Hello everyone, great to read so many posts. I’ve had OCD for 30 years or so and am going through a rough patch and pleased to find this forum. For me everything comes down to compulsions to “neutralize” bad thoughts. Those thoughts are invariably the result of thinking about someone (sometimes it’s just the image of their face) who I “ don’t want to be like”. It tends to be people I don’t rate highly or those who don’t conform to my set of ethics and morals. The anxiety that maybe, just somehow thinking about them might make it likely that an tiny bit of their ‘bad’ character taints mine, just by thinking about it, forces me to neutralize it with a (set of) compulsions. The anxiety reduces and then I feel guilty about being judgmental of these people (who are so very much UNLIKE me, the situation is almost comical in its ridiculousness once the anxiety ebbs away.) On the plus side I’ve conquered many other types of OCD I’ve had over the years. This one however, stubbornly remains and is hard to tackle when Im stretched elsewhere in life. n

Thank you so much Katie. I have never seen my “sub type” of ocd explained since clearly. Nor has any counselor specifically identified it as such. Hard to read, but spot on. Couldn’t be more grateful.

@Dutchy You're welcome ?

Reassuring to hear that. I too have found that it’s perhaps a bit more uncommon, having said that, ocd is a devious beast and is effective at preying on deep anxieties. Appreciate your comment

Good question. A combination of CBT and medication, both of which tailed off around my mid-twenties. Particularly, methods to accept the anxiety/uncertainty and delay compulsions. Reading and delving deep into the research and literature around ocd was also a huge piece of the puzzle. Schwartz’s book “Brain lock” was a particularly powerful tool. Unfortunately it’s as if part of my brain/me now seems to recognize these strategies and finds new ways to entangle my mind. Accepting that it’s a process and there’s no magic date when everything will be “fixed” has also (paradoxically) helped very much indeed.

@Dutchy What kind of thoughts are in the entangled knot?

@NOCD Advocate - Katie The thoughts in the entangled knot are the ones around me not being the best person I can be. These are triggered by meeting people who I find morally or behaviorally confronting with their actions or behaviors (it could be a parent yelling uncontrollably at their child for example). The sort of things where close friends might say to me, “oh you mean people that give you the creeps or disgust you”. The difference being for me that when I inadvertently think of e.g. that parent in the aforementioned example, or ‘see’ their face in my thoughts, I have an urge to perform compulsions to “prevent” any part of that bad character rubbing off on me. The trigger being “what if, somehow, just by thinking about them you pick up these “bad” behaviors. Then I get entangled for minutes or hours on end

@Dutchy May I link you to an article?

@NOCD Advocate - Katie Yes please, that would be great!