Hi,
I’m new to this app and not really sure what I’m expecting from it. I’ve dealt with many types of OCD throughout my life, normally only really one type at a time. About 2 years ago now is when I first developed really bad harm OCD. The worst part is that I didn’t know what it was, and I felt like I couldn’t go to anybody to talk about it because they would think I was a danger. I struggled in silence for months, until I came across a TikTok about OCD, specifically harm OCD. I remember feeling so seen, and so safe, that I cried tears of joy. I wasn’t crazy after all. I wasn’t destined to be the next Jeffery Dahmer, and I wasn’t some hidden psychopath. I didn’t want to self diagnose, however, so I visited my therapist, who I’d previously been seeing for anxiety, and told her what I’d been experiencing. I brought up what I’d read about online, and how I thought it sounded similar to what I was going through. The woman sat there and told me she’d never heard of it, and she had no idea what I was talking about. Over the next few visits, I tried to keep bringing up the possibility of OCD, and how everything I’d seen matched my symptoms exactly and how I really thought I would benefit from OCD therapy. She brushed me off each time, saying that it was just anxiety, and that OCD was a cleanliness issue. So I stopped seeing her. Around this time, summer started, and I was constantly busy and having fun. My OCD stopped bothering me as much, with only the occasional small flare up. I found myself able to listen to true crime podcasts and such again without comparing myself to the killers, or worrying about if what I was eating might actually be ground up people. School started back up, and I hardly ever thought about it at all. It was so freeing, like this giant weight had been lifted off of my chest. Then, in March of this year, on a random Thursday, it flared back up. Bad. I had a giant panic attack caused by my OCD and ever since then, while not nearly as crippling as 2 years ago, I have been plagued with intrusive thoughts again. They’ve stopped worrying me as much, because I know what they are, and I know what’s causing them and how to not give them power, but sometimes I still find myself consumed. There are no OCD specialists in my area, and I really don’t want to go back to that therapist, who never even bothered to look into it for me. I strongly believe what I have is OCD, and I have been calling it such for the past year, because that is the only thing that I have found that describes what I’m going through. Has anyone related to this? Is there anything anyone recommends? I was doing so well, and then it all just came rushing back, and I’m having a hard time squashing it again.