Re: Harm OCD & video games
I had harm intrusive thougys for a long time. I know everything feels heightened but that is just adrenaline my friend. My therapist said it's 100% nothing to do with games so its not worth losing something you enjoy. Stay strong.
Re: Harm OCD & video games
I imagine this will be answered differently by everyone. I would go by how you feel. You seem to be saying it has an effect on you - that's really all you need to know, isn't it? You are responsible for your own mental health and therefore you get to decide what is and isn't helpful.
Personally I'm a great fan of Angry Birds. Perhaps a game with a different focus might be more restful?
Re: Harm OCD & video games
Speranza maybe so, it's just quite upsetting as all my life I've loved Tomb Raider and now for some unknown reason it upsets me. I've got a whole load of puzzle type games (including Angry Birds) on my Ipod so I may have to resort to those instead.
MrsS x
Re: Harm OCD & video games
I was watching Lost over the weekend, my son is obsessed with I;) and my what if jousts hit after seeing alot of violence and murders :( very upsetting so I think I will avoid it for now.
Re: Harm OCD & video games
I've had my "what if's" a lot today, I'm trying to hold together but I feel on the brink of tears and terrified. I'm still no closer to getting the knives back down!
MrsS x
Re: Harm OCD & video games
Look, the best way to help i feel is to share my experience and how I overcame it. I am 15 and on the school bus, I'd get a vivid image of reaching out and snapping the neck of the guy in front. Didn't even know him. Whenever this happened my forearms started to tense up, like they were telling me to do it. It began to feel almost painful. I spoke to my therapist and one of the first concerns i expressed was my complete and total immersion in 'BioShock Infinite,' and i swear to you she simply told me 'that's nothing to do with it' and moved on. With regards to actually doing it... WHY ARE YOU SCARED IF YOU'RE A PSYCHO? ANSWER: YOU AREN'T. I don't personally have OCD, my thoughts stem from Asperger's Syndrome, but I really feel for you and hope you realise that the very fact you're concerned means you're ok.
Re: Harm OCD & video games
The reson your intrusive thoughts are so powerful is that you're terrified of them. Look at fearsome thoughts as a stick and your subconscious as a puppy. If you chuck the stick away, what does puddy do? Run after it and bring it back, of course, probably splashing through a muddy puddle and treading in some poo as it does, then it jumps up at you with it. Your subconscious is going after the scary thoughts because they seem so important that it thinks you need to have it.
To continue this metaphor to its immature and controversial conclusion, you get home every day covered in muddy pawprints and dog sh*t, and poor old puppy has the stick firmly up its backside where you lodged it in rage. (That's the controversial bit.)
You should never trust an animal with a stick. Look at the Russians in WW2, they trained dogs to drop bombs under German tanks, but unfortunately the dogs were trained with Russian tanks, so as soon as they were unleashed in the heat of battle, Russian tank crews probably had to start bailing out when a hundred alsatians came out of the gun smoke.
Re: Harm OCD & video games
Gaming has always increased my ocd.