![]() ![]() The first part of the therapy – exposure – happens when the individual allows themselves (with the help of their therapist) to encounter the triggering object, image, or environment that begins their cycle of intrusive thoughts. They may also endlessly question themselves in an effort to answer, once and for all, if they are capable of injuring anyone (including themselves).Īs with classic OCD, Exposure and Ritual Prevention (ERP) is the treatment for any OCD subset, like Harm OCD. ![]() Asking others if they think the person with Harm OCD could hurt others.Compulsive praying or carrying and using spiritual items so that they won’t lose control.Spending excessive amounts of time online, researching violent crimes and ideology in an effort to know whether they have things in common with the offenders.Avoiding watching the news or such things as violent movies, television shows or videos, so as to keep from triggering violent ideas.Reviewing their every action to see if they could have, or did, cause harm.Hiding dangerous objects (kitchen knives, poisonous chemicals, medications, ropes, razor blades, and the like) so they aren’t tempted to use them to hurt someone.In response to their intrusive thoughts, people who experience Harm OCD engage in compulsions and rituals to help relieve their anxiety. Worry they are hiding their true nature from themselves and others and that they are really a vicious, aggressive person who will act out someday because they will lose control.Be terrified that they will hurt someone (or themselves) on impulse – whether intentionally or not.Fixate on the idea that they could inadvertently be responsible for causing harm and not realize it (for example, they may worry about running someone over by accident, and then leaving the scene because they were unaware of what they had done).Have aggressive thoughts or see images in their minds of violence and worry that this means they will carry them out.Once they complete the ritual, they feel less anxious, but then the intrusive thought comes again, setting up endless cycles of doubt and fear. Having these intrusive thoughts leads to engaging in compulsions and rituals to decrease the anxiety the person feels about the thought. As a result, they want full assurance that they won’t act on the thought. Wherein someone without OCD could have a violent thought and recognize that it is simply a thought, a person with OCD who has the Harm OCD subset worries that just having the thought is somehow meaningful. OCD makes the individual feel that they can’t trust their own mind. The condition is characterized by having aggressive, intrusive thoughts of doing violence to someone, as well as the responses the person uses to cope with these thoughts. Harm OCD is a subset of classic obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). ![]()
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