How can obsession be dangerous

In contrast, violent offenders are often gratified by the idea of hurting others. People with Harm OCD experience their obsessions as highly threatening. Common obsessions for Harm OCD include:. As noted above, compulsions are aimed at reducing this distress. Some common types of compulsions include avoidance, reassurance, and repetitive mental acts.

OCD for most is determined by both environment and biology. Individuals with all types of OCD, including Harm OCD, have learned that their anxiety and fear is temporarily relieved through engaging in various compulsive behaviors e. The problem with this approach is that these same compulsive behaviors need to be repeated whenever a triggering situation or anxious thought comes up.

This short-term anxiety relieving approach ends up becoming a long-term deficit. Although this might sound straightforward, recovering from Harm OCD involves careful planning and constant adjustment.

An OCD-trained therapist knows what to anticipate when you describe your thoughts and behaviors, and how to build your personalized treatment program. Their expertise is in teaching you how to manage your OCD and make positive changes in all areas of your life. Left untreated, people with OCD can struggle with their thoughts, fears, and behaviors for years.

Maybe both. He is now no longer in our home or a part of our family. The process has been very painful for our whole family, but it came to a point where either he had to leave or I would have to.

My wife and I go to Families Anonymous, and it helps, but I probably still think of my son dozens of times a day, and each time I get derailed. In some ways it would be easier if he had died, I could go through the grief process. As a way of sharing some of my struggle with all you anonymous internet readers. Thank you and I wish you all success in your paths to wholeness.

To whom it may concern; My sister is in a psyciatric hospital for the second time in 1 month. For the past 5 years she has struggled with depression but never out of control. She is obsessed with getting back with her ex-boyfriend. They did not have a healthy relationship and she knows that it is not best to get back with him. In her state of mind that is all she talkes about. He does not want anything to do with her because she scares him. She has made comments which she said are only jokes.

She has mentioned that he could die today and that if he does not take her back then she will burn his house down. She has also talked of wrecking her car. As her family we are all nervous about her getting out and coming home. Please give me some advise of what I can say to her when she talks about him. I want to positively enforce something but I am at a loss. After reading all the comments, I too believe I am obsessed. I could no longer continue my 15yr relationship with my partner at that time as the shame and doubt of this horrible affair tore me apart inside.

I am obsessed with a friend I met about a year ago. She was one of those people that seemed pretty much perfect and so I immediately thought she was cool and wanted to get to know her and be friends. I had become the person who I had always dis liked. The annoying obsessive friend. So I was completely ashamed and embarassed. I decided to cut off any access to communicate with her. I deleted her number out of my phone and promised myself to not contact her or overly excited when we spoke in person.

Obsession an excessive mental focus that turns into an unhealthy need that has potential to ruin alot of great things in your life. I constantly stalk him on facebook, try to meet him in the hallway by finding out his whole schedule, find out as much information on him as possible. I stalk his friends too. I save pictures from facebook of him onto my computer.

I try everything to get him to notice me. I get outraged when other girls talk to him. All i think about is him. I find it hard to focus on other things. Please can someone help me? Omg, me too. I feel like getting lunch detention just to be able to talk to him.

I hate Brighton there! I want to talk to him so bad! Oh lord, someone help me -. Mother was depressed and narcisstic same case with entire relatives and brother also. I have serious obsession problem from childhood. I think from 7th grade. I would keep thinking about boys. If sadness was shamed, we might obsess about a romantic interest to avoid feeling the pain of loneliness or rejection.

Yet, we can also obsess about a small problem to avoid facing a larger one. A perfectionist might obsess about a minor flaw in his or her appearance, but not acknowledge feelings of inferiority or unloveability.

If our obsession helps us avoid taking action, we can get support to face our fears and act. False memory OCD isn't a formal diagnosis but a subtype of the disorder. Here's how it manifests and how you can manage it. Many people are surprised to learn that children can have OCD too.

There are many things caregivers can do to help a child manage their OCD symptoms. Living with OCD often involves feeling regret about things you really couldn't control anyway. Here's how I've learned to manage this. Skin picking disorder is relatively common. Learn about symptoms of dermatillomania, as well as how it's treated.

Living with OCD is challenging, and navigating the condition within a relationship can bring its own challenges. Here's how to help a spouse who has…. Many people with OCD feel responsibility more strongly, known as hyper-responsibility.

If this is affecting you, support is available. Many people have felt the pain of a broken heart and the intensity of infatuation. Obsessive love takes these emotions further, causing a person to fixate on their loved one as though they are an object or possession.

However, obsessive love can be a sign of other mental health challenges and conditions. If the person experiencing feelings of obsessive love does not receive treatment for the overall symptoms, they may struggle to emotionally regulate these feelings.

In very extreme cases, this may even trigger acts of violence or abuse. Keep reading to learn more about what characterizes obsessive love, the causes and symptoms behind it, and some possible treatment options.

Likewise, there is no single list of criteria that can distinguish obsessive love from real love. Love is a potent force.

People with feelings of love experience a rush of dopamine and other powerful brain chemicals. For some people, these feelings are so powerful that they become obsessed with keeping and controlling the person they love.

They may appear to worship their partner at times, but become angry or jealous at the slightest threat. Rather than loving the person and wanting the best for them, people with obsessive tendencies may love the other person because of their own needs. Real love requires compromise and negotiation, while obsessive love demands that the object of affection submits to the demands of their partner.

Real love involves accepting the other person and acknowledging their flaws. Obsessive love may involve worship and a refusal to acknowledge any flaws. Obsessive love makes it very difficult for a person to let go. Although breakups are usually painful and can trigger unhealthful behavior, people with feelings of obsessive love may refuse to accept that the relationship has ended.

Obsessive love sometimes involves a relationship that does not actually exist, such as with a celebrity or a stranger. There are many factors that may cause obsessive love. The sections below discuss these factors in more detail. Mental health conditions such as bipolar I disorder and schizophrenia , as well as symptoms triggered by alcohol use disorder, may cause delusions of erotomania.

This is not the same thing as obsessive love, but it may be a symptom of a much more serious mental health condition. Erotomania is a rare delusional disorder that may cause a person to believe that destiny requires a specific relationship.

The person may even delude themselves into believing that a relationship that ended long ago is still loving and healthy. Erotomania can also cause a person to believe that another person loves them. Sometimes, the object of their love may even be someone that they do not know.