What Is Harm OCD ??
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Harm OCD is a term used to describe OCD when intrusive thoughts focus on the possibility of harming others.
The thoughts can take the form of fear you’ll harm someone close to you, a fear you’ll harm a stranger, or a fear you’ve harmed someone in the past and didn’t realize or don’t remember it.
It’s not uncommon for people to have a thought about harming someone, even if they don’t actually want to. What makes harm OCD a problem is when you take these thoughts (or impulses or images) to be a dangerous sign. In other words, you interpret the thought to mean that you’re likely to act on it.
Someone without harm OCD might, for example, have a passing thought about stabbing a family member, and react by thinking, “I’m not going to do that,” and never think about it again. By contrast, someone with harm OCD who has that thought will become preoccupied with the possibility they will act on the thought. This often turns into a preoccupation with preventing the harm from happening — more on this below.
What Is OCD? What Are Compulsions?
OCD is a clinical psychiatric disorder that is marked by the presence of obsessions and/or compulsions. Obsessions are typically thoughts that are unwanted and produce marked anxiety. Often obsessions are about a taboo topic, e.g., what if I jumped in front of that subway train? or maybe I find that child sexually attractive. Harm obsessions are considered to be taboo thoughts, as they typically involve thoughts of harming someone vulnerable, a loved one, or someone clearly undeserving of harm. Examples would include thoughts of punching/killing/stabbing/assaulting any of the following:
your own child
a newborn baby
your elderly parent or relative
a random passerby
an elderly person in public
any small or frail person
pedestrians (if you’re driving)
any unsuspecting stranger who would not be able to defend themselves
What Does It Mean to Have These Thoughts?
It’s a scary thing to think you might harm a loved one against your will! So why do people have these thoughts?
The answer is the same whether or not one has OCD — our minds have all kinds of thoughts. Some are warm and fuzzy, some are ugly, and most are pretty uninteresting. We cannot control which thoughts come up in our minds.
Thoughts are like the content on TV as we flip channels; we have no say over what comes on the screen — all we can do is choose whether to change the channel or not.
Ultimately, the thoughts, images and urges associated with harm OCD are insignificant and do not reflect on character. In fact, a closer look suggests that people with harm OCD are quite unlikely to act on these thoughts.
Why Do the Harm OCD Thoughts Happen?
As mentioned above, the thoughts happen for reasons beyond our control. What makes these thoughts into obsessions is the meaning we attribute to them. For example: if you believe your thought of punching your father means you’re likely to do it, and you don’t want to do it, then you’ll experience anxiety. You’ll also be watchful for the thought happening again since you see it as a significant event. Being on the lookout for a thought is nearly a guarantee that you’ll have the thought again.
The thoughts can take the form of fear you’ll harm someone close to you, a fear you’ll harm a stranger, or a fear you’ve harmed someone in the past and didn’t realize or don’t remember it.
It’s not uncommon for people to have a thought about harming someone, even if they don’t actually want to. What makes harm OCD a problem is when you take these thoughts (or impulses or images) to be a dangerous sign. In other words, you interpret the thought to mean that you’re likely to act on it.
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