It will always have 20 questions to ask for every answer you find. Then it manifests into “did I touch or kiss this person and don’t remember”, therefore racking my brain to remember if I did. The obsessions cause distress (notably a feeling of overwhelming guilt). Thank you for your reply! My therapist once told me that anything can become an obsession for those who suffer from OCD, and this applies to events in the past. Think about that. They’ll never lead to certainty. With regards to punishment I keep having these thoughts that this is going to lead to me having embarrassing bowel accidents/ developing incontinency. I also tend to dwell on the mistakes of others. I love her to bits and she is my everything. Though it comes in many flavors, one of the more common OCD themes I’ve seen is that of crime and punishment or what could be considered as guilt OCD. Some websites and professionals call this OCD theme something like real-life OCD, because an event did take place in real life that has become the focus of the sufferer. I just feel so guilty. Thank you for this post. Your blogs have helped relieve me, but as soon as I’m done reading a new thought comes in, worse then the last. They will explain that this is why traditional Cognitive Behavioral Therapy is not used for OCD. Things got really heated,lot of words were exchanged where I said ” Bitch please” to something she said for which she replied calling me something horrible and what followed was me arguing with my friends and my friend, his GF and her brother blocking me on FB till date. Soon enough the thoughts come back and you do more compulsions to try and feel better. I could be fired and go to jail if anyone knew . Although I have had multiple flare-ups of OCD symptoms since I developed the condition (in what I suspect to have been) during puberty, by far my worst was the one I have dealt with in the past 6 months. Forgiveness is within reach. I also had gronial response to my OCD which just added to the OCD and depression. It even makes people deny they deserve treatment. Thanks. Your upbringing. Refuse to get into mind debates about what did or didn’t happen. There are varying degrees of transgressions, but odds are they are not unforgivable. OCD apparently didn’t have any part in the formation of the crime/mistake. If I hurt someone’s feelings – apologised where possible. Running through a few hypothetical examples can help illustrate the various f… I started feeling guilty for all of my sexuality. These thoughts are killing me and I feel so unhappy. So is ruminating, which I’m sure you do a lot. Thank you in advance! Thanks again, (I ask as I have suffered from more BDD about 10 years ago and then bad thought ocd in the last 4-5 years and wondered if a relation). Example, Being at a pub with my boyfriend and after some drinks, being possibly flirty with a friend we made. You need to work on those compulsions, slowing them down then stopping them. I’ve suffered from this very element of OCD and I forget it is an aspect of the illness. Therefore feeling my relationship isn’t relevant or real if I hold these in. Hi. If the event happened like 16 years ago, I am 35, this was when I was 17-18 then how do I try and recall it clearly? In fact, it will probably have 60 questions just for the hell of it. Does this just take practice? The logic that OCD is able to employ is, in the worst kind of way, almost perfect. Now, my latest issue is with guilt and the overwhelming need to confess. Living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I am happy that I'm not alone, but I am sad that I'm not alone. I tried to straighten things out with my friend but to no avail. and any thoughts that might help. Soon enough the intrusive thoughts are back and you feel like confessing again. Obsessions are thoughts, images or impulses that occur over and over aga… With stopping the thought and repeating this in my head, will it eventually leave me be? On top of that I believe that my OCD began very early in life, and early puberty just aggravated my symptoms. I could barely eat or work when it was at its worst. Severity of anxiety is mild at times and downright terrible at other times. No, you don’t want to keep telling yourself that over and over. But its those mistakes that you learn from and enable you to grow. I was extremely drunk but found myself with another girl. At this time, no there is not. I confessed to her about all of this and she was understanding and it did made me feel better for a bit, but now I remembered this one time I though about sending a note to a girl I know that I find attractive. Rumination, the incessant reviewing of thoughts silently running through your mind. . You won’t find much written about this OCD theme. I don’t know if you fully understand , what I did was considered abuse. Treatments are generally either cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), medication such as a type of antidepressant called selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs), or a mixture of the two. I am not a therapist or a doctor and nothing in this piece should constitute professional medical and/or mental health advice. The good news is that it is treatable. It just goes on and on. This theme can result in cognitive distortions being exhibited, including all-or-nothing-thinking. I write an article on this website on how to stop ruminating. How in touch you are with your emotions. We had a major fight over this that night because I said I had hooked up with another girl. A big part of OCD is feelings of intense guilt and the need to confess things. Thanks for your help. Hi Paco and thanks for the comment. Where it gets scary is that it can bend, warp, and twist these memories. I’ve been struggling with guilt and I came across an OCD forum from people living with the same thing. Tell yourself you are not going to deal with these things. It’s okay to forget and move on. I’ve seriously messed up by confessing!! I’ve lied on documents , I’ve eaten food at work without permission , lied for a tax break, used the WiFi at work when I shouldn’t , slept while st work which is considered stealing time . This is one of most read articles on the website. Like any other theme, this theme can be dealt with using the tenets of CBT. Ocd past mistakes . I have always felt bad about it – often waking up at night feeling horrified – but for 2 years it has been literally every waking minute (I am now 30). Give yourself permission and stop going over it in your mind, Ok thanks, I just wish I could recall it in my more detail, but sadly as you say this cannot be done…..I think I have been winding myself up constantly trying to recall and it is impossible because of the time and memory change, Good article, relates incredibly closely to me, Also, why did this suddenly emerge in the last two years when I don’t recall thinking about it for over a decade? Ty. I was absolutely obsessed with these things for multiple hours a day. But if a do that with iam not a bad person over and over to help this linger guilt feeling of ocd would that work to the same methaide ? Any time you get a thought about being bad in the past and you get that urge to ruminate and confess, it’s a sure bet that OCD is to blame. Is there any way to get past this brick wall? It tells you your thoughts are not OCD, that they are legitimate and that your guilt and anxiety and pain is all deserved. So the thout would becomes less . ty for this dave i have ocd since a woz 15 and nuffin has really hit home as much is this blog did i done lot of cbt on this theme and done the higher arky of righten down the thouts in my head ocd it help . People get stuck on a minor event from their past. My OCD took complete hold of me recently. Though it still pops into my mind all the time – but I guess it takes time. And you’re right. No one can, not even yourself. With past mistakes, are there times when you really do need to confess and make amends? And the sufferer performs compulsions, most notably ruminating — going over the event in their mind repeatedly. Sleep was my only real relief. Everyone makes mistakes. (I am a good person. Why did I do what I did? I wasn’t sure if I touched her private part by mistake when trying to wake her up. I have had OCD for quite a long time now and the topic of the obsessions has changed a lot over time. When the sudden thought popped in August 2014, I started questioning myself as to whether I did touch her private part by mistake or intentional or is it some sort of false memory. I wanted to ask you if you know where i can get more information about this form of OCD? It could be about something that happened yesterday or 2 years ago. Then you try to figure it out, you analyze it, trying to see if what you did wad bad or not. I also know that this ruins relationships since the other person does not understand OCD thought process. “I did X, therefore I am evil.”. I would really appreciate if I can get your two cents for what I have been going through for the past 4 years.I am guessing I have been fighting with real event OCD for years. I feel I don’t deserve her and want to tell her. I’m trying to combat the thoughts when they come in (every 3 mins) with kind words like, “I am a good woman, I deserve this relationship, I did nothing wrong”. However, only recently I have found myself feeling extremely guilty over something I did 6 years ago when I was 20-21 years old. In my area there is no groups or other support in place, just prison for a person to “learn” from their mistakes. This is a very typical case of Real Life OCD. I was 28 years old and married at this time. While that appears to be true in most cases of this theme, the person nonetheless is dealing with OCD now. The most recent flavor of the week is me remembering things I have done and am obsessing about and needing to tell my boyfriend. ERP is part of CBT. That’s a compulsion too. That’s an interesting situation you have there. I had tried to wake up the girl to ask her not to snore since I really wanted to sleep. As everyone should know, OCD involves obsessions (intrusive thoughts) that cause distress. Address / Get Directions. I do the rumination of past events but what i tell myself is that it is the past their is nothing i can do about it, and to move on. Do you suggest CBT or ERP in my case? Ocd guilt over past mistakes Real mistakes or errors in judgment or perceived crimes can happen in real life. It lasted for few weeks and then the thoughts would again pop up. But that doesn’t translate into a lifetime of self punishment. Ty . The punishment (don’t deserbe to hold the job) does not fit the crime. You’re seeking clarity where none will be found. . Hi, I recently started reflecting on some of the mistakes of my past and with OCD I have a hard time coming to terms with them. I guess I feel like it’s not ocd for me since I genuinely have done wrong things. I asked myself when it first happened when would it be considered worthy enough to admit fault ? Like with other OCD themes, sufferers of this theme are their own worst enemies. You can tell yourself that a couple of times a day. She moved out for a few nights or so, was very awkward initially due to breaking her trust and I know it was my fault. Yes it takes lots of practice to ignore the thoughts. I’m 31. It's often silly things, I apologize to people and they don't even remember that I did what I did. No doubt ruminating is a big one with this theme. It’s something I haven’t thought about before. Of course I wouldn’t anyway. You can learn it on your own, though I think the best method is to go to a CBT therapist. But you can put your foot down and refuse to get into these mind debates. You likely really want to confess to try snd get rid of the anxiety you feel. 3 3. My old therapist also didn´t really treat my “obsession” about a mistake i made in the past the way we treated my other OCD topics. ? I’m thinking now on how to replace the food at work and how to tell the irs. 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