ADAA Mental Health Blogs for the Public
You can do pretty much anything you want in this life except willingly or carelessly harm others. Of all of the demands society places on us, to be hygienic, to stay healthy, to be organized and strive for protection... no burden on the self is higher than the one to do no harm, especially violent harm. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise for anyone suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) that this subject is such fertile ground for struggling with uncertainty.
You’re getting ready for a peaceful night sleep when you see something moving on the floor next to your bed. A spider! You yell for your braver-half to kill it. Your hero jumps into action. The shoe slams down on the hardwood. Thank goodness! Then you see the spider scurry under the bed.
“NOOO! I can’t sleep in here tonight.”
Your poor aiming hero tries to convince you that it’s a small spider who is more afraid of you. But you don’t see it that way.
“What if he crawls on me when I’m sleeping?”
Separation anxiety is something that most parents know about. Many parents will fondly recall the days when their infant could be held by anyone and then recount that there was a time with their child when this changed.
I’ve had this terrible thought I can’t get out of my head. I saw a post on Facebook from a girl I met at a party in college and remembered an incident from ten years ago. We were both pretty drunk and started fooling around. I went back to her room, and we ended up having sex. I don’t remember much else. In the morning, it was awkward, but she didn’t seem upset. We never hooked up again. I hardly ever ran into her. But when we did see each other, she was friendly. Still, I can’t stop thinking I raped her. What if I was so drunk I don’t know what really happened?
Text me when your plane lands.
Text me to let me know you got home safely.
Where are you?
How are you?
Hey did you get my last text? (sent 2 minutes ago!)
With the proliferation of cell phones, most of us have dramatically increased our checking on loved ones. In a March 2018 poll by the APA 68% of respondents said they worry about “keeping myself or my family safe.” Our cell phones are our favorite tool to keep that worry in check. But is it really working for us?
