Understanding OCD through Real Events: When the Past Gets in the Way of the Mind

People who have symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) often worry about getting sick or they often feel that they are being checked out or any disaster is happening to them in their life soon. Real event OCD is a less well-known type of OCD that focuses on things that have actually occurred.

In this article we will explain what is real event OCD? In real event OCD intrusive and unwanted thoughts, seeking reassurance and mental reviewing. By the end of this article, you’ll know more about OCD and have some helpful tips as well.

What is Real Event OCD?

Real event OCD is also called RE-OCD. This is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder in which the obsessions are about real event that actually happened in the past.
In real life OCD

• The person keep recalling the event in their mind. People keep asking questions, and keep doubting their memory of this event.
• The person with real event OCD might be worried about being a bad person, or doing something that is morally wrong.
• Obsessions and compulsions are about how a person reacts to something that really happened in his or her life.
• The person with real event OCD goes over their thoughts again and again and checks their internal memory.

The Differences between normal OCD and real event OCD, it is a normal act to remember your mistakes or thinking about “what if?” over time. But in OCD, the intrusive and disturbing thoughts don’t get better over time but they get worse.

• The pain to remembering past events again and again is disturbing and makes it hard to do everyday tasks.
• Too much energy of person is wasted in thinking past events over and over again or doing compulsive activities.
• The compulsions make worse instead of making the worry go away.
• Real event OCD makes the compulsion cycle more stronger because these compulsions are about something that really happened.

Common Manifestations: Intrusive Thoughts, Mental Reviewing & Reassurance

Thoughts that are unwanted and intrusive are unpleasant or obsessions, are the main part of OCD.

In real event OCD, these obsessive thoughts often focus on:
•”Did I really do that?”
• “What if I hurt someone?”
• “Did I do or say something wrong?”
• Repeatedly playing back details of the event.
The person with obsessions might feel very guilty, anxious and ashamed about the moral consequences of what they did.

One of the most unbearable compulsions in actual event OCD is mental reviewing. Mental reviewing means going over various parts of the event over and over again and try to find “mistakes” or fix what “went wrong.

The person actual event OCD may

• Look at voice tone and body language, or things that were not said

• Ask again and again “Did I hurt them?”
• Look into other ideas about what might have happened.

Why having real event OCD can be painful?

• Real event OCD are very painful because here the focus is on real memory.
  The real event OCD makes you feel more embarrassed or guilty about what had happened.
• The person suffering from obsessions may think that letting go something is wrong.
• Sometime false memories or distortions that come from frequent evaluation sometime make present things less clear.
• The person with real event OCD feel difficult to live in present because they feel stuck in past.
• All of this makes OCD very painful, because the mind with real event OCD stay focused on present and past instead of thinking about future.

The Place of Real Event OCD in the Bigger Picture of OCD

Real event OCD is similar to obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) in its basic traits and structures. Real event OCD also have its own unique traits as well.

What are Obsessions?

Obsessions are persistent and bothersome thoughts that can be images or emotions. These obsessions make people emotionally upset.

What are Compulsions?

Compulsions are those actions and thoughts that are performed to reduce anxiety and to fight with anxiety. Compulsions are performed to reduce thoughts that are going in mind to relief. The cycle of obsessions and compulsions goes on to release anxiety and doubts.

Obsessive-Compulsive and Related disorders includes

1. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder
2. Body Dysmorphic Disorder
3. Hoarding Disorder
4. Trichotillomania (hair pulling disorder)
5. Excoriation (Skin picking disorder)
6. Substance and Medication Induce Obsessive compulsive Disorder

Other Obsessive compulsive disorders includes nail biting, cheek chewing, lip biting, obsessional jealousy and other olfactory reference disorder.

OCD is defined by the presence of obsessions than perform compulsions to relief this anxiety by compulsions.

Obsessions are repeated and persistent thoughts and needs that are unwanted and intrusive while compulsions are repetitive behaviors that individual perform in response to these obsessions to relief anxiety.