Undiagnosed but in need of advice

[unsureandunstable]

Hi all, 

Firstly I hope you are all well and keeping safe in this uncertain time!

I have struggled with my mental health most of my life - approximately 10 years -and all my therapies and medications have been focused around depression/anxiety. It was only recently a pop-up appeared on my social media that described OCD and, being interested in understanding the struggles that others face, I read the attachment. However, reading this I started to see many facts that occurred within myself.

For years I have been consumed by horrible, horrible thoughts such as my family being dreadfully hurt, my car bursting into flames as I am driving and the fear that I may become sexually attracted to kids (although I have absolutely no sexual attraction to them). These thoughts are so vivid to me and cause me so much agitation and distress to the point that I need to constantly phone my family to check they are alive, only drive when extremely necessary and if so check my car frequently and avoid situations with children present. 

I cannot find much information online about these obsessive thoughts to see if this could potentially be OCD so I thought getting some advice from people going through something similar may help. 

Obviously I am not seeking a diagnosis here; just some advice as to whether or not to speak to a doctor and, in your opinions, if this could maybe be OCD. 

[Lost in Thought]

Hi @unsureandunstable

Im not an expert but in my strictly amateur opinion it does sound like it could well be intrusive thoughts you are experiencing, however I would get expert advice and see if you can get a diagnosis. 
 

avoiding situations like with children will only give the thoughts power as your head will think maybe there is something in the thoughts as your going to such lengths to avoid contact.

Remember they are just thoughts not facts and just because you think something doesn’t mean you will act on it. 

[hazydaze]

Sounds like OCD to me! I'm not a professional, but experiencing extreme anxiety surrounding these thoughts coupled with the fact you are performing compulsions to relieve the anxiety caused by these thoughts, that is essentially all OCD is. The compulsions keep you in a never-ending cycle - the more compulsions you do, the more "important" you are making the thoughts seem to your brain, therefore the more your brain will deliver these unwanted thoughts back to you, and around and around it goes. I would recommend an official diagnosis if you think it would help, perhaps give you some clarity. A lot of medication and the type of talk therapy (cognitive-behavioural therapy [CBT]) are used for all 3 of the terrible trifecta; anxiety, OCD and depression, as they tend to go hand in hand to a certain extent. The delivery, depending on your specific ailment, for CBT will depend, but you may very well recognize some of the terms used as you dive deeper into information about OCD.

Best wishes!