I have harm OCD towards my cat and now she’s lying in bed next to me while I draw and my OCD is wild, screaming at me to remove myself from the situation as I might snap and kill her… this is the absolute worst feeling in the world.
You are not alone I have the same thing with my dog. My psychologist advised me to lightly put my hands around his neck and think about squeezing. It SUCKS and I panicked the first few times but in the long run I became less and less afraid to the point where the thought kinda bores me like when you’ve watched a scary movie too many times and it no longer freaks you out. In an odd way it’s a blessing that you have your cat to practice exposure on, As opposed to humans, She definitely won’t judge you or think you are weird. I promise You will get through this and your relationship with your cat will return to normal. Much love to you and your cat 🐈⬛ ❤️
I know exactly what you mean. I was brushing my cat the other day and he loves scratching his face against the brush. I suddenly got intrusive images of hurting him with the brush and it felt like I started being rougher after that even though it was pretty much the same pressure in the spot he loves. But because I wasn’t actively smiling or anything while brushing my thoughts are telling me I am an evil person who wanted to hurt the cat. I’m trying not to ruminate but I keep thinking back to how much pressure I used , how long, the face I was making, etc. But as an exposure I’ve been brushing him for a couple minutes since that day and it seems to be helping.
Thanks for these replies, it really helps knowing i’m not alone ❤️🥰
I saw a line in a self help book for ocd that said what if I ___ my son. It spiked my cycle. Now a month later I am really sick. Anyone have advice about this? I REALLY need help.
Sometimes I feel phobic toward my son, spiked anxiety, holding back but I always kiss and hug him and treat him as a Mom should. But secretly I feel horrible.
This morning my cat was following my everywhere and my harm theme was so intense after a nightmare I had last night, I could not calm down because wherever I went she went there with me and I kept avoiding. It pains me so freakin much, she is such a sweet and loving kitty and it's so horrible that I can't even be near her and give her the love she demands due to my harm ocd. I felt so anxious and scared and at one point I even felt so annoyed with her and it scared me! I sat down on the floor outside my room and started sobbing and suddenly said out loud "I can't deal with this anymore" and at that point I felt impeding doom and felt that I was going to get up at any sec and hurt my cats and my family, I really thought 'this is it, it's about to happen' ...I don't get this, it felt so fkcn real, I did not do anything but I literally felt I was going to and now i'm so traumatized :(
I am probably a lot older than most members on here having had ocd for over 40 years and I have had every type of ocd but its always thoughts based and mental rituals around harming people I love. . I have been doing great using self help books, and thought I had everything under control at last. I had quit worrying about it and realised I was never going to do any of the things I feared and would never ever want to. However out of the blue a few weeks ago I had a weird but horrible thought pop up, which I tried to do exposure for, by telling myself we can say anything in our heads even if its not true, as the self help books taught me. . that then started a whole new ball game as I then started bringing the horrible thoughts up on purpose and made them the worst I could for exposure , thinking it was the right thing to do but now i am feeling even worse again as by doing that I actually said the things I feared coming into my head for example:..'I could say I want ******to happen to the people i love ( then I kept repeating in my head that I wouldnt say that) I would never want anything bad to happen to them ever , they are my world and I love them more than Ive ever loved anyone. has this exposure I tried to do become a compulsion? . I seem to be constantly repeating this and then praying to keep everyone safe,,, why am i being tortured like this its as though the ocd bully is now saying ah but what if you hurt people by saying horrible things. please, please someone help me as I am really anxious and upset over this.
Y’all I am so goddamn mentally exhausted it’s incredible. I have a cat, she’s two and in perfect health, but my OCD won’t leave her alone. I’m constantly worried she’ll get crushed under a recliner or die of heat stroke in the dryer. My mom accommodates as much as she can, we keep the dryer shut and we keep a cat bed in the living room so she has a place to hide instead of going under the chair. I’ve never had an animal more than a year or so (hamsters that met tragic ends no matter what I did, and a senior dog that we put down after a year due to declining health) so I think the lack of experience with a pet is a big thing here, and she’s the first animal I’ve ever actually bonded with for real. I just want to make my brain stop describing her possible deaths to me and I can’t figure out how. Anything is appreciated. Thanks for reading, folks.
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