Has anyone noticed their OCD kind of mixes in with their HA?

[Sam Winter]

I had my typical moment where I tried to itch my foot with my other foot and pressed down too hard(silly me oops!) and just then I have realized that there's a little voice inside me that isn't afraid I've hurt myself or broke a bone, its more afraid that if I don't check to see if anything is broken it will be, its kinda like "this one time I don't check it will be broken! ect" can the two kind of coincide? I've noticed it a lot especially with silly things like I must be wearing my certain wristband or the day won't go as well as it usually does, it gets quite frustrating x.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Well something to consider, Sam, is that HA is really not an official medical term. It only denotes the context of the anxiety and this means HA spans GAD, OCD and the Somatoform Disorders.

That's just like how OCD sufferers say POCD, HOCD, etc. None of that exists in the WHO manual. WHO determine which form of OCD based on predominantly obsessions, compulsions or a mix of both.

So, if you have what you see as OCD behaviours outside of HA, could that be because you really have OCD and it's just your OCD has mostly been of a HA context?

OCD moves around. Some people have more fixed obsessions, some find they jump from one to the other theme. Some of us, like me, have a combined number that co-exist.

For my OCD, I had multiple themes all jumped up together e.g. a harm based intrusive thought ending with a compulsion to check/touch in a physical sense as opposed to the more traditional mental checking compulsion of the Pure O end.

What you are describing with your broken bone issue is known as Magical Thinking. I've had loads of that with mine, and it can appear very irrational until you learn about it. The same with your wristband, I would do that with clothing. I wouldn't even know why it would go wrong, just that it would.

Some useful info from OCD UK about Magical Thinking:

https://ocduk.org/types-ocd

Magical Thinking Intrusive Thoughts - is the fear is that even thinking about something bad will make it more likely to happen - sometimes also called ‘thought-action fusion’.
Sufferers are beset by intrusive bad thoughts. They try to dispel them by performing rituals - magic rituals, in effect - that are often bizarre and time-consuming and involve linking actions or events that could not possibly be related to each other. *For example having the thought 'I may strangle someone' is regarded as being as reprehensible as actually strangling a person. **Another example is believing that simply imagining a horrific car crash will increase the likelihood of such a crash taking place, or a person may feel that if they don’t count to ten ‘just right’ harm will come to a family member.* Other examples of magical thinking, or thought-action fusion intrusive thoughts include:
A certain colour or number has good or bad luck associated with it.
Certain days have good or bad luck associated with them.
A loved one’s death can be predicted.
One’s thoughts can cause disasters to occur.
Stepping on cracks in the pavement can make bad things happen.
Whatever comes to mind can come true.
Breaking chain letters will actually bring bad luck.
Attending a funeral will bring death.
One can inadvertently cause harm to others with thoughts or carelessness.
Hearing the word ‘death’ will mean repeating the word ‘life’ to prevent death.
In each example listed above, the thoughts and events happening could not possibly ever be linked, but the person with OCD will believe that this possibility does exist, and as a result, this will cause them immense stress and anxiety.* As a result, their silent internal compulsive behaviours will take hours, and often prevent them interacting with anyone else during this time.

[Magic]

A lot to take in Terry. Don't know how this fits in.
A few years ago, I was thinking we are lucky we have never had a car accident.
Bump! Oh yes, the very same week someone crashed into the back of our car!
Another time I worked next door to a bank and one of the bank assistants came out of the back door walking with two sticks. I was told of her condition, and remember saying to myself " I hope none of mine have the same condition." But they did!!
It goes on and on. I think I am cursed.
I have a special book I write things down for my husband, because I am thinking of having a stroke or heart attack. It wears me out.
By the way, my husband is at a funeral right now!

[MyNameIsTerry]

Sorry to hear your husband is at a funeral, Magic. :hugs:

Magical Thinking is where you hold the belief that your thoughts can make things more likely come true. In OCD the sufferer then tries to stop this likelihood by performing a ritual that equally has no bearing on it.

Like if I don't wear this shirt or eat with this fork, I will get x disease.

[dale12345]

My pych said that my Ha and Ocd go hand and hand.

[gatsby12]

My pych said that my Ha and Ocd go hand and hand.

They can and I notice mine does. It switches and swaps obsessions.

[dale12345]

They can and I notice mine does. It switches and swaps obsessions.

That happens to me I switch Obsessions

[PanicMama]

My OCD is health focused right now, but it hasn't always been. I've read that health anxiety is just a form of OCD, and it's true for me. I obsess about disease and have to google stuffthinking I can somehow head off some awful disease or prevent it.

[thomas1998]

Definitely, I've had bad intrusive thought OCD since I was 14 (18 now). Was particularly bad during my exams but I managed to push through, over the last 3 months it's sort of morphed in to health anxiety.