Harm OCD: Symptoms and Treatment

Harm OCD can occur on its own later in life or as a continuation of a lifetime struggle with the condition. Children with OCD frequently experience intrusive ideas of harming their parents, siblings, or peers. These thoughts may involve physical attacks or the erroneous notion that “bad” thoughts would result in bad luck or poor health for a loved one.

Without the background knowledge of OCD and the different ways it can affect a person’s life, late-onset “Harm OCD” can be especially disturbing because it can seem like you’ve just gone insane. It is not unusual for someone who had previously shown little to no symptoms of OCD to suddenly become aware of a harm thought during a stressful event. They may then find themselves going through compulsions all day long in an attempt to repress thoughts of hurting someone they would never have imagined hurting.

Additionally, OCD sufferers may find that intrusive violent obsessions only emerge after protracted struggles with other types of OCD have ceased. All types of OCD, if left untreated, will inevitably gravitate towards whatever is most likely to result in compulsive behavior. Therefore, until it is treated, another obsession often replaces the one that is no longer triggering. In actuality, the intensity of our love for our partners, kids, family members, etc., is what makes them OCD targets because it is the thing that is most likely to arouse our strongest desire to protect.

Self-Harm Obsessions in OCD

Some people may also have intrusive thoughts of harming themselves, which are frequently caused by them envisioning ways to cope with their anxiety and then being afraid of the ideas that come to mind. It is crucial to remember that actual self-harm acts, like cutting, are completely distinct from fear of self-harm. In a similar vein, actual suicidal thoughts are not the same as the fear of suicide. While true suicidal thinking is associated with the fantasy of ending one’s life, some people with Harm OCD have an obsessive fear of self-harm, which is frequently linked to unwanted intrusive thoughts of losing control. It is crucial to remember that people with Harm OCD are not more likely than the general population to act violently, and that having Harm OCD does not make one dangerous to others or to themselves. That said, treatment providers should discuss these types of thoughts with their clients to clarify and determine issues of intent.

Harm OCD Treatment

As with other forms of OCD, it is important that the sufferer seek treatment with a psychotherapist who specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT) specifically for the treatment of OCD. The primary CBT technique used in treating Harm OCD is the same as that used in treating other types of OCD, and is called Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). Unfortunately, many individuals with harming obsessions seek out traditional talk therapy or psychodynamic therapy, both of which can swiftly worsen a Harm OCD sufferer’s condition by encouraging them to further examine these meaningless thoughts, which only serves to unnecessarily inflate their importance.

In our other installments of this series, we discuss in-depth the treatment of Harm OCD using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy integrated with mindfulness. For now, if you are experiencing Harm OCD, remember that you are not alone, that your condition is very treatable, and above all, that you are not crazy.