Scary Thoughts as Costumes: The Illusion of Danger
It’s nearly Halloween, and kids around the country are digging through dusty closets and plundering the aisles of local Halloween shops in search of the perfect costume.
Halloween is the one night of the year when we give ourselves permission to be silly, scary, or fantastical. We can act a little weird, and nobody will … (read more)
Postpartum OCD – Fear of Harming Your Baby
Parents brace themselves for many changes when a new baby comes home. As new routines replace old, life quickly becomes a confusing jumble of cherished memories, bottles, and dirty diapers.
Parenting can be joyful, but it can also be terrifying.
Parenting comes with many important responsibilities, and it can be intimidating–if not downright frightening–to be … (read more)
Suicide Obsessions: Fear of Killing/Harming Yourself
Thoughts of death, dying, and suicide are an unfortunate reality for many individuals. In the U.S. alone between 2008 and 2009, approximately 3.7% of adults (8.3 million Americans) reported having suicidal thoughts (Crosby et al., 2011).
During that same time frame, approximately 2.2 million U.S. adults reported making specific plans to commit suicide. … (read more)
Fear of Hurting Other People
The fear of harming others can be a sign of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a neurobiological condition that is associated with repetitive, intrusive, distressing thoughts that can’t easily be dismissed.
Fear of Harming Other People On Purpose
Some aggressive obsessions involve the fear of harming others intentionally. In my last post about the fear … (read more)
Aggressive Obsessions: Fear of Harming or Killing Others
Aggressive obsessions go by many names. Harm obsessions, violent obsessions, morbid obsessions…the list goes on…
These symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) involve the fear of harming or killing other people. In other cases, aggressive obsessions are directed at the self, such as when individuals experience unwanted, intrusive, and recurrent thoughts about hurting or killing … (read more)
Harm Obsessions & Violent Obsessions
Imagine that you’re leaning down to kiss your young daughter goodnight, when BAM! You are jolted by an image of yourself stabbing her to death.
Alternatively, picture yourself as a young child who is intensely afraid of playing with your new puppy…not because you’re afraid of dogs but because you are afraid that if you … (read more)
Hit-and-Run OCD
“Hit and run” OCD involves the fear of accidentally hitting a pedestrian while driving. In most cases of hit-and-run obsessive-compulsive disorder, fears focus on unintentionally killing, injuring, or maiming a victim. Other individuals worry about causing car accidents or causing other vehicles to swerve and hit pedestrians.
Fear of Driving
Hit-and-run OCD, or motor … (read more)
