![]() ![]() When they would look at me I kept feeling afraid that I was going to look back appropriately, and so I would look away. I worried that if they did touch me I might like that feeling, and when they brushed against my arm, I tried to decide exactly how that was making me feel. My girlfriend and I would be sitting on the couch and the children would try to climb into our laps and anytime they would do this, I would turn away a bit because I was terrified of one of them accidentally touching me inappropriately. Over Thanksgiving, my sister and brother-in-law brought over their two adorable daughters over, and for whatever reason I started to panic. Here is an example of someone with such a fear: People with these fears may hyperanalyze every little body sign, trying to deduce some meaning and certainty from it. This could even be someone they do find attractive, but just feel they are not “supposed” to be attracted to, like a subordinate at work, a married friend, or a person who is in some other way “off limits.”Īs a result they scan their body for signs of sexual arousal, and feel relief if no signs can be found but distress if they cannot be absolutely sure. For example, the person would fear they could be attracted to a child, relative, or someone of a sex that does not match their orientation. This would typically involve concerns about having feelings for someone that is incongruent with the OCD sufferer's sexual history, desire, and values. Sometimes people with OCD fear that they may be sexually attracted to a person that they think they should not be attracted to. ![]() To that end, a related compulsion could be to constantly check that the person’s thinking is clear and attend to any possibility of problems with perception or memory. Is he breathing harder? Are his legs more tired than last time? Is his heard beating faster or stronger?Īnother example might be a person with obsessive worries that they are having cognitive decline due to an imagined brain tumor, exposure to hazardous mold, or fears of having contracted a brain-eating amoeba. He might notice going upstairs seemed easier before and then carefully pays attention to how going up the stairs feels the next time he does it. Perhaps on a given day he notices some fatigue or weakness and even becomes hyper aware of the energy he’s expending. In a case like this, the person with OCD may wonder if his body is starting to show signs of illness. Sometime people are worried that they have a disease, for example cancer. They may focus on their heart rate or other bodily functions to ensure they are functioning properly. In such cases they may repeatedly scan their body for signs of illness. People with OCD may have obsessive fears they are coming down with a dreaded disease, called health anxiety or illness anxiety. Somatic compulsions are commonly seen among people who have obsessions with themes around health or sexual worries, although people with any type of OCD may engage in them. In these cases the person with OCD is mentally checking how their body feels at any given moment. Some compulsions are very apparent (like handwashing), but somatic compulsions are covert. People with OCD do compulsions repeatedly in an attempt to gain relief from worrisome thoughts, or obsessions. Visiting the doctor repeatedly is part of the compulsive cycle of OCD.People can even compulsively hyper-focus on their heartbeat.Sexual obsessions can cause monitoring of physical cues of sexual arousal.Somatic compulsions are often connected to worries about health conditions.Somatic, or body-focused, compulsions are common in OCD.The word somatic means “relating to the body, especially as distinct from the mind.” So, somatic compulsions are rituals focused on the body and how it feels. ![]() Somatic (Body-Focused) Compulsions What are somatic compulsions? ![]()
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