When most of my patients begin treatment, they believe that they may be insane and that no one else could think as crazily as they do. I would estimate that about a third of my patients suffer from some form of them. Fears of acting out other sexually inappropriate behaviors may also occur.Īlthough the number of people who suffer from this type of OCD is still not exactly clear, it is probably more common than most people think. Sexual thoughts in this category usually involve raping or sexually abusing children or other adults. Mothers may experience repeated thoughts of acting violently towards their infants or small children. They often avoid going to such places as train platforms, pedestrian-filled street corners or being in crowded public places. In reaction, sufferers tend to fear being alone with anyone smaller and weaker they feel they could easily overpower, such as children and elderly people. One patient of mine would have thoughts of opening one of the exit doors aboard an airliner. Others fear snapping or going berserk in public and harming people.
Some report thoughts of hitting pedestrians, ramming their cars into bridge abutments on the highway, or steering into the path of oncoming traffic. The urges they experience may involve pushing or throwing themselves or others into the paths of trains or cars, out of windows, or off balconies, buildings, or other high places. They may envision themselves using sharp or pointed objects such as knives, forks, scissors, pencils, pens, broken bottles, letter openers, ice picks, power tools, poison, their bare hand’s, or even their cars. These can include those in which people see themselves hitting, stabbing, strangling, mutilating, or otherwise injuring their children family members, stranger’s pets, or even themselves. Violent thoughts may involve both mental images and impulses to act. I include thoughts of acting out sexually in this category as they really represent a form of violence and have little to do with sex. This is particularly true of those obsessions in this category that are violent in nature and include thoughts of killing or injuring others or oneself, or of acting sexually in ways that are against society’s norms. While all forms of OCD can be painful, paralyzing, repulsive, and debilitating one of the nastier and more startling is the type known as morbid obsessions. These would include intrusive unpleasant thoughts, unceasing doubt, guilt fears of being insane, and crushing anxiety. There are dozens of categories of different obsessions and compulsions that make up the disorder known as OCD, and while these cover a wide range of differing themes, they all share many characteristics in common. This article was initially published in the Summer 2004 edition of the OCD Newsletter. How I Treat OCD Killer Thoughts: Treating Violent Obsessions
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