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.
Hey. Yes, this is one of the biggest themes I’ve struggled with. I have had pretty much every theme and this one is really hard because there aren’t any answers to the question. My advice is to try to ground yourself, focus on what’s around you physically, what you can hear, see and smell. I have had panic attacks about existential ocd, and I have realised that every time I have a panic, nothing changes. Everything is still the same in the outside world. Whether I am wondering if it is real or not, it doesn’t change my reality. I hope this helps and I understand how hard it is
@Swim2win! I needed this so much. Thank you for this. You’re right. Did you eventually overcome it? My brain questions it 24/7 without a break and “where is God” “how are we people” and so much more. I am trying medication and only on day 9 and hope it helps. I’m also going to be doing ERP therapy but .. like you said there is no answers to help.
It is still something I am dealing with, it comes and goes depending on the day really. But I also try to remind myself they are just thoughts, and that I can’t figure it out by myself, and no one else knows the answers either 😅 But it is one of the scariest feelings, not knowing whether reality is ‘real’ I am starting ERP therapy next week, I am on medication but it has not helped with OCD, it did help with anxiety though. You are not alone!!
Existential OCD is super common. I’m 98% on the other side of it. Maybe, maybe not statements got me through. So did yoga.
@Stay.Fluid Thank you for the reassurance. Are you able to tell me what kind of yoga? I did sign up for a class next week. Did you try medication at all? I want to learn more about your story
@ivankovich34 The catalyst for my OCD going from “I don’t know I have OCD but I’m quirky” to “this is debilitating” was when I had a panic attack that left me experiencing DPDR. That is when my existential OCD really began due to feeling detached from everything and everyone. I started listening to the podcast “Disordered” (quite funny too) and that helped curb my anxious response and big emotional reaction to a lot of my intrusive thoughts. Alongside that I practiced yoga 4-5 times a week and did short 10-15 min sleep yoga (Yoga with Adriene) every night. Hatha, reiki restorative, community classes, strong flow… it all has great benefits helping you reconnect to your body and feel safe/strong/resilient. Lastly, practicing statements like “maybe I am real, maybe I’m not. I may never know for sure” and then physically shrugging like you don’t care 🤷🏻♀️ helped me so much. It’s hard at first, but repetition is key. Here for any other questions you might have! 💓
@Stay.Fluid Where do I find that podcast? Thank you so much for all of this. I’m really needing all the help I can get because living like this is miserable
My friend sent me this morning meditation challenge and today’s meditation was about setting intentions…what really matters to you? And I went on a brief spiral of, “What matters to me? Does anything matter? What’s the point of anything?!” So, yeah, I’m here with you. 😬😁 I told my friend and she said something like “if anything matters, then everything matters” and that brought me some comfort, though I’m still puzzling over it, in more of a philosophical, not panicky way.
@JediMJ We can relate and I’m a safe place to talk about fears and spirals. We aren’t alone we got this
Absuredism
Is a interesting utube video
@Thor 22 Will this be triggering for me or helpful?
@ivankovich34 - I would think helpful but i dont know u all ill say is it was helpful for me and my ocd.
I’m really struggling with this theme because it can make me feel “fake” and it creates doubts that the world around me isn’t real or it’s a simulation? I’m really trying to expose myself but even the possibility makes me incredibly afraid. It even plays into my suicidal ocd as well and makes me afraid that my life would be miserable if this was true. I know how ocd works and I know not to fully believe that. But at the same time, I am trapped in doubt and fear. How could I possibly accept this? Will I ever see the world or life the same again? (Don’t answer that I realize that’s reassurance). Idk this theme is so ass.
This is my first post, so I apologize if the formatting is weird. I experience existential ocd I always struggled as a kid but learned more and more how to manage with school and such forcing me to learn how, now I experience a lot of overwhelming intrusions from when I wake up to when I go to bed (simply because I live and work in the same place it gets cabin feverish) but now more often going out maybe it’s just paranoia, I walk into a place and each person comes with a story immediately, every piece of trash on the floor, every piece of produce, each isle is a brand new way I could get into a life altering situation. I’ve managed well enough but sometimes I just completely lose my original objective and just leave or I’ll wanna leave my house but everything that goes with it and that could happen pops up and I just won’t go. It’s started to become avoidant behavior. Any help or similar stories? I just feel like I’m going crazy but my thoughts are so scattered and immediate it’s hard to break the habit and not spin a story. Thank yall!
Hey guys so I’m new here and just recently started struggling with some health ocd and thinking I had a brain tumor but it’s taken a turn for the worse and become this existential ocd where I’m questioning quite literally everything in my life, the purpose of being here and stuff. I just started meds yesterday, which is scary for me cause I’ve never been on them before. I keep having thoughts like, why does everything feel like a blur, what’s the meaning of this and I wake up every day with just existential dread. I’ve been having very vivid dreams that make dreaming and reality confusing I also am scared cause I’m dealing with some DP/DR as well. I just wish my life could go back to a few months ago before I knew all of this was possible. I guess I’m just writing this too get it off my chest and see if any of you all have gone through something similar and made it out okay?
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