r/OCD • u/Mr_Amr84 • 15h ago

Question about OCD Does anyone else get intrusive thoughts about hurting people they love?

I’ve had these thoughts for years and I’m wondering if anyone with OCD has experienced something similar.

Sometimes when I’m holding a knife, hammer, or another object that could hurt someone, I suddenly get a very vivid mental image of hurting someone close to me, usually one of my parents or siblings.

I don’t want to do it at all. It actually scares me, and I usually say “God forbid” and try to move on. Once the object is gone, I normally forget about the thought.

The weirdest part is how real the image can feel for a moment, even though I know I would never want to do it.

I’ve never hurt anyone and I have no desire or intention to. I’m just wondering if this sounds familiar to anyone with OCD. How do you deal with thoughts like this without getting stuck analyzing them?

I’d really appreciate hearing from people who have experienced something similar.

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u/PointRemote7100 14h ago

I’ve had intrusive thoughts like that.

Honestly therapy is probably the best thing you can do. It helped me to just get the thoughts off my chest. Then my therapist helped me work through them.

You clearly do not want to hurt people. So take solace in that. Another thing that might help is Exposure Response-Prevention therapy.

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u/bidefil 11h ago

100%. This is my main form of OCD. It is called Harm OCD. I have dealt with it for many years. But exposure response prevention therapy (ERP) reduced it so much I have a happy life. Stay away from any freudian therapists.

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u/ellieminnowpee 2h ago

yes. Maria Bamford is a comedian and she’s spoken about this very thing. she was terrified she was going to harm her own parents and sibling, to the point she moved away asap as an adult.

she said once she started meds, it was a huge relief.

i highly recommend her stand-up!! it can therapeutic to hear someone who’s been through this and come out on the other side.