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 themselves (suicide obsessions). This post will focus on aggressive obsessions that involve the fear of harming or killing other people. Aggressive obsessions involving suicide and self-harm will be addressed in a subsequent post. Fear of Harming or Killing Others Aggressive obsessions often focus on violent, murderous (stabbing, shooting, choking, poisoning), or criminal (arson, bank robberies) acts and involve graphic mental images of blood, injury, and death. Individuals with violent obsessions may fear becoming serial killers or deliberately hurting someone they love. Aggressive obsessions affect individuals...
Read MoreHarm 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 touch it, you might lose control and snap its neck. In either scenario, the most horrifying part is that you’re afraid that you might secretly want to act on these unwanted thoughts. After all, why would the thought keep coming if it didn’t mean something? Violent Obsessions, Harm Obsessions, & Bad Thoughts This is the daily reality for many adults, teens, and children who experience harm obsessions, also known as violent obsessions, a type of OCD symptom that involves unwanted, repetitive violent thoughts, impulses,...
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