im not too informed about seeking reassurance, can i get an example?

Example that’s the easiest to describe: someone with POCD constantly asks a family member if they think they’re a pedo or not. The family members says no, and the person with OCD will feel better for a short amount of time, but they’ll ask the same question to the same person over and over and over again, making the thoughts worse.

The person with OCD is seeking reassurance and the family member’s they’re asking is giving them reassurance.

Ohh i see, but dont they need that reassurance since its not true and they arent a pdophile? or does it just make it worse

@kenny0 It makes it worse because the reassurance will only make them feel better for a short amount of time but then the thought will come again or a new argument will take over and the person then finds themselves seeking that reassurance again. OCD feeds off reassurance because then you keep thinking about the intrusive thought and it never really goes away.

@kenny0 You get told once, maybe twice, that you’re not a pedo. You don’t NEED to be told 5,000 times that you aren’t one. That’s reassurance and it makes OCD worse.

I have harm OCD and I keep thinking that I accidentally ran someone over despite all evidence saying the opposite. So I constantly ask my parents if I would know and then sometimes I drive back over to the same place many times to check and get reassurance. Basically when you try to make sure you are 100% in your thinking is asking for reassurance