- Username
- grap333
- Date posted
- 4y ago
- Username
- JonasJonas
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Absolutely! I have trauma from being shocked at work (I am an electrical apprentice) and it has activated the worst OCD I’ve had since I was a kid. I cannot accept the lights/outlets I’ve installed are safe) or that equipment I’m working on is de-energized. I check and check again. It’s making me work slower and perform worse. At home I sit and ponder if the work I’ve put in is exploding or causing fires while I’m not there. I am afraid it’s not worth pursuing the career anymore but I’m so close to being licensed and I have done so much school it would be such a waste.
- Username
- Sunrise22Sunrise22
- Date posted
- 4y ago
You’d be better off continuing the work and avoiding the checking (both physical and mental) that you’re doing. Let your work become your exposure therapy. The reason I say this is that experts say that the way to recover from OCD is to keep living a life according to your values. For you, that would be continuing what you started and have almost finished. Also, chances are that your OCD would latch onto something else if it weren’t this, so leaving will just make you feel defeated and frustrated.
- Username
- JonasJonas
- Date posted
- 4y ago
@Sunrise22 Thank you very much for the insightful advice. You are spot on about OCD latching on to some other aspect of my life. I can think of other obsessions I have that have nothing to do with work and would not be affected by me quitting. I wish I had the knowledge to help with your trauma. If the abuser lives in the same rural area as you that must be very difficult and anxiety inducing thinking you could go to the grocery store and run into them. Would it help if every time you left to go in public you could go over a plan in your head in case you do see this person? Planning exactly what you’ll say or how you’ll react might make it less traumatic? But maybe an expert would say that’s not the best advice and really you should work on not being re-traumatized by the idea of seeing them again. I really hope you can get help at home or through this app!
- Username
- Sunrise22Sunrise22
- Date posted
- 4y ago
@rewho Thank you for your kind words! Fortunately I live across the country from my ex, so no worries about running into him ??
- Username
- Sunrise22Sunrise22
- Date posted
- 4y ago
YES!!! You’re the first person I’ve seen comment about this. My theme is specifically regarding someone who abused me and fear of being in contact with them again. It makes exposure challenging because scripting involves basically re-traumatizing myself over and over. Because I’m in a rural area, there are limited trauma specialist and no OCD specialists that I’ve found, so unfortunately I’m working towards overcoming this on my own.
- Username
- grap333grap333
- Date posted
- 4y ago
i feel you. it's difficult when OCD and trauma intersect. hard to tell where one ends and the other begins. a big theme for me has been keeping myself from experiencing the abuse again. things like, "if i breathe a certain way they won't hurt me" or "i have to have the exact right facial expression and body language or else they're going to abuse me" I've gotten alot better about it though. I live in a pretty big city and it's STILL so difficult to find ERP therapy. ugh
- Username
- FathomableFathomable
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Yep, a lot of my themes are linked to traumas or developed after trauma. It's actually pretty debilitating.
- Username
- Star-LordStar-Lord
- Date posted
- 4y ago
I used to get bullied and fight a lot as a kid and together with low self esteem, it has effected me a lot.
- Username
- ThreeLittleBirdsThreeLittleB...
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Yes
Related posts
- Username
- cl2016
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 1y ago
Is OCD considered traumatic?
I feel like the things our brains come up with (intrusive thoughts) can be actually traumatizing. Even if you’ve have the most perfect life, no abuse or anything, OCD can leave you with some sort of trauma. Like can you get ptsd from this? I feel like this is probably one of the worse mental illnesses out there
- Username
- crazycat9
- Date posted
- 1y ago
OCD + PTSD = not fun times
Hey everyone, I am just wondering if anyone else on here struggles with feeling like they should “confess” their intrusive thoughts? Obviously this is a form of reassurance and a compulsion but it’s so damn hard. I also have PTSD from being groomed and the trauma from telling people what happened to me. I find that my OCD latches into this and tells me that I have to “confess” my intrusive thoughts because it’s the same as not telling anyone about being groomed. Just wondering if anyone else finds that OCD and PTSD are constantly triggering each other? Big love to everyone fighting ♥️
- Username
- Naryoh27
- Date posted
- 1y ago
Does anybody have origins of their OCD?
I believe I’ve always had intrusive/OCD thoughts. When I was younger I always repeated phrases because my brain went “if you don’t do this your whole family will die” but it wasn’t anything too bad. However, when I was 15 I entered my first relationship. I had divorced parents and didn’t know what love was - so it ended up being abusive and I did not know. He forced me to disclose all the people I found attractive as well as all the “unpure” thoughts I had. He deemed fantasizing cheating - which I respected - but also caused for a lot of intrusive thoughts to make me freak out. He also gaslit me and accused me of cheating for the lightest things (gave my cousin a side-hug) and prohibited me from getting male friends because he thought I’d cheat (I’ve never been unfaithful or even flirted w another man. I’ve always had strong morals about it) I believe this trauma is what made my ocd what it is now, since I’m used to being accused for stuff I didn’t understand or have control over. I believe that understanding OCDs roots allows me to heal because it reminds me that I could exist without this thoughts and still had a good moral compass.
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