Magical Thinking OCD - Community

i understand that these thoughts aren’t real, but whenever i don’t follow them bad things truly do happen. i know it’s just my brain finding patterns and it’s all a coincidence but it’s enough to terrify me back into my patterns. if i don’t follow my schedule to a t, something bad will happen. if i don’t do some random thing my brain told me to do (eating soap, kicking the table, hurting myself) something bad will happen. sometimes i look around and my brain just tells me i’m not allowed to use certain things anymore, no matter how important. most of my clothes, school supplies, and food is now considered “bad”. it’s so frustrating but part of me finds comfort in it. i like feeling like i have control (even though i obviously don’t) over what could potentially happen. i feel like i’m answering to this higher power and anytime i upset it i have to offer something in return so it doesn’t cause something awful to happen. usually it’s hurting myself or eating disgusting things like soap or vinegar. does anyone else relate to this even slightly? i feel so alone.

My brain keeps saying I’m crushing on people and it’s real I’m gay however it says I’m crushing on woman and everything it’s so weird .

This morning I woke up fighting with my brain again, thinking I'm actually talking to a 'spirit' in my head. I talked myself out of it slowly and distracted myself away from it. I'm very new to OCD as I was just diagnosed two weeks ago. But this is something I've fought with for eleven years.

i don’t hear much about christian’s that face ocd and their struggles. recently my ocd about religion and existential questions have been HORRIBLE. i keep thinking about if reality is real, what happens after death, what if i’m not christian enough and go to hell, and also what if i died and this IS my hell. just irrational fears about it and i love jesus he’s been with me throughout every phase of my life and has shown me unconditional love as he does, but i feel like a terrible christian for doubting him. i also just feel like my ocd causes me to not be aware when i sun because i’m so scared of being a bad person i feel EVERYTHING that i do except for praising him is a sin. i’m so tired :(

Anybody else have issues with googling stuff in hopes to feel better about something, usually health related but then usually just feel worse?

I have this fear that if I’m happy then I’ve recovered from my thoughts and I’m ok with them now. I know that’s the point, I want to recover but I feel like if I’m not stressing about the thoughts than I’m more likely to act on them. It’s like having anxiety about not having anxiety. I feel like I have to keep creating stress.

Identifying distortions in thinking can help us in cutting down compulsions abs rumination. Here are some: All or none thinking Catastophizing / jumping to conclusions Magnifying Discounting the positives Emotional reasoning Tunnel vision “Should “ statements Comparing Mind reading Hyper responsibility Magical thinking Have a good day

i cant afford therapy but so desperately want to try and help myself. ocd has been with me for so long and i’ve had the longest ocd flare up i’ve ever had recently (it’s been really bad since january) so if anyone has any tips on how to help myself please share. 💗💗

ocd makes me feel so irritable

My OCD has ruined my life so far. I am only 24 years old but it has completely overwhelmed me. Various treatments, medication, nothing works. It has robbed me of seeing my loved ones, family, friends, cost me a relationship, jobs, seeing my grandmother before she died. I am so tired of being a prisoner in my own head.

What are some ways OCD has stolen joy from your life? my OCD has ravaged the comfort i have with my family. i can’t enjoy their company, or even accept their love and support, without excruciating guilt and shame. i used to be happy. OCD can go fuck itself.

Whenever there’s a high profile case that’s getting a lot of media coverage, my OCD tends to latch on to it. For example, I was trying to fold my clothes (which is also an exposure for me) but Bryan Kohberger, who committed the Idaho murders kept popping in my head. I kept trying to think of a different person to neutralize it, but obviously it didn’t work and now I really want to unfold all my clothes and just put them back in the laundry basket. Does anyone else also have this problem? I looked it up and I think it’s emotional contamination OCD, and this has always been an issue for me. One of my first memories of my OCD is watching the Casey Anthony trial and thinking I was going to end up like her 🙃

i have magical thinking and i was wondering if anyone else is trying to recover but scared to go against their thoughts like going against them would make it happen

I have an obsession where I'm convinced that I'm speaking my thoughts without realizing it or somehow other people just know what I'm thinking. I have compulsions related to this where I ask other people if I was mumbling or talking to myself. I don't know what to do. It feels silly but the fear is so real and I don't know how to cope with it. Does anyone else suffer from this pattern of thinking, or have any advice to help?

Hi all, I have been experiencing a lot of relationship OCD and real event ocd lately. I feel the need to confess certain things about prior relationships/involvements with people to my current partner. I don't know why this keeps coming up for me, I have been with this current person for a long time. I suppose I have a fear that I am unloveable, and I feel I have to "give them all of the information" about my past behaviors so they don't "make a mistake" by being with me. Any advice on this would be appreciated.

Nobody’s perfect! We are people learning on this crazy journey called life. No thoughts are wrong or right all that matters is you focus on the one’s that bring us joy and make us feel better. Everything is perfectly imperfect. Don’t be so hard on yourselves.

hi, new to this app. but going to see if anyone can help within my situation. i started dating a boy who my friend introduced me to in january 2023. there were already multiple red flags to begin with. he commented about my facial features in a negative way and claimed it was a joke and this was only on the second date. we got intimate very quickly which i think is an issue to this whole dilemma. anyways, cut long story short. none of my friends or family like this boy. AT ALL. and this is due to what i’ve said about what he’s said to me. he thrown multiple insults at me one after the other, controlling who’s on my private story and not happy if it’s a friend who’s a boy. and the main thing is he won’t let me post anything on my social media because this is me asking for ‘validation’ and ‘attention’. anyway. i went clubbing for the first time for my 18th birthday this year. he wasn’t happy about how i didn’t invite him, even though it was just me and my girl friends and claimed he was second best. he then happened to go out on the saturday and said i’d be ‘lucky to see him’ after what i did which wasn’t inviting him out with me and my friends. anyway on the friday night, i sent a video to him and all he had to say was how i look ill. i didn’t think this was bad until my friends said that’s poor from him. he hardly spoke to me for the rest of the night. which made me resentful as well as for the full week everyone i knew was telling me that that weekend would be the one where they’d make me break up with him. so this is all i had in my head plus everyone saying how awful he is. anyways a boy came up to me and my friends at the club and asked if i had a boyfriend. i said ‘he’s a cu*t’. which is the starting point of this dilemma. he then made jokes saying he’d never spoken to an 18 year old before as he was 21 i think and i laughed saying don’t worry i’ve spoke to a 22 year old before. which again i feel awful for as well as the above comment. the main point of this story is he asked for my instagram. now, this boy wasn’t attractive and i felt no attraction towards him. however i gave it because it’s instagram at the end of the day. i then blocked him days later, never following him back and never texted him. i now feel HORRENDOUSLY guilty for what i’ve done as my boyfriend thinks minor things are wrong etc so i can’t imagine what he would think about this. i’m terrified for him to know and it just constantly triggers my ocd because i feel so so so bad. i’ve cried and stressed over this so much it makes my stomach turn. all my friends but one say i did nothing wrong and that’s he’s just an awful person anyway but this doesn’t excuse my behaviour for me. and i’m constantly trying to find an escape to this dilemma. someone please give me some advice thank you x

how to stop constantly looking for reassurance other than the “maybe, maybe not” techniques :( it’s getting hard

Why does hallucination ocd make you feel like your going absolutely crazy! I know I’m not seeing anything but my brain says otherwise…

since people with ocd basically have false alarms, how do we know when it’s something serious? like i have health concern really bad and i freak myself out, but what if the one time where i don’t and try to stop the compulsion it’s something serious?? how do i know it’s just my ocd messing with me or if it’s not??

Hi everyone im in the uk and want advixe on who i go to to be asesed for ocd. My councellor was very certain i do not meet criteria for ocd but hes never really sat and taken the time to hear all the symptoms that make me think it was just very quick to argue that im not ocd and don't meet the criteria he said i havw irrational thoights that are anxiety based not related to ocd so im not sure really if im being silly. Anyone here got any input or able ton dicuss with me how to ono if its ocd i relate to a lot of the apps stuff i just dont clean a lot now and then it cimes out as hand washing. Think this is why my councellor disagrees

i showed some friends an educational OCD video and they were very receptive and empathetic. OCD is hard to talk about because it often involves uncomfortable things. i’m happy they were supportive and was thankful that they were willing to listen and learn. that’s a win for today!

my biggest thing is reassurance. i come on this app all the time for reassurance. i feel like reality isn’t real and i’m in a coma or a dream and i’m isolated and alone. every time i see a coincidence which i’ve been seeing a lot i question reality and convince myself i’m making it up and i NEED reassurance or i’ll spiral. idk what to do. “maybe, maybe not” doesn’t really help me anymore. i feel so alone

I'm just learning about OCD and have been realizing I have it and it is explaining so much about my life. I have talked to three therapists about this but nothing they suggested is helpful and they mostly don't understand. I am wondering what treatments have worked for y'all or if you can give me any suggestions about how to change my thoughts!!!!!

It’s SLOW moving, but I can attest to the fact that exposure therapy works. My therapist, Jenna is excellent. Keep it up. I know how incredibly hard, isolating and debilitating OCD can be.

just some of the things my OCD tells me.

Does anyone else struggle with addiction? I am a recovering benzo addict, i've been addicted since i was 15 and got 'sober' in 2021 when i was 24. The reason i got addicted in the first place is because i developed intense insomnia at 13 years old due to the obsessions which only got worse and worse over time. I developed OCD symptoms at 5 years old (just for reference) and when i discovered benzos later, they almost numbed all the messed up thoughts and made it easy to delay compulsions. I OD'd twice, unintentionally. Withdrawals were awful. Sorry if this is blogpost-y, i just wanna know if anyone else struggled or still striggles with addiction and how it relates to their OCD. Hugs ! 🩵

and now i feel infinitely worse. can’t wait to take my knockout pills and sleep.

Does light calming pills can help with OCD?

Anyone else experience more bruising on Sertraline??

My rituals stopped working and I can't control my thoughts. The thoughts are coming and coming to my mind and I can't attract doing anything, I even can't touch anything and stand up and go to do my homework.

When I'm doing shopping and I am about to take something I get an obsessive thought and it makes me to take another product from the back. Does somebody have similar problem?

What if my thoughts will impact on my future life? How do I know that my thoughts are just caused by OCD and nothing else?

I'm still having my obsessive thoughts, but my rituals stop working. I have obsessive thoughts during my ritual and they are ruining my ritual in the middle. How can I cope with that?

How do y’all be more compassionate to yourselves, or allow yourself to sit with the discomfort? I realize I will often run from the discomfort, only to amplify the meanings attached to them. This makes me extra hard on myself, and getting that, “stuck,” feeling thinking how long/hard of a process this may be.

Sounds so simple just stop worrying , if a thought pops up don’t worry about it, if something happens don’t worry about it, sounds so simple To do but why can’t I do ?

I know it's a bit disgusting, but one of my rituals has become not changing the sheets. I haven't changed the sheets since- I don't know, about half a year ig?Today, during my absence, my mother washed them, and when she told me about it, I had such a heart attack. Based on the stain on the sheet, I knew how to lay it down to make it okay, luckily the stain didn't wash out. I think it's one of my most disgusting rituals, do you have one too?

Does antibody else anxiety get worse when they first up there dose but then it usually subsides after a couple weeks?

okay so i’m about to have a breakdown and i’m really scared. after experiencing derealization a couple weeks ago i’ve been anxious about being in a dream or a coma and just not knowing it, and every time something is a coincidence it freaks me out. like if i’m thinking of a tv show and then i see something about it the same day, i feel like that’s a sign i’m in a dream or coma and making everything up on my own and especially recently i’ve been seeing a lot of coincidences happen and a lot of things related to comas and reality being fake are showing up around me. and now those fears are spiraling and making me question reality as a whole. i’m really scared and i just need some reassurance. i know i sound stupid. i feel stupid.

How do you do so in your every day life, and do you have to remind yourself to? I find myself getting stuck in the cycle of feeling stuck about this annoying disorder, and worrying about everything it could affect down the road, or make life changes more difficult. Of course they aren’t happening /now/. I notice some progress, and when I feel good, I feel good, except the times I begins to worry about feeling bad and how long it will last. I definitely need to practice mindfulness a bit more, and learn how to be more present, and not get swept away

I feel like the mood swings associated with waves of OCD throughout the day and sometimes the most frustrating part. I’ll be okay for a good portion of the day, and then my mood will drop tremendously, sometimes from a thought, sometimes from dreading the feeling that sones with it. I generally rebound within 2 hours, and can function again, and go about my day. I’ve gotten basically compulsive about this, because I want to be able to control my mood. Anyone have any tips for this?

does anyone else have trouble separating themselves from OCD? i constantly fear that i’m faking symptoms, don’t really have OCD, and am fooling everyone around me into liking me. my brain tells me my intentions are to hurt others and i’m just using OCD as an excuse. i don’t know how to shut this pattern of thinking down. i’m deathly afraid that i’m a horrible person.

How many of you have 'confessing' as a compulsion? I do, and ever since I realized I could have OCD, a lot of my past guilt confessions (thought to be just a quirk of mine) started making more sense. It feels like I'm physically going to explode unless I 'confess'. And in the end the person I confess to (mostly my girlfriend) is like was that it? Wondering why I was acting like I had murdered somebody. It's weird.

Hi I just joined! I’ve never actually met someone else with OCD like me before. I was diagnosed when I was 7 and it honestly has become such a normal part of my life. I constantly am counting things and have different rituals like touching the corners of my couch until it feels right or I am scared something bad will happen. The people close to me make fun of it but I can’t help it. I don’t think I can go one minute without some compulsion. I tried therapy since I was seven but I stopped going two years ago. I’m really hoping I can find some comfort soon and see that other people also experience this and not be alone anymore!

I have my last final tomorrow morning for my mental health lecture. And not feeling that confident. I felt so much more confident on the previous exams though. Not sure why I’m having these thoughts :(

ok so i am an artist, and every time I make art on krita or just draw in general. i get intrusive thoughts that cause me to either push the undo button or erase my art, i am absolutely baffled by this??? does anyone on here struggle with that or is just me???

The last couple days my OCD has felt better….but my depression feels more significant? I’m not sure why…I thought I would feel happy not feeling so constantly sickly anxious.

Instead of WHAT IF?….think, EVEN IF.

All I want to do is just stop worrying about everything it’s making me unhappy and affecting people around me, don’t even know if I have ocd or just anxiety

When I got my way into recovery, one of the things was to identify thoughts as “OCD thoughts “ But it was not long until I realised that I was making this into a compulsion! So I get a thought, I get anxious, and I say, “oh it’s just OCD “, then I expect it to go away, but it just won’t. The mistake I’m doing here is rather than stay with the anxiety and the thoughts, I want to make it go away (or control the thoughts) which is a compulsion in hiding You see the difference? Compulsion: Doing something to make your thoughts/anxiety go away. ERP: Doing an exercise to stay comfortable with your thoughts and emotions without wanting them to go away. The difference is subtle, but when you don’t know the difference, you end up in the rabbit hole, going round and round. Anyone else has this experience? Everyday with OCD seems to be a learning experience

does anyone else’s intrusive thoughts push their way into everything you think about i am struggling

Sometimes I spiral because I feel so guilty even about the smallest things like not washing my hands before shaking someone’s hand. But I feel guilty about mostly everything I’ve done in life. And I feel like a terrible person all the time.

Overwhelmed is probably an understatement. I’m about a month into treatment on here, and while I have some days and moments of joy and feeling better, I still get sucked back in. When it’s not so much intentional work, it’s it manifesting somewhere else. The realizing what I thought was just anxiety for so long was actually OCD is the most overwhelming part, and so daunting. I don’t want to hyper focus on my emotions, and how I’m feeling, but I worry I’ll be stuck like this forever.

OCD can be so overwhelming. I feel powerless sometimes. My emotions and feelings take over and I feel like I’ve lost control of my life. I doubt myself and obsess about past feelings and future worries. I can never be present and whenever I’m in the moment it’s not great either because that’s when the very intrusive thoughts come in.

Had a bit of an a-ha moment today and realized I’ve been super hyper focused on my emotions, and thinking I, “Should,” be feeling certain way every day, and frustrated I’m not magically better. This has been making me feel incredibly stuck. I also just watched the video of Howie Mandel talking about NOCD and the mention of suicide also triggered me because that’s one of my subsets. Anyone else struggle with this? Have you seen any progress? I’ve made some progress with my intrusive thoughts, especially pertaining to harm, etc., but feel overwhelmed daily by the recovery process.

I am very worried about something but I’m scared if I give it a lot of attention it will manifest.

I wish NOCD took Medicaid, I have no income right now and everywhere I go is me constantly teaching the therapist what OCD is esp ROCD it’s been over a year I can’t take this anymore seriously it’s depressing. I hate that I need specialized therapy but cannot have it

Hi all, really struggling right now — I want to go out on a run but I cannot stop doing & redoing my hair (putting it in a ponytail); I know I need to just accept how it is & go but I’m finding it really hard right now, and I’m getting so frustrated with my OCD. Any tips on how to get out the door? :(

I cannot feel happiness when my OCD obsessions are whirring. With everyone offering ideas on how to recover from bad experiences or decompress, and the obsessions shielding me from any sort of relief, it's like I have a collar around my neck that stuns and chokes me. A therapist I had taught me an EMDR exercise that helped me to heal from past trauma, bit by bit. I did the exercise this evening for the first time in a long time, and it's like the collar loosened, and I could understand that happiness that people had been talking about. I didn't feel very happy, but I felt hopeful. I felt a LITTLE more in control of my feelings, and a LITTLE more critical/aware of my thought patterns. I have spent the past half a year especially feeling suuuper anxious and guilty and being reassured and feeling no relief. And THEN I just feel MORE guilty that people's advice didn't stick with me!

some days I feel so dissociated and disconnected from the world that I feel like I can’t imagine doing anything like I can’t imagine the stuff I usually do or feeling right again like I get randomly weird feelings that I can’t explain into words I just feel odd ? And unfamiliar with everything and it makes me feel like the world is ending or something because I feel “ limited “

One of my exposures is to go clubbing and obviously I’m excited cause I’ve always wanted to go but I’m so scared something bad will happen😭😭😭😫😫😫😫

Ever since I lost my dad in 2019 My OCD has slowly came worser I have to do certain things like wash my hands and count to 16 two times so it’s even numbers Odd numbers make me feel like certain things will happen to me or people around me I don’t even feel like me no more When I walk into a room I have to pick bits up off the floor and find 7 more bits so it’s an even number I have to make sure everything is put in a certain position I can’t go to sleep I suffer really bad It feels stupid how I have to do certain things if I don’t go to the shop bad stuff will happen around me or others so then i go shop and come back and I think has it really proved anything by going to the shop My anxiety hits me really bad I’m only 17 and it stresses me out to where I can’t enjoy life like how I used to

I get intrusive images/visions that feel really intense/scary. For the most part I know they’re not real but that doesn’t make them any less scary. Worried I am experiencing psychosis or schizophrenia symptoms or something

What was your first ocd theme or thought and how long was it before you were actually diagnosed? I have been feeling these OCD symptoms since I was 8. Only when I was 19, I really knew I needed help. But I sought help only when I was 30

For the past few weeks I feel like I have maybe half a day to myself max (with some more full days thrown in sparingly) without my brain doing it’s OCD thing. I’ll either wake up feeling awful and have to work myself down which could take a few hours, or wake up okay and feel drained by the evening after some thoughts do their thing. Today I woke up feeling not great, kind of foggy brained and groggy, which kicked it off. I tried to let that pass, which it did, but eventually just turned into frustration over having to deal with this dumb disorder. I had a good cry, and that helped me reset a bit. Was able to be more present this evening and actually practice some ERP successfully. I drove over a bridge for the first time since my current theme surfaced (I have a fear of losing control in general/harm ocd) and was able to do it, tell my ocd something may or may not happen while going over, basically yelling at it mentally that we’re doing this no matter what, and felt SO anxious. I told myself that the anxiety is a part of the equation of ERP, and nothing to worry about because it can’t harm you. I felt so victorious when going over the other side. I don’t have a lot of physical compulsions (since a lot of mine is basically all mental and struggle with finding ERP’s for my theme), but felt so proud of myself. I struggle a lot with mental compulsions. When I got home, a pair of scissors in a drawer I rarely use stirred up that familiar nagging feeling inside, and the confidence from before allowed me to stand there with the drawer open in real time and say, “Yeah, I may or may not do something with those scissors. Yeah a MAY lose control one day. Yeah I MAY or may not want to one day intentionally do something,” and sit with that for a minute or so. After a bit they just seemed like regular old scissors. I’ll consider those winds after a rough day.

I think i’m about to get fired. And i’m not worried about getting fired, i can always find a new job. I’m 17. I’m just worried about the aftermath because i know my brain is going to go crazy with thoughts like “you can’t even handle a cash register correctly” (but i can) or “you’re so dumb you couldn’t even handle an easy job” and im mostly scared for the aftermath because i beat myself up over it so much.

I’ve noticed as I’m tracking my themes currently, and doing ERP, I feel so overwhelmed. One negative feeling will set me off even if the thoughts aren’t there, and I noticed I’ve basically compulsively been doing ERP to feel better. I’ll feel so defeated quickly because of this feeling. Is this overwhelming feeling, and being disconnected a part of the discomfort? I’m pretty new to ERP, and doing so correctly, so any advice would be appreciate.

hi, my name is Emmett, (nonbinary-they/them-autistic). real life i struggle with contamination ocd, but i think online, i'm constantly worried about what people will think of me as a person, i obsess over spelling mistakes and intrusive thoughts pop into my head whenever im typing something and I'm compelled to delete words and write them again even if they are spelled correctly. it got to the point where i was constantly deleting my social media accounts and even emails and making new ones 💀 this is pretty embarrassing for me to confess but i recently already made an account on here and even made my first post on here about my contamination ocd, someone even replied an gave pretty good advice about too. but, not realizing the account was tied to my old email that i was deleting not out of compulsion but because it had my dead-name attached to it, i think i ended up accidentally deleting my account on here, and it reminded me of my past compulsions, so i'm making this post because i finally had enough with this, do i have magical thinking ocd?? or is this something else???

Great meditation that is ERP friendly :) https://youtu.be/hgUKW25wVt8

I did a compulsion right now and I feel like all the progress I did is gone😞😞😞

Does anyone else have thoughts that scare you so much that you stop breathing? Like you have an actual physical reaction to scary thoughts? Bc I get that a lot, sometimes I get the shakes and sometimes I stop breathing and want to cry

Has anyone had any experience with deep brain stimulation by chance? and did it help at all? there are clinical trials close to me and I talked to my mom about it and am considering applying at this point

Me, who has repetitive, disturbing thoughts all day, is unable to control them, and has to rip my cuticles off of my nails as a form of punishment:

Since I started taking the mini pills birth control my OCD has gotten worse! I’ve been depressed, scared, and anxious!

Went against my rituals today. I feel so scared…this is really hard and I feel like an awful person.

I honestly try not to use this feature of the app because wi find it can become compulsive to me. Just wanted to have a quick vent and say that it is UNBELIEVABLE how much worse hormones can make my OCD. The week prior, I felt I was making pretty good progress, wasn’t as foggy-brained, more present, and more confident thoughts are just that and if they come up I could handle. This week completely felt like it derailed my progress, and I’m just trying to be compassionate and know it will pass and that progress isn’t linear. Ugh.

I just upped my dose of Sertraline to 125 this past week and it it so hard to fall asleep. I have to keep moving my legs and sometimes my arms. I've been taking Magnesium but it's not helping. Anybody have any tips?

I’m going to assume something about you.. and correct me if I’m wrong. We all don’t want to have OCD, right? That’s why we’re on this app. That’s why we’re going to therapy. That’s why you’re reading this right now. Well what if I could tell you a tip that would help you not have OCD anymore? A lot of people assume that not having OCD means not having intrusive thoughts. But that’s not true- most humans have them, if not all. Rather, not having OCD means that you don’t do compulsions. You might still have anxiety, you might still have intrusive thoughts…. but you don’t have the behaviors of someone with OCD anymore. So when you ask “How do I recover from OCD?” - here’s what you need to do - cut down on and eventually let go of behaviors that give you OCD - rumination, meaning making, mental review, seeking reassurance, repetition of actions, etc. Because by letting go of these behaviors - you are naturally accepting uncertainty. When you get an intrusive thought and you don’t ruminate about what it means, you are naturally accepting the fact that it could have meant or not meant any number of things. So when you catch yourself in an OCD spiral or right after you get an intrusive thought- (and this has MASSIVELY helped me) - tell yourself “I’m not allowed to do anything about that thought”. I’m not allowed to direct attention to it, I’m not allowed to try and figure out what it means, I’m not allowed to reassure myself. I see it as a thought, I do not attribute meaning to it, I accept its presence and I WILL NOT DO ANYTHING ABOUT IT. And in not doing anything - you now have the behavior of someone without OCD. Because think about it - if someone doesn’t have OCD and they get an intrusive thought - they don’t ruminate, attach meaning to it, worry about it, try to seek reassurance that it’s not true - they simply pass by it. They let it be. Examples: If you have HOCD - and you see someone you find attractive - you’re not allowed to ruminate about what that means about you. If you have Harm OCD - and you hit a speed bump - you’re not allowed to ruminate about what that means either. If you have ROCD - and you get annoyed at your partner - you’re not allowed to ruminate about what that means either. Separate the experience from the meaning your OCD is trying to attach to it. OCD is the glue that tries to attach your worst core fear to an amorphous experience - it wants to attribute the scariest meaning to it - but you don’t have to let it. Put the breaks on by holding up a hand and saying I’m not allowed to do anything right now. This will also give you insight into your compulsions - as the urges you have to act tell you if you frequently reassure or ruminate without realizing it. Let there be an empty space, after the intrusive thought, and see how that starts to change your mental landscape. So try this next time. Tell yourself “I’m not allowed to do anything mentally that someone without OCD wouldn’t do.” And the more you do this, and remove yourself from the OCD spiral - the more you will recover. Set some rules for yourself: 1. I do not argue with my thoughts. 2. I do not talk back to my thoughts. 3. I do not interfere with my thoughts. 4. I do not try to get rid of my thoughts. Instead, I: 1. Let them be. 2. Say “maybe” 3. Watch them go by. 4. Accept their presence and direct my attention to what I want to focus on. Let me know if this works for you!! Stay strong❤️ you got this.

Thought I would give it a try, I’m not surprised lol

I’m scared my OCD made me suddenly stop loving my pet. My baby, who I loved more than anything. Now when I look at him, I feel uncomfortable and empty. I don’t want to stop loving him, I want to love him again. I don’t know what to do. Is it possible to stop loving someone/thing in a moment? Or am I just obsessing too much to think/feel clearly?

How does one develop ocd?

I experience physical tics with my OCD if I don’t do the compulsion, does anyone else have this?

Every good feeling comes with guilt. I’ve found myself turning to apathy, and have turned to self-destructive behaviors. I’m just tired…the only times I can smile are when I go to group therapy and I get to be myself in front of people who understand. I can forget about the guilt for just a bit, but when it’s over, it comes again. I just hope there’s a way out

I want to beat OCD so that I can experience life again without fearing that anything I do will destroy me.

While trying to convince me I will be a cannibal in the future somehow

i had a dream of me doing smthng bad, cheating, with some girl who i know from class, i don’t even feel anything at all towards her only thing was annoyance yesterday because we got in an argument, plus she has a gf. i had a weird explicit dream where i knew smthng bad was happening and i knew i had ocd also, but when i woke up i kinda forgot abt the dream for a split second and now that I remember im scared what if the dream isn’t a dream and it happened in real life and i don’t remember

How do you guys combat feeling scared of other people thinking you’re a bad person and hating you??? Any advice is helpful!

My OCD has began affecting my hygiene. I need to do everything at a certain time or I’m scared something will happen if I don’t. It’s begun affecting what I can eat, when I can shower, and other things. Sigh. It’s so hard to convince myself that my brain is just lying to me.

So I have OCD, bipolar, and PMDD. I had an OCD relapse that definitely affected the other two in April of last year. After being fired from work as a senior engineer, completion of residential and php programs for OCD, I now am still so bad off that I have to apply for long term disability. I am so disheartened and feel like I failed at life. Can anyone relate?

I am working on staying positive. Sometimes my body tries to tell me I am in danger, and I need to be nervous all the time to remember everything I see. But I do not! I remember it is my OCD, and I acknowledge it and allow it to pass.

Hi guys and gals, right now I have one thought in my mind it’s of a worry about something specific now I just want to say forget about it but I can’t I keep getting the urge to worry it through. Is this classic ocd ?

My grandma and I have always been extremely close but with my ocd, I've had to distance myself because eim constantly having thoughts that I don't love her or care about her and I'm so scared it's true because my mind almost believes it is if that makes sense? She had to go to the hospital and she's not in any esevere danger but I'm numb and I'm not feeling concerned and I've been having thoughts that I don't care about her or want her to die and I know it's not true!! But part of me is afraid it is! And now I feel horrible because a year ago I would have been crying about this and I don't know why I'm not?

I have been telling my therapist about my intrusive thoughts and I think I told him too much , I felt so anxious after the session because he might think I’m a pervert .

Hey friends -- posting to welcome any sharing of experiences related to OCD stigma. There is so much misinformation surrounding OCD, and as a consequence it is highly stigmatized. I wanna do something to help improve the attitude around OCD and educate people. From my personal experience, people often associate OCD with cleanliness, organization, or overthinking. Phrases like "just let it go" and "stop overthinking" can be harmful as well and perpetuate negative attitudes about anxiety in general. Our suffering should also not be used for marketing/profit.

Hi right now I’ve just had a thought off does my mother need to look after my dog while I’m out with work on Friday with a horrible feeling in stomach and in my body now I want to be able to just not answer that thought and just let the thought fade into the back but whatever it is I suffer from won’t let me it’s saying worry about that decide on what you want to do about the dog on Friday accompanied with a feeling a dread , Now that is how most thought arise and I will either do two things I will think it through or I will put it in a list in my phone and go over it before bed , I hate being like this any help would be amazing Thanks

I’m at my wits end I just don’t know what to do anymore, here is my problem, I get thoughts in my mind of things I’m doing in my life, things I’m doing in future etc now I want to just say to myself forget about that I don’t worry or I’ll deal with that in the future when it arises, but there is a nagging voice ( figure of speech ) saying I need to worry about this now I need to think it through so it’s clear in my mind , is this ocd or just anxiety , does anyone else have this or am I alone. Thanks

Does anyone else’s OCD cause them to be highly influenced by TV shows ideas/concepts?

Could emotionally/physically abusive parents cause me to have OCD? I never worried about God or anything like that as a kid until I moved in with my Dad and step mom. They isolated me, wouldn’t even let me go to school for three years, and told me it was all my fault because I just wasn’t like other kids and I didn’t deserve those privileges. I would stay up all night writing in my journal (I replaced social interaction with journaling) obsessing over wether I was actually a bad person like my parents said or not. Eventually, I started having sexual, and religious intrusive thoughts. And now I have intrusive thoughts about basically everything and some days it’s crippling. Did my parents cause this? How can I u do he damage they’ve done to my brain if so?

i have been avoiding walking on tile cracks, going through unsafe parts of my house … but there is a small crack in my wall and i’m terrified it is a sign of structural instability in my house. there was an earthquake swarm 2 weeks ago and i’m so scared of one happening. whenever my dogs bark i’m worried it’s because they sense an earthquake. i feel like nowhere in my house is truly safe

I can’t cope anymore I just want to know if I have ocd or anxiety as I don’t know how to go about treating my illness as I don’t know which illness I have, I also can’t afford therapy to be diagnosed :(