“What if I were to accidentally act on my thoughts?”Īs noted above, compulsions are aimed at reducing this distress.“What if I am secretly a violent person?”.“What if I were to accidentally harm someone?”.People with Harm OCD experience their obsessions as highly threatening. These obsessions can be quite overwhelming and can lead people with OCD to engage in repetitive behaviors or mental acts (also known as compulsions) to reduce this distress. People with Harm OCD experience excessive preoccupation about the meaning of their harm-related obsessions, and the possibility that they could harm others. Harm OCD is similar to all other subtypes of OCD in that there is a constant struggle with uncertainty. In contrast, violent offenders are often gratified by the idea of hurting others. They would go to great lengths to stop themselves from experiencing these thoughts. They actually find violent thoughts to be extremely overwhelming and disturbing. They seem like signs that their lives will be stuck forever – or worse, that they’re bound to do something terrible like commit a violent crime.īut individuals with Harm OCD are generally the opposite of violent offenders. These intrusive, unwanted thoughts are understandably terrifying and isolating. The difference is that people with OCD experience a brain “hiccup” in which they get stuck on these thoughts and struggle to move forward. The reality is that it is quite natural and common for people with or without OCD to have all sorts of thoughts, including harmful ones. They struggle with what having these obsessions means about their overall character. People with Harm OCD experience great fear that they could act on their obsessions. She now is afraid to hold her son, seeks constant reassurance from her partner that she could not commit a harmful act, and engages in constant mental battles with herself hoping to determine if she is a safe or violent person. This leaves Lisa afraid to be around her son moving forward.
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