- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
This doesn’t mean you’re a pedophile. You’re questioning whether you are or not. Pedophiles don’t question if they are a pedophile or not. You are feeling guilt/disgust over the thought. Pedophiles don’t feel disgust/guilt over the thought. The thoughts are not the problem. It’s your reaction to the thoughts after the initial disgust/guilt. Recognize that you had a thought. It gave you this feeling of disgust/guilt because it’s not part of your character. Then you have to let it go. If you ruminate over it question it over and over you are going to end up in the rabbit-hole. Every time you catch yourself ruminating, identify that this is OCD because it is associated with the feeling of DOUBT. When I have intrusive thoughts about harm, pedophilia, or false memories, I recognize the emotion and also the overall feeling of doubt as OCD not as a REAL question. It’s not real. It’s OCD because if it was real there would be NO anxiety, disgust or doubt. Once you identify it as OCD, then tell yourself, this isn’t a real problem, this isn’t important it’s “spam” and refocus. Think about something else. Find something interesting to think about. Give your brain something else to do. THIS IS THE ABSOLUTE MOST DIFFICULT STEP. I know it’s hard. I know it seems impossible. But keep trying. Over and over and over. Identify your compulsions and eliminate them. Mine are ruminating, reassurance seeking and avoiding. I have 4 kids now so I can’t avoid. I’ve stopped asking for reassurance 95% of the time and I’ve noticed the intrusive thoughts going way down. I am still working on the ruminating which is more difficult to handle because it’s all internal, but I’m doing better. I know deep in my heart that these thoughts are telling me what I don’t want to happen. How much I value my family and care about children and people in general. That’s why it breaks my heart and that’s why it breaks yours. Hang in there. Take it one step at a time and work on stopping your compulsions. Eventually your mind will get the message that these thoughts are not important and are total bullshit.
- Date posted
- 6y
I would say that it wasn’t necessarily an intrusive thought at the time, just you spacing out and being a normal human noticing the world around you. BUT the ruminating and revisiting months later is definitely an intrusive thought. With an uptick in OCD symptoms it makes total sense that you would start mining your own life for signs of this threatening possibility. With OCD we’re all shitty detectives led by an inexplicable feeling of guilt.
- Date posted
- 6y
I think OCD wants to put our biggest fears in our face. At least it you know what you’re biggest fear is so you can start to recognize it when your intrusive thoughts pop up. I think that not letting it trick you is half the battle. I wish you the very best that recovery has to offer❤️
- Date posted
- 6y
Thank you guys so much ❤️
- Date posted
- 6y
Like how you stage that Fivel!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
Hi everyone, I'm struggling with what I think are intrusive thoughts, possibly related to OCD, and I'm hoping someone here might relate. When I was younger, in my early teens, I went through a period where I had a strong interest in pornography. During that time, I encountered hentai involving male characters, related to an anime I enjoyed. One of the characters was someone I even looked up to. I feel incredibly uncomfortable admitting this, but I believe I engaged in sexual activity related to it. Years later, I'm plagued by intrusive thoughts about this. I feel intense self-disgust and shame. It's like this memory has "tainted" my ability to enjoy that anime, and sometimes other things. I'm constantly replaying the situation in my mind, questioning my past actions, and worrying about what it means about me. The anxiety is significantly impacting my life. Does anyone else experience intrusive thoughts focused on past events, particularly those that cause feelings of shame or disgust? How do you cope with the constant replaying and questioning? I'm looking for support and understanding. Thank you for listening.
- Young adults with OCD
- Students with OCD
- "Pure" OCD
- POCD
- OCD newbies
- NOCD Therapy Alumni
- False Memory OCD
- Real Events OCD
- Date posted
- 22w
I have had the same false memory/instrusive image of me doing something horrible to someone when I was 12 and they were younger. It is a memory based on a real event. I truly don’t know if it’s real or not but obviously, the more I think about it the more I think it’s true. This has led my mind to become slightly paranoid. I worry that if this horrible image in my head is true then one day the person I might have hurt will come and k*ll me. I’m really scared I feel like I won’t feel better as long as this “memory” is in my head. Does anyone have advice?
- Date posted
- 16w
*tmi warning* I'm so worried im a P. Ive been crying daily unable to do anything else but ruminate over my real events. When i was 14 (before ocd) i was watching adult content and it was censored. The woman had similar features like hair and skin color as my niece. I remember noticing that and saying "huh i guess I'll imagine that as the adult version of my niece" and I did and after i was finished i moved on and didnt think anything was wrong. I dont know if i ever thought about that again? Its so blurry ocd keeps saying i did it again in a different time but i dont remember its too blurry and its scaring me so badly! I didnt even remember this till like literally last week and i wanted to die! Im 20 for context. When I remembered i immediately broke down in tears. I vaguely rmemeber this other thought i had of her when self pleasuring when I was 16??? I think it was a testing thought out of distress? But im not sure at all! It was extremely vague image and unrealistic i dont think I liked it but maybe i did?! Im so distressed its like i remmeber 2 versions of this particular event which is why I think its ocd false memories from there. Ive been ruminating and spiraling for almost a week. I keep crying i havent ate well at all in days ive been honestly dehydrating myself and i cannot sleep. I feel like a monster. I did the mistake of researching last night and kept comparing myself to the "criteria" of those sickos and like I felt so distressed. I also have been asking ai for hours on end everyday. I feel so distressed im literally crying rn as i write this i cant calm down i feel like this sick individual even tho I dont even like thinking of that at all i dont think I meant ill intent when i was a teen but its killing me inside. I would NEVER harm anyone nor want to or plan to, deep down i know I would never act out in those evil ways but like whats killing me is what if im attracted?! Is this a sign?! Am i one of those people?! Am i attracted to my niece bc of those 2 maybe even 3(??)thoughts years ago?! Did i mean ill intent?! Am I an actual danger?! Am I a monster??? I have so many urges to confess to my mom im so scared what this all means or could mean. I feel so alone and scared. Like legit whenever i get intrusive thoughts about gross stuff i feel disgusted and anxious and push it away. Those thoughts do not bring me pleasure whatsoever but this real event is making me doubt my own identity 😔
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