Harm ocd Need some reassurance Bad I know

[Homer47]

When my daughter was baby toddler i was always getting groinel responses, if i had that now i would just push that away. Back then it was horrible to think i was worrying if i got aroused which i didn’t. It was a horrible time of my life back then. But this fear of fear i want to understand it more maybe it will pass like the past. Thanks terry i really appreciate your reply’s.

[MyNameIsTerry]

Until you understand about OCD it makes total sense that the only possible reaction to something like a groinal response in that scenario is going to be revulsion. I found the same with harm based intrusive thoughts because before I starting reading about OCD all I knew was what the media spouted for years which was hand washing, checking, hoarding. How could you begin to believe it could be about things like violence, sexual abuse, etc? The same media details cases of abuse & violence every day, some including mental health issues that are more serious, therefore we are going to focus on those and panic.

Then you read about OCD and realise just how diverse it is. That helped me as there was now a possibility of something else it could be. It's a first step.

Fear of fear for me is about fear of symptoms. It's not fear of something bad happening exactly, it's more fear of just feeling anxious as it can feel horrible. It's just being stuck feeling like that. There is fear of triggering events too but again it's more about how I feel in them and that I can't escape or what if you lose control of bodily functions, etc as opposed to what may go on in the event.

[Homer47]

When i was young or when it first started my ocd. 32 years ago my firsts worry was when i already moved from Scotland to England i did have big homesickness. I can say the worry was based on what if my friends up there tell my grandad that i stole from the corner shop, i was frightened incase he found out this and when he came to visit would then tell my mum and dad. So i gave into the ocd and confessed i can still remember everything about that. So that opened the door to my ocd.

---------- Post added at 17:26 ---------- Previous post was at 17:24 ----------

That started of a lot of confessing to my mum not dad. Over the next few years. I would worry that much about stuff i did as a kid i had to confess because the anxiety got that much i had to give into it. Then o would get that buzz from relieving the guilt. Still get a buzz to this day.

[MyNameIsTerry]

It's like reassurance-seeking though, it only feeds the cycle. Confession compulsions are part of some people's OCD and I know I've often seen it more with such as ROCD.

Like with reassurance-seeking, it's about normalising behaviours. They need to be eliminated as a compulsion to restore them to that balance. They will only undermine your confidence in yourself.

I've found in mine I've had times where I would examine a past event from years ago but with my new anxiety led negative thinking and end up creating a whole new situation to worry about. I had to rationalise that nothing happened then and the people involved were all fine with things that happened too and then I had to try to let it go.