In episode 428 I chat with Kelly who has kindly agreed to share her OCD story with us.
We discuss health anxiety, postpartum OCD, harm OCD, violent intrusive thoughts, getting help, exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP), physical sensations alongside intrusive thoughts, words of hope, and much more. Hope it helps.
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Dr Russ Harris – The Happiness Trap https://amzn.to/3xjPrBp
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All the best,
Stuart
Hi from Denmark.
I loved this episode. For the past 11 years, since becoming a mother – I have on and off been struggeling with intrusive thoughts of harming my daughter, now daughters. It has been hell, as Kelly describes. How can you have these thoughts about the ones you love the most – what if I actually did it, and what does it say about me. It’s been extremely exhausting. And it turned worse after my divorce and being “forced” to be alone with them a lot of the time.
I am in the middle of trying to accept that this is part of me (this took me a while.. my current partner, who I have opened up to, helped a lot with this) and recently, I have (maybe therefore) become more interested in getting to know other people who struggle with exactly this (before I was too afraid and didn’t want to associate with OCD). I don’t know if this is possible at all – but is there any chance you – or Kelly could recommend an international network for parents who struggle with this? I struggle with finding others I can identify with and relate to, as this form of OCD (at least, that’s how I feel) is very specific.
Anyway, that was all. Thank you so much for sharing your story!
I wish you all the best,
Thanks Mirjam, and sorry to hear you’ve had a tough time.
I don’t know of any networks or support groups specifically. However, you can find some links to support groups here on our website: https://theocdstories.com/resources/
It’s also worth contacting the OCD charities to ask them: https://iocdf.org/ and https://ocdaction.org.uk/
Catherine does a lot for parents with OCD, she has some resources here: https://www.tamingolivia.com/info-and-resources
And if you haven’t tried therapy yet for OCD, it can be very helpful. Specifically Exposure and Response prevention therapy for OCD.
Wishing you all the best,
Stuart