If your intrusive thoughts have ever convinced you that you're secretly dangerous- welcome to Harm OCD. This is the subtype that makes loving, gentle people terrified of their own minds.

This week Jess and Laura dig into one of the most misunderstood and shame-soaked corners of OCD- where caring deeply about not hurting anyone gets twisted into "proof" that you might. Harm OCD can include a fear of harming others, yourself, or a fear that harm will/has come to others because of you- this episode explores it all.

We talk about what these thoughts actually sound like, why "possible" doesn't mean "probable," and why your brain treats a passing thought like a five-alarm fire. We also get into the messier stuff- anger, allergy and poisoning fears, and the compulsions that quietly creep in when you're trying to "just be sure."

Plus: what real exposure work looks like for harm OCD, how to rebuild trust in yourself, and why badly-pitched exposures can do more harm than good.

As always, there's Brain Spam, an Exposure Lab, a listener question, and a bit of social media chaos courtesy of Laura.

Trigger warning: Please note that this episode contains discussions around harm and suicide, so please listen with caution.

Podcast by:

Laura Mole, Adv. Dip, MBACP OCD specialist therapist

and

Jessica Hayes, Msc PGDip, BABCP Accred OCD and perinatal specialist therapist

Edited by Christian Nickson

Time Stamps:

00:34 What we cover today

01:26 Hellos and introductions

02:42 Brain Spam

07:02 What harm OCD thoughts sound like

08:06 Compulsions in harm OCD

08:57 Harm OCD misunderstandings

10:00 What if you experience anger with harm OCD?

11:14 Common harm OCD themes

12:29 Possible vs probable

13:56 The meaning of harm OCD themes

16:10 Why does it feel so real?

18:10 How do we know you won't hurt someone?

19:45 OCD vs actual risk of harm

24:15 Common compulsions for harm OCD

28:44 Allergy and poisoning fears

29:39 What does therapy look like for harm OCD?

33:31 Harm exposures or behavioural experiments

35:07 Trusting yourself again

37:00 How exposures can be pitched wrong

39:00 Building up exposures and behavioural experiments

41:55 Harm OCD summary

43:15 Laura's social media backlash

44:30 Next episode teaser

45:40 Compassionate work and rebuilding your life

47:28 Question from the listeners

49:15 Exposure Lab

53:20 Goodbyes

Get in Touch:

Got intrusive thoughts to share or questions for us:

Email us at ocdcollectiveuk@gmail.com

Follow us on Instagram and Tiktok: @justcheckingpod

For our individual OCD pages, you can find Laura on Tiktok and Instagram as @ocdtherapylaura and Jess as @jess_helps_your_ocd

Please check out our privacy policy: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1YJZ4Sdh4OpxjRR9twGY6dOMH9n55Mq6qTqLBxOtN3Fw/edit?usp=sharing

Content Warnings:

We do reference some thoughts that people may find distressing so please listen with caution if this is you, and take a break if you need to.

Disclaimer:

This podcast provides educational content only and is not a substitute for professional mental health support, please contact a mental health professional for advice and support.