Existential OCD

Existential OCD

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Existential OCD is a subset of OCD in which sufferers are preoccupied with the philosophical aspects of life. A person with Existential OCD might obsess over questions like, “What’s the meaning of life?”  “Why are we even here?” “Does God Exist?” “Why Evil Exist?”. The problem with Existential OCD, like most forms of OCD, is the person is trying to find an answer that they will never obtain, which causes them to obsess and spin. 

So in this episode, I am going to discuss this specific type of OCD, the common symptoms, and how to start treating existential OCD from a high-level perspective.

 

TRANSCRIPT

(00:08):

All right. Hey there.

(00:09):

And welcome to this week's episode where we're going to talk about existential OCD or existential, you know, types of anxiety and fear. And so basically, um, you know, just to quickly define what we're talking about here, it's this idea that, um, when your mind becomes focused or trying to figure out some type of existential question that really, you know, you'll never have a clear answer to, right. You know, these could be questions like, well, what's the meaning of life, right. Or, you know, does God exist? Right. Um, you know, like these, these types of questions, what happens is they had latched into the mind and, or the mind lashes onto them, should I say, and then the person ruminates and, you know, does all these different safety behaviors in an attempt to figure them out, thinking that by figuring it out, that will resolve the anxiety around this situation.

(01:07):

And in almost every case, just like any other, you know, real form of anxiety, right. It just builds the deeper and deeper you go onto it. Right. So, you know, you might get an answer and then all of a sudden your mind comes up. Well, why that's not good enough or the next question, and this is how it works. Right. It just kind of builds and builds and builds. And, um, you know, when it, when it comes to existential, this actually comes from a question that I got on one of the comments. So, uh, thank you so much for the person that wrote the question, because they said they said something and it's a, you know, one of a phrase that I hear all the time, and I think it's important to address, but they, you know, asked if I could address, uh, or talk about existential OCD, because it's the worst form.

(01:49):

Right. And that was, you know, obviously their, their opinion and when you're experiencing it, I mean, you know, truly it does like any form of OCD and anxiety feels like the worst form. You know, when I talk to people with panic disorders, um, and panic attacks, they talk about how well it's the worst feeling. I'd much rather have social anxiety and people with social anxiety would much rather have, you know, a certain phobia or, you know, and, and whatever we're dealing with. Right. We would usually much rather deal with something else because by its very nature, we wouldn't have to deal with what we're dealing with. Right. So whatever we're dealing with always is skewed in to our perception as the quote, worst thing. And I can't tell you how many times I've heard clients say that and I've set up myself right. Where it's like, I just wish I had a different form of anxiety.

(02:36):

You know, I just, because those ones I could figure out, but this one is too much. Right. And so, um, and that, that, that question actually goes into the idea of existential, you know, kind of ideas, right? It's like, um, like different levels and different types of anxiety, right. I mean is, is, is really kind of a, a more philosophical idea because anxiety is so, um, subjective to the person that's experiencing it. Um, and so when, when it comes to existential OCD and just like any other form of OCD, I mean really, um, or anxiety, the key is to remember that what you're worrying about is not the actual problem, right? The fact that you're wearing the fact that you're ruminating the fact that you're investing a lot of time and energy onto this topic that you can't have, you can't have clarity on. Right.

(03:30):

You know, because it usually it's a futuristic idea, right? Like what's going to happen when I die. Well, you're not going to know that. And until you die, right. Us trying to figure out a concrete answer here on earth is, is impossible. Right. You know, I remember one time I had just had this guy who was obsessing about the idea of the sun and just how we could even coexist in how mathematically, you know, like the more and more he thought about it, the worse and worse it got, because he's like, there's this huge ball of fire. And like, you know, if we were just this much closer, this much, further away, we wouldn't exist. And I don't understand how it all works. How did it come? You know? And, and like the questions when you, when you approach these questions, just like any other form of anxiety, when you approach the questions that people get locked onto, their questions that most of us have had, the problem is is that when you add this huge emotional drive and component to these questions, what happens is the person thinks that they're trying to solve the question when really what they're trying to resolve is the emotional surge that they're experiencing around that question.

(04:34):

So like with any anxiety disorder, right? The goal is never to really get clarity on that specific issue. Right. What it is, is to, you know, really detach the emotional component of the issue and then help resolve that. Right. The stress levels so that you see the question more clearly. Right? So for instance, like to use an example, um, you know, someone might have a fear of getting a terrible illness one day, right? Like cancer. Well, if I was working with that person, like we could never come to the conclusion that you'll never get cancer. Right. There's no way I could ever promise that to someone. There's no way I could ever guarantee that to someone. Right. But when, if they're stressing about it all day, every day, that is actually the problem they're dealing with. They're not dealing with a cancer problem right now because it's not happening.

(05:25):

Right. If they went to the doctor and they're, cancer-free, they're cancer free, they don't have a cancer problem. But if they're stuck on that idea about getting cancer or some other illness, that's the actual problem they're dealing with. And the huge emotional component they're dealing with in the stress levels are really the problem that we're addressing. Right. So when we talk about dealing with, um, you know, issues related to anxiety and stress, it's very rarely what the person's stress about. That's actually the issue. Right. And hopefully, hopefully makes sense. Right? Cause, cause this shift is really important. So, you know, because if we're, if we think it's a cancer issue, we're going to treat it like a cancer should, we're going to get tests and you know, all this other stuff, but if you're cancer free and you're stressed about cancer, right? The, the idea of what you're stressed about is almost irrelevant when it comes to dealing with these because, um, it's, that's never the issue, right?

(06:19):

The issue is that you're worrying about it, right. And it's consuming your days. It's consuming your time, it's consuming all your energy. So when it comes to these idea of existential OCT and existential anxieties, existential fears, are they good questions to ask? Sure. You know, like, are they worth exploring? Yes. But if it's consuming you to the point where you are staying up at night, worrying about them and you're, you know, you just can't let these ideas go. The fact that you can let them go. And the fact that you're getting overcome by them is actually the issue, not what you're being overcome about and separating that is super, super, super important when it comes to your recovery. Because then once we start to understand the issue is actually that you're lost ruminating about this stuff, not what you're ruminating about, but that you're ruminating.

(07:08):

Well, then we can, then we can become to work on that. And once we actually get the stress levels down through exposure and response prevention, acceptance, commitment therapy, right. Using the AAA response that we teach over at restorative minds. Um, and if you, if you don't know what that is, and you don't have that, we have a little one sheet for you, um, where you can download that for free and kind of start learning about it. We also have our in-depth trainings and programs as well. We're really helped the implementation of that in your life. But, um, but yeah, when, when you have those tools, the goal of the treatment becomes not getting clarity on what you're obsessing about what you're ruminating about what you're worrying about, but as opposed to removing the anxiety and by removing the anxiety, that actually allows you to see the question with more clarity, as opposed to what most people think is they have to get clarity to get the stress and anxiety down, but really the entire process of backwards.

(08:01):

Once we get the stress and anxiety down around that topic, that's what allows the clarity to emerge. So hopefully that makes sense. And hopefully that's helpful. And again, if you wrestle with any type of extensional, existential, OCD, or anxiety, we have resources right down in the notes below, uh, over at our site, restored minds.com. And so I'm really encourage you to check those out. You can download them. We also have some additional trainings that you can go through to really, you know, get you started on the right foot on this journey. Because I feel like a lot of people, what happens is they just take the wrong, wrong guidance on this journey. And that's what keeps them trapped a lot longer than what's necessary. So, um, with that said, we also really support or really appreciate your support by liking and subscribing, um, and commenting and sharing this, um, across your platforms just to help us, uh, yeah. Get these messages out to people that need them. So thank you so much for hanging out today. And, um, I look forward to seeing you guys as we continue this series, um, you know, next week, um, as we're going to dive into more, um, different types of OCD, as well as different, um, topics related to how families can help as well as that. So big kind of more broader topics. So thanks so much. And I look forward to seeing you guys in the next episode, take care.

 

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