TW: Philosophical, Worry Does anyone else start to feel anxious at the thought of “what if OCD becomes fake one day?” In other words, “what if OCD gets debunked in the future?” Not trying to scary one just curious
There is no way science will ever be debunked. Its a disorder of the basal ganglia. Brain imaging studies, such as SPECT and fMRI, have revealed abnormalities in the basal ganglia, specifically the caudate nucleus, and putamen, in individuals with OCD. What youre struggling with can be “cured” with the right medication and correct therapy. A better word is “managed” because technically there is no cure. But for ocd to be debunked. They would have to do away with science and rely on mere human opinion. If thats the case, a lot of mental illnesses would cease to be and more than half of society would be abandoned as insane or crazy.
@slippery_salad That’s what I’m wondering though I guess. Like is my questioning and worry just another OCD thing?
I think the anxiety around whether or not OCD is "real" or "fake" highlights a misunderstanding of what's actually happening when it comes to OCD. Many people within this community seem to have this belief that if they don't actually have OCD, that means all of their thoughts are actually "real," in the sense that they should be taken seriously, reflect their true desires, or mean that they're losing their minds. But here's the thing that I believe needs to be better communicated by OCD therapists and educators: OCD is not the thoughts themselves. Every person alive, and I mean every person, is equally capable of experiencing the exact same thoughts that someone with OCD does, regardless of their true desires. And for every person, the presence of those thoughts means nothing about them. On top of that, every person alive has the potential to experience those thoughts as intrusive/repetitive thoughts. Everyone ruminates from time to time, everyone has some degree of compulsive behavior. None of these things are exclusive to OCD. What IS attributed to OCD is the magnitude of it all: the amount of time spent doing compulsions, the degree of anxiety experienced around the thoughts, the complete lack of tolerance for any uncertainty. The abnormalities in the brain that @slippery_salad pointed out involve regions responsible for "error detection," which tend to be overactive in people with OCD. All that means is that our "alarm system" is extremely sensitive, and any amount of doubt is seen as dangerous and requiring attention. All of this is to say that whether or not you technically "have OCD," or whether or not the disorder itself is "real," doesn't really matter. That doesn't make the thoughts any more or less intrusive, or the anxiety you feel more or less uncomfortable. It's not an either/or situation. Hope that perspective helps.
@djflorio I think I understand what you mean. Basically, my struggle still matters regardless? I can see how my questioning of all this can kind of not be very helpful to myself.
@liyah1787g Yes exactly. OCD is a label pointing to a particular experience. That experience is real regardless of what you call it. It's like the weather. Some regions are more prone to hurricanes, some rarely get them. But a hurricane is still a hurricane. Don't get me wrong, I understand your concern. And "not really having OCD" is a very common concern that people with OCD have (or in your case, it not being "real") I would just treat that thought like any other distressing though, and refuse to engage with it. Maybe it's true, maybe it isn't.
@djflorio I getcha now…I appreciate you for responding, thank you.
With real event OCD, I don’t know if any of you feel this way, but do you ever feel that the past event(s) that you ruminate about or constantly obsess about are gonna come up in your future and just absolutely ruin you, that’s how I’ve been feeling for months, it just feels like impending doom, and I hate having to even think that my future would be ruined by what I did as a teenager, and I did some dumb things, that I regret so deeply, I just can’t stop thinking about that.
I’m constantly thinking about what if I go crazy.No matter how good I’m feeling the thought always creeps back in same with what if no one is real.I used to get anxiety from it but I don’t really get it anymore as much which scares me.How long did this last for anyone who experienced this?I feel like it’s been going on for months and I’m scared it’ll never go away.
Im easily scared so please be gentle. My ocd lately has been stuck on “how are we even here?” “What if this is fake” “how are we in a globe”. Super weird questions that I can’t answer or get my thoughts off of it. Anyone else out there with the same? I haven’t found a lot of people with existential ocd.
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond
