eternal salvation if I buy soup at the store. Or eat chocolate. Or part my hair on the side. You see? It's a fear that something REALLY BIG AND TERRIBLE will happen if we just break a little "rule" (like talking about certain subjects or buying things at the store). In my case, are any of my "rules" even related to salvation? Nope. But the OCD says they are. In your case, the OCD says your greatest fears are going to come true if you speak them out loud. Is there any relationship between speaking things out loud and those things coming true? Nope. It doesn't make sense, and we know it doesn't. And that's how we can identify it as OCD. How do you conquer this? To start, continue to do what you just did! You open up and tell people your struggles like this one and let them help you. And then you PRACTICE saying things out loud that you are afraid of. When you want to avoid something, then do EXACTLY THE OPPOSITE. This takes practice, and it's scary. I am right here if you want to start with me!!! Or choose another person you trust. You can tell me or someone else something that you fear would come true. Do it as a step of FAITH, even though it's scary. The more you practice, the more free you will become!!