Not to ask for reassurance too much (but here I am lol). What do you believe makes those with harm OCD differ so greatly from those who end up doing horrible things to hurt others? I just want to end this worry once and for all, as it takes over my whole life! :-(

Bad people who want harm others think about it and the thoughts don’t bother them. They probably fantasize about it. They have no conscience. People with harm OCD are good people who don’t want to harm. So if a thought disturbs you that’s a good thing. It means it’s just OCD and you’re not a bad person. You know right from wrong. And you may think to yourself well what about the seemingly normal people who kill people or harm them. Those people sometimes have a reason like self defense mostly. You won’t hurt anyone trust me. It’s just OCD.

The difference between someone with harm OCD and someone who actually wishes to harm someone is quite simple — those with harm OCD have no true desire to harm anyone. In fact, those with harm OCD are probably more unlikely to ever do harm to anyone than someone who doesn’t suffer from OCD.

Because you don’t want to. OCD attacks what we care about. I went to my ex’s friend’s little get together and we were on the balcony. My ex was holding his friend’s newborn baby and this baby was such an angel. When my ex asked if I wanted to hold the baby I had a sudden image of me dropping the baby off the balcony of a 11th floor apartment. I started to picture Michael Jackson, what if It was an accident? What if it was intentional? whether the baby would bounce (I don’t know why), if my ex and his friend would run so fast it looked like they teleported, would they stop me, would they hate me and I’m going to jail or whether a stranger would walk by in time to catch the baby. Really disturbing images and thoughts. So I told my ex not to give me the baby. I held her inside the apartment though. Anyways my point is I would never dream of hurting an innocent soul let alone a baby. In a way it tries to “protect” you by scarring you so you don’t do things you care about. People who go through with it just don’t care. Don’t care about others, don’t care what would happen to them.

Actions speak louder than thoughts. Even depressed people with homicidal thoughts aren’t evil unless they think it’s morally acceptable to act on them.

It’s all about your values.