Anxiety causing intrusive thoughts maybe ocd?

[Kayleigh0910]

Ok so here goes please dont judge

So 3/4 weeks ago i have a trivial memory pop up as a child and caused me to have gad very badly

So 3 weeks ago i started sertraline 50mg then went to 100mg after a week im just about to start my 4th week im wondering if this can have caused ocd?

I had a terrible thought on monday morning about touching my sons genitals hes 5 it made me shake highly anxious and felt very sick i no i wouldnt do it i wash him in the shower etc but would never touch him like this and makes me feel sick when it poped into my head! Now when i think of it i shake feel scared and sick nowing id never do that, I no ocd can cause this and i have a doctors appointment tomorrow and cbt thursday just so worried 😩 even thought there thoughts and id never act on them anyone ever had this?

[SLA]

Perfectly normal to have random "stupid" thoughts like that. The fact that you reacted so negatively should reassure you that you do not associate with that idea, and that you'd never do it.

When you panic about a thought it gives it importance, so thoughts like that reoccur, and you soon get stuck in a cycle.

You do not have to react to thoughts like this anymore. After a while they will disappear.

[Kayleigh0910]

THANK you for your reply, shall speak to my doctor tomorrow but worried what she will say or do? I do have cbt starting thursday over the phone

[MyNameIsTerry]

Your doctor should hopefully be aware of what intrusive thoughts are and what they mean I.e. they are ego dystonic which means opposite if true character & beliefs.

I never had OCD until I went on my second antidepressant. Prior to that I can only see traits spread out back into childhood. So, yes meds can do things like this.

But you need to be aware that intrusive thoughts are experienced by anyone and they become an OCD or depression diagnosis only when they are significant enough to warrant it due to the impact on your life. A good example is checking locks which many people do and it doesn't affect their lives hence it's not significant enough for an OCD diagnosis.

So, this could be a transient thing due to the meds because of ramping up your anxiety. It may just go as you get used to them but definitely keep your GP informed.

Not all doctors may be clued up on some of the more emotive themes in OCD but please don't worry about the safety of your child in this situation and in fact distancing yourself from him will reinforce the importance of these thoughts in your fear BUT to be clear it is considered rare for anyone to act on such thoughts.

If there are any issues with your GP, show them what OCD UK say, a leading charity:

https://www.ocduk.org/types-ocd

[beatroon]

A friend who is a GP told me that she had quite bad intrusive thoughts about harming her children for a while, when they were little. She knew enough to understand straight away that it didn't represent an actual threat - your GP will too.

[Kayleigh0910]

Your doctor should hopefully be aware of what intrusive thoughts are and what they mean I.e. they are ego dystonic which means opposite if true character & beliefs.

I never had OCD until I went on my second antidepressant. Prior to that I can only see traits spread out back into childhood. So, yes meds can do things like this.

But you need to be aware that intrusive thoughts are experienced by anyone and they become an OCD or depression diagnosis only when they are significant enough to warrant it due to the impact on your life. A good example is checking locks which many people do and it doesn't affect their lives hence it's not significant enough for an OCD diagnosis.

So, this could be a transient thing due to the meds because of ramping up your anxiety. It may just go as you get used to them but definitely keep your GP informed.

Not all doctors may be clued up on some of the more emotive themes in OCD but please don't worry about the safety of your child in this situation and in fact distancing yourself from him will reinforce the importance of these thoughts in your fear BUT to be clear it is considered rare for anyone to act on such thoughts.

If there are any issues with your GP, show them what OCD UK say, a leading charity:

https://www.ocduk.org/types-ocd


Thank you for your reply, i havent distanced myself from him and have only had this thought once but it pops back sometimes and i just try to dismiss it the best i can, i have cbt starting and they deal with stuff like this but hope the doctor understands and can advise further id never act on them as it makes me scared, shake and i feel sick just hoping it goes ive read it happens to many people and it does get better

[MyNameIsTerry]

Try not to engage with this thought as SLA says. Intrusive thoughts involve a cycle which ends as you feed back with fear. That process can only see a fear response so not responding negatively means you don't reinforce it to keep it coming back and it's also a way to recover from them anyway as lack of the required response tells the subconscious the thought is irrelevant so it gets mothballed.

Therapists will be well able to deal with something like this, it's actually more common than was realised which was largely because sufferers were afraid to come forward. There is do much information out there now though and this is changing.

CBT is well able to deal with them. Hopefully though it will just go as the meds settle down.

Please don't worry, there are tons of OCD threads on here about all this. I've spoken to a fair few sufferers of this and found they are parents or others with a strong moral code about children like teachers. We've had teachers on here talking about such thoughts.

Intrusive thoughts by their nature aim for your greatest weakness and for a parent, the thought of harming their child is right up there with the worst fears.

Steve Seay, a psychologist in the US who treats patients with OCD, has excellent articles about it. He makes the same points about his clinical experience of these types of thoughts and why he believes certain themes are experienced by parents.

[Kayleigh0910]

Try not to engage with this thought as SLA says. Intrusive thoughts involve a cycle which ends as you feed back with fear. That process can only see a fear response so not responding negatively means you don't reinforce it to keep it coming back and it's also a way to recover from them anyway as lack of the required response tells the subconscious the thought is irrelevant so it gets mothballed.

Therapists will be well able to deal with something like this, it's actually more common than was realised which was largely because sufferers were afraid to come forward. There is do much information out there now though and this is changing.

CBT is well able to deal with them. Hopefully though it will just go as the meds settle down.

Please don't worry, there are tons of OCD threads on here about all this. I've spoken to a fair few sufferers of this and found they are parents or others with a strong moral code about children like teachers. We've had teachers on here talking about such thoughts.

Intrusive thoughts by their nature aim for your greatest weakness and for a parent, the thought of harming their child is right up there with the worst fears.

Steve Seay, a psychologist in the US who treats patients with OCD, has excellent articles about it. He makes the same points about his clinical experience of these types of thoughts and why he believes certain themes are experienced by parents.

Ive read that its quite common its just really scary with having anxiety aswell hopefully it goes as the meds kick in properley i do try keep myself busy and not think of it as i no its just a thought and id never act on it, i have highs and lows in the day just hoping the better days start coming through, thank you for your good words they are reasuring