Obsessive Compulsive Disorder differentiates between each sufferer, but there is still a massive and barely touched-on stigma of OCD being all about cleanliness that remains. To break that stigma, is it essential that people know about the different forms OCD takes. Harm OCD is a common-and terrifying-type of the disorder.
So, what is Harm OCD?
Harm OCD is a common form of OCD. A sufferer of harm OCD has repeated and unwanted thoughts about harming themselves or others (called intrusive thoughts). These thoughts are often unwanted and cause a great deal of anxiety and stress for the sufferer (intrusive thoughts).
Some examples of Harm OCD intrusive thoughts would be about harming a family member or loved one, purposely crashing a car into a group of people, or killing someone. The intrusive thoughts differ between the sufferer, but these are all common examples of intrusive thoughts in Harm OCD.
These thoughts are always unwanted. Intrusive means "causing disruption or annoyance from being unwelcome or uninvited". This means that intrusive thoughts can barely be controlled, and are upsetting and unwanted to those who get them.
It is common to have intrusive thoughts occasionally, but for people with OCD, the thoughts are constant and exhausting. For people with OCD, the anxiety brought on by these intrusive thoughts can only be lessened by carrying out rituals. These rituals can be anything from counting to repeating phrases of reassurance, but again, they differ between sufferers. Carrying out these rituals lessen the anxiety until the intrusive thought creeps in again, repeating the cycle over and over, sometimes hundreds of times every single day. For people with OCD, this is both terrifying and exhausting.
People with Harm OCD will not act on these thoughts of self harm or hurting others, which is very important to know. No matter how concerning or disturbing these thoughts are, the sufferer will not act out on them. In fact, they will often go to great lengths to avoid doing them.
"It's so hard to be open about Harm OCD," one sufferer, Moe* said, "I would never act out on my intrusive thoughts. They are unwanted and terrify me, and I constantly carry out my rituals because my OCD convinces me that unless I do them, I will harm others. I have thoughts of crashing a car into a group of strangers, and I know I'd never do it, but it's the 'what if' aspect of OCD that keeps the cycle going."
Because of the stigma, many people with Harm OCD go undiagnosed for years, often because of guilt, but also because of the lack of awareness on what OCD really is.
"I thought I was a crazy, horrible person for so long. Even when I was first diagnosed, I just didn't believe it. Because of the stigma and the jokes, I thought OCD was all about being a neat freak, but there's so much more to it that I didn't know about, and that destroyed my life for so long."
Sufferers of Harm OCD need to be understood. Is is a common theme of OCD, but because of the assumptions of OCD, people go untreated and suffer in silence, and this needs to change.
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