Feel so alone. Does anyone else struggle with POCD and is / was pregnant? I just want my poor baby to be safe and feel so guilty about unwanted thoughts. This is the worst. I can’t even enjoy this pregnancy because of these horrendous thoughts.

Congratulations first of all. Did the spiking start after you found out about your pregnancy? As in got worse or was it escalating before hand? Chances are that it got worse because your brain knows you will have a child which naturally drives that fear circuit.

Do you reckon maybe it’s worse because you’re pregnant? I heard during menstruation and pregnancy it becomes worse

This is the worse it’s ever been in the years I’ve had it so quite possibly :(

I would talk to your therapist about it just to make sure

I had pocd for seven years before seeing a psychologist and it’s been up and down since. Last year was mainly ok then all of a sudden around 20 weeks it was the worst it’s ever been. The last 3 weeks have been absolutely hell, crying everyday and barely functioning. My psychologist has said I may need to visit a psychiatrist / outpatient clinic as “she’s given me all the answers” have done a bit of ERP therapy with her. Feeling so so hopeless. Soniclen sorry for reassurance question do you find you get an intrusive thought and straightaway feel like you enjoy it?

You know I can’t answer that Anonk. I’ve run these same questions. Are we really proving to the brain that these thoughts are not relevant? Let’s say the worst happens and there is SOMETHING, that no matter how small COULD pose a threat - do we need to see it as so bad or can we simply redirect towards our values and trust our brain and all it’s drives etc will follow? We know why we got stuck on such a terrible topic. I remember the day my brain broke for God’s sake. So why not trust in what we want and value ourselves on and pride ourselves by, and not by some horrible thought that then become over learned? Anonk - it is technically possible to develop such interests. But that just means the chance of you liking this is greater than 0%. I absolutely loathe it, but it was hard for my brain to ignore it because it was so scary. As I write this I am getting triggered, and no answer will provide 100% certainty. So I’m after self trust, understanding that I’m biologically wired one way and should not pay heed to interference from obsessions. I’ll leave you with this: A good while back a friend of mine was talking to a young niece of his. When she walked away he turned to me and said ‘she’ll be really fit when she’s older’. I spiked a bit as I thought it was inappropriate at the time, but even though she was young, he could recognise that she was pretty, and would grow into a potential very sexually attractive woman.he didn’t get stuck on thoughts. Maybe we should understand that having an answer is fine, and to stop looking for THE answer (whatever the fuck that is).