Is the need for certainty at the core of all OCD?

It’s been a while since my therapy session with a NOCD therapists. I only had one due to lack of insurance. My recollection was it was determined I fell into this category of needing certainty. I forget exactly the term at the moment but I have learned that I seek that in desperate ways at times. It can be quite all consuming sometimes. I see the different themes of OCD and wondered how a need for certainty plays into them. I wasn’t sure if that was the core of all OCD or just a separate category. Sorry, This feels like a stupid question.

titaniumonetwo

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 14h

Not a stupid question at all, actually a very deep and interesting question. OCD is colloquially known as the doubting disease and in many, many cases the need for certainty is considered the root. "Am I CERTAIN I'm not going to get ill if I don't wash my hands again, am I CERTAIN I feel the right way about my partner etc". Personally, I think that characterisation is a little narrow, in some of my cases, it doesn't feel like a quest for certainty for me, it feels more like an inability to purely stop having the horrible thoughts/concerns. I for instance wouldn't necessarily go "Am I 100% sure this thought doesn't mean I'm going to do X", I'd be more like "I NEED TO STOP THIS THOUGHT!"... Perhaps at the root there is always a question or an uncertainty, but I think framing it entirely that way is at best confusing. p.s. I'm just someone with OCD. Not a medical professional, councillor etc, be really interesting if someone qualified chimes in on this, I know some of the NOCD staff frequent the chat

LeeTheMindfu...

Date posted: 12h

@titaniumonetwo I want to expand on this with my experience with OCD and what I learned from NOCD therapy. OCD demands certainty about things that cause distress or discomfort. This often drives us to look for definitive answers to the things we feel uncertain about. When we perform compulsions in response to these intrusive thoughts and feelings, it is because the OCD is trying to manufacture a false sense of security. NOCD therapy and ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) exercises help teach us that we don’t need to engage in compulsions to relieve distress or to find certainty. This trains our brain to accept uncertainty without trying to fix it. One powerful method for doing this is practicing a script like: “Maybe that bad thing will happen, maybe it won't. I am choosing to live with that uncertainty.” Over time, our brain learns that compulsions are unnecessary. We can learn to sit with uncomfortable feelings and notice the anxiety decreasing on its own. Once we learn how to stop engaging in compulsions, we realize that anxiety reduces naturally without our intervention. This takes the power away from OCD; we start reacting to fewer urges, and the urges themselves become less intense.

Chickens_Frogs

Date posted: 13h

Hi Thank you for the reply, I think that my brain latches onto something and won’t let go. At least until I have exhausted myself on it. Then there will be something else. I think where it affects me the most is the shear time spent on thinking about it, researching and so on. My doctor said “ruminate” but I think that happens with many things. The thing that got me the diagnosis was with my doctor was asking them to tell me why I spend so much time on emails and texts. I don’t do it with all of them but it happens enough that it is an issue that you know “this is not normal”.

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User type: Staff

Date posted: 14h

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