- Date posted
- 3y ago
- Date posted
- 3y ago
I was exactly the same. OCD was never even on my radar. I knew very little about the disorder. I was thought people with OCD involved washing your hands all the time and being super neat and organized. I never had either of those. I listened to a podcast where a woman named Meghan shared about living with OCD. The podcast did sometimes delve into mental illness, but it was not the main focus. I didn't want to believe I could really have OCD. So I started doing research to prove to myself I didn't have it. It did the opposite. The more I learned about OCD, the more things started to come together for me. I realized that I had been having intrusive thoughts and doing compulsion since I was 8. I am now 45. I do have a couple behavioral compulsions like checking and counting. But for the most part, my compulsions are mental. Rumination is a huge one for me. I always go right to the worst possible scenario and my mind spirals down into endless what ifs. The intrusive thoughts come as phrases and images. I constantly worry that I have offended someone by something I said or did. I overly apologize for things that usually aren't even a issue. Avoidance is a huge one for me. I have never had a driver's license because I am constantly afraid I will have a panic attack behind the wheel or that I will be involved in an accident or that I will injure or kill someone. This has made me rely on other people and simple tasks take way longer than they wood if I could drive. I really like watching true crime. I have had intrusive thoughts as a result, so I stopped watching it. My mind constantly spins. There are many examples I can give. But here is a very recent one from a few weeks ago. I used my Echo and had Alexa, set a timer for 4:00. But I forgot to say 4pm. So I accidentally set it for 4 in the morning. It woke me up. At first, I thought it was my ceiling fan, but I realized it was something else, so I better check it out. It only went off 3 or 4 times. Less than 5 minutes. I had a thought. What if I woke up the single mom and her 6 to old daughter who live above me? What if she complains to the landlord and I get evicted from my apartment? I laid awake for the next two hours worrying that was going to happen. I also have an obsession that centers around throwing up both myself and others. I would find myself quoting a Bible verse out loud to calm myself. That is a compulsion. When I would have a nightmare, I would have to say "Good dreams only" exactly 8 times. That is a compulsion. Anything that you use to relieve your anxiety is a compulsion.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Asking for reassurance and mentally reviewing things is symptoms of OCD. OCD isn’t just some cleaning disease, it’s tormenting obsessions and intrusive thoughts or just constant rumination. I hope that helps. Also do some research, it would help you understand your symptoms. I didn’t think I had OCD before due to the stereotypes and was kind of surprised when I put two and two together.
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Thank you for replying.. just researching now and noting down the things I feel or experiences ive had so I can start to understand!
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Thank you for replying and sharing your example. Rumination is a big one for me I also think about the worse case scenario and then seek reassurance. Similar to your situation my car alarm went off one night I went out to check and there was nothing it went off again so this time I left the car unlocked... and lay awake then thinking that I'd woken the neighbours and their new baby and that they would complain about me to the council.. even though I know that wouldnt happen.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w ago
I've gotten diagnosed with OCD and I'm in therapy. But I'm worried that I don't have OCD/that I got misdiagnosed. And recently I'm worried that I've just gotten myself into a habit of thinking of dirty minded or just plain old terrible things after I see/hear certain things because I feel like I need to prove I have OCD or else I'm faking(sometimes this goes away). Or that I'm just mimicking symptoms of ocd to cope with real problems I may have and that im just really deep into denial. I don't know...I'm just so tired. I mean, what if I really am what I think I am and this is my brains only way of coping? I don't even really feel anything towards most of the thoughts anymore either I just know they go against my values and I don't want them. I don't know if that's because I'm so mentally exhausted, I just don't care, or that the thoughts are true and I'm comfortable with them.
- Date posted
- 9w ago
Hello there. I’m new here and think I may have OCD I’ve struggled with anxiety my whole life. However, in my early teens, I started experiencing obsessive fears and engaging in compulsions because my brain convinced me that if I didn’t perform a certain action a specific number of times, it would “prove” that I wanted something terrible to happen. When I was 17, I began seeing a therapist and opened up to her about this. She diagnosed me with Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD), and I accepted the diagnosis But last night, I became curious about whether people with GAD engage in compulsions and have specific fears, so I looked it up. I was shocked to learn that these are not typical characteristics of GAD Now, I would love to find a therapist who specializes in OCD so I can get a formal diagnosis and the appropriate treatment
- Date posted
- 9w ago
This list by ai gives a good summary of my symptoms. Does it resemble OCD or is it something else? 1. Compulsions (OCD-specific behaviors): • Feeling the need to flex or contract muscles an even number of times, equally on both sides of your body. • Needing to reverse actions (for example, if you roll your eyes or trace a line with your finger, you feel compelled to do it again in the exact opposite way). 2. Intrusive Thoughts (OCD-specific ruminations): • Daydreaming about people you care about getting hurt (e.g., school shooting, injury, or kidnapping). • Sometimes feeling like you might want something bad to happen to someone you find attractive—possibly because of a desire to help or save them, though it’s confusing. • These thoughts can sometimes provide a twisted sense of relief while remaining distressing and confusing. 3. Sexual Orientation OCD: • Experiencing confusion or doubt about your sexual orientation. 4. Contamination Thoughts: • Feeling like things are contaminated, especially after touching something gross. 5. Sensory Compulsions: • Feeling the need to smell your hand after touching areas like your ear or hair. 6. ADHD-like Symptoms / Additional Observations: • Fidgeting or moving your legs when standing or sitting.
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