Terrified if I'm attracted to my mother, or if it's just OCD

[LukeLaLaLand]

These definitely sound like intrusive thoughts. It's like "don't think of an elephant", you can't tell yourself not to think of something. I think by sort of 'testing' these things you're only making yourself more confused.

I think you'd benefit from counselling or therapy - talking to someone else can help you better understand how you're thinking. If you're concerned you have OCD then that would also be the place to start. They also by law have to keep it confidential. Your doctor could point you in the right direction, as well.

Remember that no-one neatly has all the symptoms of everything and there can be a lot of crossover. I get intrusive thoughts brought on by stress.

 

[Reddit384723]

These definitely sound like intrusive thoughts. It's like "don't think of an elephant", you can't tell yourself not to think of something. I think by sort of 'testing' these things you're only making yourself more confused.

I think you'd benefit from counselling or therapy - talking to someone else can help you better understand how you're thinking. If you're concerned you have OCD then that would also be the place to start. They also by law have to keep it confidential. Your doctor could point you in the right direction, as well.

Remember that no-one neatly has all the symptoms of everything and there can be a lot of crossover. I get intrusive thoughts brought on by stress.

I hope you’re referring to my last post!

Yeah, I’d go to therapy if I had healthcare, which I don’t have right now. I was confident that this was OCD, but one last thing has me torn up about this. If I still get an erection while looking at my mother, but I’m not thinking about sex while looking, does that still count as groinal response? The only thing that could explain what causes it other than sexual thoughts is anxiety, but often when I was testing myself, I was fairly calm, so I’m questioning whether or not I was dealing with anxiety. I can’t find any information online that makes my OCD, if that’s what’s causing this, stop thinking there’s a possibility that, if I’m not thinking about sex, groinal response rules

 

[LukeLaLaLand]

Hm, maybe your employer has an on-site counsellor? If you're 25 then you're probably eligible for youth counselling they might have in your area - worth a Google?

There's a big problem with testing yourself: it's a paradox. You're worried you feel a certain way, so you try to test if it's true, which just makes you worry more, which also affects how you interpret what you see.

I also would say that anxiety doesn't have to be obvious, even to you. I've had times in my life where I've felt really sick, and not realised it was brought on by stress - for example, consciously I felt optimistic about exams, but subconsciously I was anxious, which was coming out as feeling sick.

There's also an effect - I can't remember what it's called - where you seek out something that causes you anxiety, because you feel like you'd rather have done "the unthinkable" than be stuck worrying about "the unthinkable".

Can I just clarify: are you worried you have OCD, or are you someone who has OCD who wants to know whether this experience falls under OCD? Either way, this is textbook 'intrusive thoughts', so you don't need to prove that it isn't how you really feel. I think if you keep trying to prove it one way or the other, you're going to cause yourself more distress.

The best thing to do is try to look after yourself on the whole. I'm sorry it's hard for you to access help in your situation; the internet may give you some resources that can help with symptoms of OCD (I know there are even apps for helping with symptoms), and as ever, ideally you'd speak to a professional. To be honest, some of the replies in this thread have given misleading advice (everything Freud said about this kind of thing is notoriously a load of rubbish!)

 

[Reddit384723]

Hm, maybe your employer has an on-site counsellor? If you're 25 then you're probably eligible for youth counselling they might have in your area - worth a Google?

There's a big problem with testing yourself: it's a paradox. You're worried you feel a certain way, so you try to test if it's true, which just makes you worry more, which also affects how you interpret what you see.

I also would say that anxiety doesn't have to be obvious, even to you. I've had times in my life where I've felt really sick, and not realised it was brought on by stress - for example, consciously I felt optimistic about exams, but subconsciously I was anxious, which was coming out as feeling sick.

There's also an effect - I can't remember what it's called - where you seek out something that causes you anxiety, because you feel like you'd rather have done "the unthinkable" than be stuck worrying about "the unthinkable".

Can I just clarify: are you worried you have OCD, or are you someone who has OCD who wants to know whether this experience falls under OCD? Either way, this is textbook 'intrusive thoughts', so you don't need to prove that it isn't how you really feel. I think if you keep trying to prove it one way or the other, you're going to cause yourself more distress.

The best thing to do is try to look after yourself on the whole. I'm sorry it's hard for you to access help in your situation; the internet may give you some resources that can help with symptoms of OCD (I know there are even apps for helping with symptoms), and as ever, ideally you'd speak to a professional. To be honest, some of the replies in this thread have given misleading advice (everything Freud said about this kind of thing is notoriously a load of rubbish!)

Well I’m unemployed and in the process of receiving disability right now so I’m kinda out of luck. It’s both but more the latter, that I’m trying to be sure that this is just part of OCD rather than something like incest. I was confident that it was until it dawned on me that I wasn’t 100 percent sure about something else that happened a couple months back. I’ve been trying to find detailed info about groinal response related to OCD, but it hasn’t been descriptive enough. So I guess I’m seeking reassurance or posting on here to get that descriptive info from experienced members on here

 

[Reddit384723]

@LukeLaLaLand

I've continued to worry about this for the past month and these intrusive thoughts haven't gone away because I haven't been able to resolve this:

Ugh I can’t stop hyperfocusing on this and checking for clarity:

I reread the article on the first page, and I take note of the term “sexual intrusive thought” and what that can mean. If I got erect while looking at my mother’s face (during “challenging myself”) instead of her other body parts, would that count as a sexual intrusive thought?
Just wanted to ask instead of going right to the challenging, plus that would be reinforcing the intrusive thoughts and just make them stronger so that’s not productive.

I guess I’m driving myself crazy!

I forgot to mention that I wouldn’t be thinking about having sex with her while looking, I’d merely be observing her face. I remembered that a couple months back, I challenged myself to do this, and got erect. Would that still count as a groinal response related to OCD? From what I understand, the groinal responses come from thinking about anything related to sex.

Sorry if you already stated that you believe these were intrusive thoughts, but you didn't directly refer to this specific worry, just overall what I was talking about. So I'm going to ask you: is what I stated above indicative of an intrusive sexual thought related to OCD, or could it be something else?

 

[LukeLaLaLand]

Sorry, I haven't been on this website in a while. From my point of view, this is definitely an intrusive thought. And I actually think your fear that it's something else is a different kind of intrusive thought.

 

[Schitzoaffective007]

Psychotherapy...get it...