Kieran123

@PolarBear that’s the hardest and scariest part as I don’t know so it’s making the worry worse and I just keep going over all the possibilities in my head.

Hi all, I’ve had a thought/worry that’s been bothering me the past couple of days and wanted some advice/help. So when I was younger say around 9/10 ish I remember having a friend who lived in the same street and I’d visit his house, basically his baby sister who was only around 1 or so at the time was in her high chair and I can remember squeezing the top of her head stupidly playing around not knowing that it could of hurt/damaged her. However as it was such a long time ago I can’t stop thinking whether or not I seriously damaged her and keep worrying that it could of effected her to this day or made her disabled, as I no longer speak to the lad who I was friends with it’s bothering me a lot that I don’t know if she’s fully healthy etc to this day or not and the fact that I done it when I was the only person left alone in the room with her has made me feel a sense of guilt/sick and also a sense of doubt as I keep going over and over everything in my head wondering if I ever hurt her or done anything else that I can’t remember. It feels like a false memory but not at the same time if that makes sense as I can remember squeezing her head however I keep ruminating in my head whether anything else has happened so creating false memorys about the past and it’s in general too whether it’s happened around another child or person etc. Any help/advice would be greatly appreciated.

@OCDhavenobrain @cookiemonster Hi, that’s how I feel I don’t know whether it’s due to increased anxiety or whether it’s tinnitus, I went to the GP around 3 weeks ago an she looked at my ears an said it isn’t anything serious An doesn’t look like tinnitus and I explained that I suffer from anxiety, but I’m still wary about it An it’s worrying me a lot. @Wonderer Hi, i seem to experience it more when I’m really anxious An listening out for sound etc. I just have this horrible perception that being effected by tinnitus will stop me enjoying the things I like so going to clubs/events and listening to music etc, as I’m only in my early 20’s it’s a lot to deal with, I just look at my friends and always wonder why I have to worry about everything.

Hi all, I’ve recently posted about my most recent fear/obsession which is fixtated around Tinnitus and I’d like a bit more understanding/advice. So the last few weeks I’ve noticed I’ve been checking and been listening out for every sound I hear and also feeling on edge when hearing a certain noise whether it’s inside or outside in a silent room or a room with slight noise etc. Due to developing a fear of tinnitus I can’t seem to draw the line between the difference of having tinnitus and just experiencing increased anxiety when focusing on certain sounds and being more sensitive to sound. So does an increase in anxiety lead to a ringing/ electricity noise in the ears and is it stress related as this is what I am currently experiencing and I can’t tell whether it’s tinnitus or just stress related ringing. I’ve also noticed like anything ocd related once I’ve stopped worrying/ obsessing I don’t pay attention to the ringing and at times can’t hear it as much as when my anxiety’s high. This past week I’ve been obsessing over it and worrying if it’s schizophrenia related as that’s another fear of mine and I can’t seem to stop focussing and worrying about it. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

Thanks @taurean I’m finding it hard to switch off from it, although it’s like anything ocd related it’s so hard as I’m scared ive developed it and I’m actually hearing a fuzzy noise. @PolarBear yes I know I have started to obsess but in the past when my ocd was first bad and when my anxiety was high I noticed I was more sensitive and on edge to ever little sound due to the fact of obsessing over schizophrenia it’s now tinnitus I’m obsessing over.

Thanks for the reply @PolarBear however how do I know it’s not tinnitus, I’ve read up (silly of me I know) but I’m worrying that it is and after hearing the bad news recently it’s scared me.

Hi all, I’ve not been on the forum much recently over the past few months however I feel over the past few days I need a bit of advice/help. So basically during the past week a tragedy happened involving someone I know which was through suicide, having heard what happened it made me feel sick and it also involves Tinnitus. So the main problem and obsession I’m facing at the moment is the fear of developing tinnitus, over the past day or so I’ve felt on edge and very sensitive to noise so when I’m sitting in bed and it’s silent I keep obsessing if I’ve developed tinnitus or not, if my ears are ringing or I’m hearing a noise related to tinnitus, it’s hard to explain but when I’m sat in bed silent or even with the tv on I’m testing and going over and over in my head listening out to see if i can hear a noise and I’ve noticed that by doing so it’s like a white noise sound, when sitting and listening for it just feels like a fuzzy noise which isn’t too loud so now my anxiety has increased a lot as I’m obsessing over this. The problem is I don’t know the difference between tinnitus or whether it’s just silence and I’m testing it and overthinking it too much. Does this sound normal and has anyone else experienced this? If so any help would be much appreciated.

Hi all, Its been a hard couple of weeks I’ve recently started my new job and had problems on and off with my girlfriend for a few weeks now, I started my therapy again around January and I’ve had around 6/7 sessions upto now, I’ve been learning exposure & response prevention therapy, however I feel as though I’m really struggling to get to grips with it, if the exposure & response prevention involves deliberately thinking an obsessional thought then what do you do when the thought is constantly there on your mind, this is the problem I face and don’t understand about how it will help, I constantly have the same intrusive thought stuck on my mind repeating in my head so what do I do when it comes to exposure therapy? I’ve tried it when at home alone and my anxiety doesn’t seem to decrease it just stays the same and the thought still repeats on it’s own it’s like I can’t stop the thought it’s just involuntary and it’s making me struggle. Any help or advice would be much appreciated.

@JennieWren @PolarBear thanks for the help, it’s been a tough few weeks, it’s more that I’m experiencing new intrusive thoughts and latching onto others obsessions that I’ve read on the forum which is causing me a huge amount of anxiety.

Hi, just wanted a bit of advice and help if anyone can relate. So I’ve had the fear of going mad or developing schizophrenia for a while now and it’s been running through my mind a lot lately, however as I’ve stated in a previous post about being called “ paranoid “ I’ve started to obsess over paranoia now and to make it worse a topic on the forum I read through the other night has triggered my mind with various upsetting and thoughts that are making me panic. So basically I have this worry that what’s if I’m going mad? It’s like I’m testing myself to see if I’m being paranoid or not if that makes sense, for example I struggle with POCD so when I was in work today I started testing my worry’s by thinking that a mother with her child knows that I struggle with pocd or my work colleagues know an then they’ll start assuming I’m a “ P “ then I start doubting myself with past events when I have actually felt a bit paranoid about a different scenario and then assuming I must be paranoid. It’s so confusing tho as I worry maybe I am paranoid but really I’m worrying that I could turn paranoid therefore I’m testing myself by making scenarios up in my head if that makes sense? I’m just confused as to what the difference is between actually being paranoid an unaware of it and worrying/doubting that I’m paranoid. If anyone can relate and has any help it would be much appreciated.

Hi all, the past week or so has been a really tough week to cope with and my intrusive thoughts have came back so strong, is it normal for the thoughts to spike out of nowhere and feel even more real/strong than previous times? I just haven’t been able to let the thoughts pass without questioning and doubting myself, I’ve felt like a horrible sicko and I keep making myself feel sick to my stomach with each thought that appears, it’s mainly Harm, PCD and the fears of going mad and being schizophrenic, I just feel so down after the progress I’ve made since last year and I just really don’t want to go back to the way I was when the anxiety was at its worst that’s my biggest fear, I also keep having this worry that I’m going to turn mad or I’ll be locked away out of the way of my loved ones and society. The thing is i know it’s my OCD but the thoughts are that sickening that I just can’t accept them or let them pass and it’s causing me a insignificant amount of anxiety. I feel like every single thought has came back ten times stronger and I keep wanting to tell my loved ones as the thoughts are making me feel so run down in myself but at the same time I don’t want to be telling them the same thoughts/ worry’s over and over again. I don’t know whether a few things have contributed to the feeling of a relapse as I’ve recently only 2/3 weeks ago started my new job and most of the time it’s in a fast pace moving environment but when I’ve been in work I haven’t been able to take my mind off these thoughts and they keep getting triggered and it makes me really panicky, I’ve also just had a rough 2 weeks with other things but I won’t go into detail just general life stuff but I’ve felt really down and rough the past 2 weeks. I just really want to know it’s going to be ok but at the moment I feel alone and down and I just feel so disgusted with myself. Any help would be much appreciated

Hi, I understand fully the effects will have and at times I’m stupid, the fact that I go out with my friends and the influence of it is bad enough, I really do need to put my foot down and start looking at the positive options rather than actions that are going to worsen my anxiety

Hi all, had a good few weeks and I’ve felt a lot better, however this past week has been a tough struggle and I feel like a bit of support is needed. So the past few weekends I’ve been out regularly and drank and also stupidly I know taken drugs, I know it’s silly and it’s not good for my anxiety I’ve realised that, but the past few weekends of going out have caught up on me and I’ve noticed a huge increase in my anxiety and ive paid a lot more attention to my intrusive thoughts. The intrusive thoughts have all came back at once and it’s been hard to dismiss them as it’s a range of Harm, Sexual, Pocd and schizophrenia obsessions etc and as it’s been a few months now without the intrusive thoughts being so strong I’ve found it hard to cope and dismiss them, also I was wondering is it normal to get new intrusive thoughts as this has made my anxiety increase too and I’ve been wanting to seek reassurance by telling my loved ones about each new thought I get but I know it won’t help I now any way. The past few days have been a struggle and I’ve tried hard not too seek any reassurance but with the anxiety increase it’s made me feel down.

It's really making my stomach turn, but do you thinks it's best to confess I just don't want to upset her an I'm scared of losing her

That it doesn't matter just as long as you love the person you are with