- Username
- worryqueen
- Date posted
- 4y ago
Obviously was not hurt, at least not seriously, she can't even remember what you are talking about. This is OCD and your only chance to make progress is to stop analyzing about this case and just let it go. No more reassurance from others no discussing. You can win this fight. You will never reach the point where you got the feeling that you finally got an answer and get your inner peace. OCD will always give you this feeling: only this last answer I will be fine. But this will work, if at all, only in the short term. OCD is insatiable. You have to stop and leave the topic behind.
Hey you should listen to Katie on this rather than reposting it a lot hoping for another answer. You upset her in the past with vague, guilt-ridden confessing and she didn't want to talk about it, you even recognise doing it then as a mistake. Yet you want to do the same thing again, and because your sister can't give you the reassurance you want, you want to ask your mother for it? If she said to you she didn't remember, chances are she said the same to your mother. You probably alarmed both of them by being vague and I doubt that trying to confess in more detail would be beneficial for anyone. You say it's about not wanting to hurt your sister, but this is clearly more about wanting to relieve your own suffering- which is understandable, but there is a distinction there and you need to notice it. If she remembers it when she's older, you can talk about it then, on her terms. And if she doesn't then there's nothing you can do about it. There's no way you can find out through any amount of analysis etc whether it had some traumatic impact on her. Leaving it alone is what is best for your sister's wellbeing, not to mention best for your OCD. Katie wasn't saying your intention is to harm her, but that your 'need' to confess and find out is not about looking out for her, it's about making you feel better, and in the process you can potentially harm her. You don't need to forgive yourself right now for the mountains of harm your OCD says you have done or might have done. Work on the OCD to end up in a position where you're able to integrate a more reasonable view of the issue, and then work on self compassion about whatever is left. I have literally been exactly where you are except that I *know for a fact* I screwed my sister up a bit, and she said she doesn't remember. I didn't have OCD about it at the time when I remembered it and apologised, so I was able to apologise in a way that is reasonable (not doing things like freaking out that she must hate me or piling all my guilt on her which would just alarm her or make her feel pressured). Mine still said she didn't remember. Whether she did or does or will do or not, I leave it up to her asto whether she wants to talk to me about it at any future point, and if she does, I'll again be apologetic without being self flagellating, as I can recognise my own youth etc just as much as I know she would recognise it, and I'll offer whatever amends would be appropriate considering all factors. Genuine accountability isn't about making yourself feel better or being certain that you didn't cause harm or hearing the magic words of forgiveness or even really about being forgiven by the other person or them not judging you. And it's not about desperation to be able to forgive yourself either. It's a wish to take responsibility *when and where it's appropriate and accurate* and for the other person to move forwards from it. Even if that means being disliked or judged or blamed. I've done "confessions" like the one you want to do and I've done meaningful accountable apology, I know the difference between them. You may have caused harm, yeah, it's possible. It's your OCD making that seem like the end of the world. The terror and extreme guilt you feel about that prospect isn't real life. Try to stop making your decisions on the basis that it is.
Thank you, I needed to hear this. I will try and recognize what I did as something that is no longer in my hands, but in my sister's, because I have done all I could. I'm glad you didn't hold back in this, because this is what the truth is.
You really seem to worry a lot. Maybe you should consider taking SSRI to calm down your ruminating a little. They push the rumination thoughts into the background if they work.
can=can't
Have you considered the harm you do to her by asking? This is a prime situation where you could accidentally create an inaccurate memory in her, that then causes her distress
To be clear, you questioning her actively harms her as well as yourself
@NOCD Advocate - Katie Yes, I have. That is why I dont want to bring it up to her again, I don't want her to develop a false memory but I cant think of any other way to forgive myself, i need to know shes okay
@NOCD Advocate - Katie This is still true even if you did hurt her. You pressing her to recount a memory she doesn't want to discuss would be retraumatizing. Whether you did or didn't hurt her in the past, asking her now WILL hurt her in the present
@worryqueen So you're going to find forgiveness by harming her?if that's your plan, it seems pretty clear that you're not really caring about her well-being, your driven by seeking relief for yourself
@NOCD Advocate - Katie No, I dont want to harm her. Please dont assume that I do, I'm just saying that I dont know another way I can forgive myself. I dont plan on talking to her about it, but I'm trying to find another solution for this problem.
@worryqueen If you assume it's OCD, what is the long term solution? I'm pretty sure you already know, you just don't like the answer (which is understandable, because the answer feels pretty awful)
@NOCD Advocate - Katie What do you think the answer is? Acceptance or forgiveness?
@worryqueen Acceptance that you might've harmed her and then moving on with life. The more you do normal life things, the more you demonstrate to your brain that this issue isn't as big a deal asit feels right now
This is not ought to be reassurance but as know the nature of OCD i'm quite sure that this was a minor incident. Nothing to discuss further. Furthermore in the case you simply can't resist asking her, tell her that this is an OCD driven question and deep in your heart also know that this a silly and unnecessary question. This will help your sister to see this nagging of you in the right context and is nothing to take serious so she is less likely to take harm from this. Still you should consider taking SSRI.
I made a bad choice when I was a teenager. It is by my standards one of the worst things I’ve ever done. I hit my sibling when I was upset with her, she was a lot younger than me, and she is non-verbal. I shared a room with her and she kept getting out of bed and crying at the bedroom door because she wasn’t ready for bed. I had spent about 2 hours bringing her back to bed and tucking her in and at a certain point I just lost my cool. I had school in the morning and for whatever reason I felt I couldn’t ask my mom for help. (I can’t remember why) I hit her, yelled at her, called her a bad girl, and pushed her into bed. In hindsight it makes me feel fucking sick to my stomach that I would treat someone like her like that. I realize as an adult so much more I could’ve done and how I could’ve handled the situation better. I could’ve gotten up and got her a snack, maybe she was hungry. I could’ve gone downstairs and woke my mom up and told her I was getting stressed out. I could’ve left my room and had a shower to stop my frustration from bubbling. I just feel so rotten about this, and I need to say this somewhere. It’s been about 8 years since this has happened, I’ve told my mom and my boyfriend about how horrible I feel about this. They don’t really seem to get it. In every moment of her life besides this one incident I have been her best friend and I try to do as much as I possibly can to enrich her life so when I express this regret with my family they tell me “I’m sure she’s forgotten”, “look how much she loves you” etc. My boyfriend compares this instance to times he hit his sister as a kid. I just don’t find it the same and I don’t know how to move on from this, especially since I’ve been obsessing over this during my most recent meltdown.
I am 20. Around a month ago, I suddenly remembered something very bad I did when I was ten. At the time (when I was ten), I didn’t think twice about it, but ever since I remembered it, I can’t stop thinking and obsessing over it as I do not understand how I could have ever done something so bad. It really bothers me, and now I am contemplating wether or not I am a bad person. I have read many articles about this, scanned them, looked for people who have done similar things. According to them, I have past event ocd. I can understand that, but I consider what I did too bad for it to be that. Here’s what I remember of it: When I was 10, my sister was 7, and around that age we would often just walk around naked, wrestle, and etc just like kids. This is probably why I didn’t think twice about what I did. At that time, I would hump various things, not knowing what it meant. I can faintly recollect humping my sister. I do not understand why I did it, but it bothers me a lot and makes me wonder if I am a bad person. I realise it’s horrible, but I didn’t know what I was doing at the time.
When I was younger, about ten, I watched porn. A lot of it, actually. Idk how it started exactly, but I was a curious kid. This led to me playing doctor with my younger sister... I'd get her to touch me (not in my privates, just the rest of my body) and we'd laugh at each others naked bodies etc. I feel terrible about this later on. Complete shit. I even made her touch my breast one night while she was sleeping because I was curious what it felt like (I saw it on porn). I stopped though. My parents are hardcore catholic and I was afraid they would find us doing it, so I freaked out. This all happened when I was 10, and I regret everything now. I brought it up to my sister a few years ago, and she said not to talk of it again. She seemed weirded out and had no memory of what happened... my mother was even brought in and asked me if I did something wrong. I think she talked to my sister too, but none of us have ever brought it up again. I cant get over it though.
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