- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
I know, it’s so hard. Even though it’s been hard, though, don’t let the ocd win. My harm ocd crosses over too, thinking I’ll go crazy, but being a parent is a joy, if you can push the ocd aside (I know, trust me, I’ve been in the same boat as you, questioning if I could handle children). Tonight I rocked my daughter to sleep and felt so much love for her...AND there was a pair of scissors in her room that my therapist made me put there for ERP....they’ve been there for a week and the fear has subsided so much. I feel so much joy knowing that I was able to rock my daughter tonight without the fear. Tomorrow will bring other worries but for me tonight, that was a major turning point. Don’t let ocd ruin your chances of being a parent!!!!
- Date posted
- 6y
All of you are so strong! I always wanted kids when I was younger but as I grew into my teens and now 20s and developed the Harm theme...I’d just sort of given up on the idea of being a mother. But reading your posts and comments has given me so much hope. Hang in there everyone
- Date posted
- 6y
All of you are my hero’s!!!! What amazing stories of strength! I have harm ocd and three children, it’s really tough, you all just gave me so much hope!
- Date posted
- 6y
Honestly I had this too. I don’t have kids but I coach toddlers gymnastics once a week, and they can be a real pain! So whenever I got infuriated, especially since my harm OCD was awful at this point, I’d get so scared of my capabilities. But I’d usually just raise my voice slightly and leave it at that. I truly know what you mean though. Just try to breathe and relax. Tell yourself that it’s OCD and not you, and accept that you cannot stop the thoughts.
- Date posted
- 6y
I am from the UK but I don’t really read the news these days (which is bad because I feel so uneducated on everything right now haha). But you’ve got to realise that your OCD knows you adore kids, that’s why it picked them - to go against you! That’s why OCD is such a bitch. Just react to the thoughts less and less each time they pop up, and through time you’ll get better. Have you started therapy?
- Date posted
- 6y
Hi there, have had harm ocd since I was a kid, but know exactly what you mean about fearing you’ll go mad when you get angry at them. I am dealing with this now with my two year old daughter, everything was fine till she started having tantrums and when I get angry I fear I will shake her or throw her. It is terrifying. Currently in therapy now doing ERP for this...the scariest part of this is worrying that when she wakes up screaming in the middle of the night I fear I may hurt her and not realize it, it makes me physically sick. It’s so hard because I stay home with her and am her primary caregiver so I can’t get away, in a way that is good exposure but is a lot of anxiety for me. As far as fearing how you will act when you do have children...I had the worst harm ocd before my son was born. In fact, I had more worries before he came into the world. Once he was born I had more accidental harm ocd. But I know what you mean. Have a plan in place with a therapist. I will tell you it hasn’t been easy with my two children, but you can do it. Even though I still struggle I am doing better each day. Despite the anxiety and terror ocd has caused me, I cant imagine it having my two kids, I love them so much.
- Date posted
- 6y
I too worry a lot about my future kids which seems so weird, like i dont even have kids and im worried about it... harm ocd is hard because for me atleast it crosses to other themes as well. I often worry that ill lose my mind and that im going to become crazy even though im fully aware of whats going on with my ocd. I sometimes think i never want kids anymore because of this. I used to always want kids but now i dont know
- Date posted
- 6y
Thank you for your advice. It’s horrible, something in my head is saying ‘yeah but you actually want to do this.’ :( I’m not sure if you’re UK based but there’s a big news story at the moment about a child who was killed and it’s a real big trigger. I adore children and have grown up surrounded by them it’s so horrible.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
Hi there! I am 4 months postpartum and struggling with harm ocd, the fear of what if I harm my child. It has manifested to the fear of what if I harm my husband, sister, nieces, parents, etc. Anyone else have this experience and how did you get through it?
- Date posted
- 25w
Hi NOCD community, I was hoping to get some advice from fellow sufferers. In December we welcomed the first baby into the family, my beautiful niece. Since then, my POCD has been awful, which I know is probably very normal. Last week, in the middle of a very high stress day in my family, I was changing my niece and as usually happens, I got intrusive thoughts about awful things people do to babies when changing them. The thoughts were so harrowing to have as I was also changing her at the exact same time, and I felt my hands just quickly want to finish patting her dry before putting her nappy on, and for some reason, my heart dropped with that hand movement, because I was afraid that I had acted out the awful thoughts in my head, in a moment of mania because my morals, values and heart do not align with abuse of any kind, especially to children. My niece is my everything, and I know I would never want harm to come to her in any way, shape or form. I love her endlessly. I am having therapy, but have only had a couple of sessions. But, I cannot shake the 'what if'. I am tortured over trying to remember what it was I did that made my heart drop, but I can't, and its getting fuzzier and fuzzier the more I try to remember. Could anyone offer any advice on this please? Thank you.
- Date posted
- 25w
So I’ve just found out I’m pregnant and I’m freaking out rn I’ve been getting thoughts like “I’ll be a bad mum” and overthinking everything & my OCD is convincing me that I’ll act on my thoughts because of my hormones and stuff. I’ve also got a fear of being sick & I’m stressing over that too. Anyone else who has harm OCD pregnant or a Mum can give me some advice pls😭
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