However, most people can leave such classes or read about these topics and move on to other thoughts afterwards. These same questions might come up in a university philosophy or physics class. The questions usually revolve around the meaning, purpose, or reality of life, or the existence of the universe or even one’s own existence. Then I ask myself, what is the use of doing anything if we’re all going to die anyway?”Įxistential OCD involves intrusive, repetitive thinking about questions which cannot possibly be answered, and which may be philosophical or frightening in nature, or both. I have continual thoughts of how one day I’ll be dead and no one will remember me.
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I keep going over it in my mind all day long. Steve, a 26 year-old computer programmer: “I can’t stop thinking about why we’re all here and whether there’s any purpose to life. However, for those with a type of OCD called Existential OCD, or “Philosophical OCD”, these questions can become all consuming. Many of us grapple with existential questions about the meaning of life, the universe, existence, and so on, at one point in our lives. OCD is insidious, as it seems to have a way of finding out what will bother someone the most. The types and topics of your obsessions and compulsions are limited only by your brain’s ability to imagine. The reality is, there are many forms that OCD can take. Thus, it can be difficult to recognize the types of OCD that don’t resemble these common stereotypes. Individuals with OCD are seen as people who either wash their hands too frequently, or who are super-organized and perfectionistic. Many people in the general public and the media have a very stereotypical image of what OCD is all about.
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This article was initially published in the Fall 2013 edition of the OCD Newsletter. To Be Or Not To Be, That Is The Obsession: Existential and Philosophical OCD