- Username
- 6756
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Same subtype and thoughts as you 🙂 I think because the thoughts have a sort of philosophical bent and can’t be proven, we cling onto “will I ever get over this?” and “am I crazy?” But rest assured, it’s just a fear cycle like every other OCD subtype. I’d try to resist the urge to post about it or read up anything about it (this is my one off today 😂) set your phone aside for some time. I think when we search for answers or a solution to what we’re going through, we’re essentially just allowing the repetitive pattern to persist of confirming there’s danger and we need relief. And then we do it over and over with no result. Gotta start to break that cycle!
in my experience, i think that OCD can definitely feed into paranoia and make you feel crazy. but psychosis is a separate disorder, that involves hallucinations and delusions. existential anxiety can make you feel like you're losing touch with reality, but it is not the same thing as psychosis. when you feel you're in "crisis mode" i would suggest trying to get in contact with a therapist who can help you ASAP or even go to the hospital if that would give you peace of mind. i don't say this because you're in danger, but because it would help you feel better and get the help you need. it's also important to maintain a support system with people close to you, who can reliably help you through these periods.
I sort of thought this but wasn't sure? Googling things aint the best either... yeh thats how I feel and not sure how to get rid of it? :(
@6756 google has a lot of conflicting information, and sometimes articles take things out of context in a way that would alarm someone who isn't familiar with the topic. i do google things as a compulsion as well, but try to keep this in mind any time i'm searching something. it is difficult to overcome existential anxiety, especially with OCD kind of perpetrating this cycle of "what if" questions. ironically, the best thing you can do is give yourself a break. i sometimes catch myself in a vicious cycle and think "eventually i have to stop and just live my life." the hard part of existential anxiety (and other types of OCD as well) is that there are no satisfactory answers. even if one question gets answered, you will find yourself asking another and/or doubting the answer you now have. understanding this is half the battle. that's why the only real way to beat OCD is to slowly learn to accept uncertainty.
@pamela97 Yeh I see what u meen .... have you suffered with this yourself? Have you thought things "what if every single thing u can see, feel, hear and touch isn't real" "what makes it real" "how do I know that even the councillor/therapist isn't a figament of my imagination" etc etc? Is this existenal ocd? Thank u so much for talking and helping
@6756 yes i have struggled with those exact same thoughts before. i struggle with dissociation as well because i have PTSD, which makes it even worse. the best thing that helped me was realizing that i was stuck in this same thought pattern, driving myself crazy asking the same questions over and over, and realizing that i would never be satisfied by any answer. i just know if someone literally told me "yes this is real" it wouldn't make me feel any better, and i would probably just doubt it even more. and even if none of this is real, then all i can really do is continue to go along with it until something changes. driving myself crazy over it won't help anything.
Yeh I know what u meen... has yours got alot better now then? Its sounds like you think exactly the same.. and I do try to think like that.. just the panic is sometimes overwhelming and then I even question that...like sometimes I even think "what if this is God doing this" etc... then really start to question if I'm going mad?
Can OCD make you go crazy or can it just mock symptoms of losing your mind? Weird question I know. I have just been struggling really bad lately and wondering if it’s something more then OCD.
Is anyone experiencing existential OCD as well?
Not looking for reassurance, just venting about how stupid OCD gets. Having a wild time with existential OCD at the moment. It started with me obsessing about what is going on in other people's minds. Not that I want to know what they are thinking, just how they are thinking - what it's like inside a head without OCD, is it quieter? Is that why other people like daydreaming and getting lost in thought? Then all of that philosophising lead me down a bad path and now my OCD is trying really hard to convince me that nothing exists outside my line of sight, the horizon is just an elaborate drawing and behind it is a black void. Obviously I know that's just ridiculous but it's hard not to feel like I'm losing my mind when I know that there is a world beyond my current line of sight but my OCD brain is trying it's hardest to convince me that there's not. Usually when existential obsessions come up it's because I'm going through a major life event but that's not the case right now so it beats me why this particular brand of obsessions has made an appearance again. Oh well.
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