False memories are hard to navigate. On one hand, they are difficult to identify because it’s hard to trust the impulse that a memory is truly false.
If that “What if?” anxious thinking leads to you experiencing distressing thoughts, this blog on how to recognize false memories with OCD can help you.
You can find 9 tools and questions to ask that help you determine whether or not you’re dealing with common obsessions, common compulsions, and a world of false memory OCD.
This post is all about how to recognize false memories with OCD.
HOW TO RECOGNIZE FALSE MEMORIES WITH OCD:
1. Test a memory by fact-checking it
One of the best ways to identify whether your memory is real or a symptom of OCD is to fact-check it. This means that you avoid taking it at face value. Instead, you ask questions about the memory or thought-turned-memory.
Maybe your memory is that you woke up in the middle of the night and professed your undying love to the person you’ve been dating for all of two weeks over voicemail or voice message.
To fact-check that, for example, you might ask yourself if the other person has started treating you any differently. You may also ask yourself if you have developed strong enough feelings that you’ve been wanting to tell that to the person in the first place.
Identify ways to determine whether a memory has actually happened. It’s worth noting that people can view fact-checking as a way to cope with uncomfortable symptoms of OCD rather than finding ways of handling this discomfort for longer-term benefit.
This is true and we, at Knockoff Therapy, agree with this concept, but it’s still important to provide a well-rounded perspective on OCD treatment and coping with mental health issues.
2. The memory is associated with feelings of guilt
While it’s always possible to experience true guilt over a real memory, the odds are that your mind has formulated that memory that causes you to feel guilt.
Even if there’s a kernel of truth to the memory you’re questioning, you likely have a skewed interpretation of what you remember that leans into any anxieties you experience about interacting with other people.
Overall, it’s important to ask yourself what emotions you have connected to the memory. If it primarily guilts you or makes you feel bad, then it likely is one of the symptoms of false memory OCD.
3. You feel the need to question the absolute certainty of a memory
One of the biggest indicators as to whether a memory is real or not is if you’re feeling the need to question it in the beginning. If you walk away from this blog without remembering anything else, keep in mind that you have to re-train yourself to trust yourself.
It’s so easy to train yourself that your natural impulses are flawed, insufficient, and generally untrustworthy. So, if you have an impulse that a memory isn’t true, you learn that you can’t fully trust that until you find evidence to back up that impulse.
However, let this be a reminder that it’s okay to begin trusting that impulse more and more because you deserve the benefit of the doubt.
4. You notice the memory is caused by environmental factors
Many of the tools on this blog are interconnected naturally due to the nature of fact-checking your memories. That is still true for this tool, however, this tool may also be one of the most tangible reminders you can use to differentiate between false and real memories.
When questioning one of your memories, ask yourself if the memory is based on environmental factors from current or past events. In other words, ask yourself if you notice false memory OCD symptoms occur in response to something around you.
Examples include cleaning your kitchen and a memory popping up of you standing over your spouse’s bed with a knife while they were asleep last night. Let’s focus on this case of a terrifying memory that makes you question who you are and what you’re capable of.
It bceomes more important than ever to notice the connection between standing in the kitchen and possibly looking at the knives with the memory that popped up.
Once you notice a possible connection, you can tie in other tools from this blog into your line of questioning to determine whether you’re experiencing a false memory.
5. You experience intense negative emotions from the memory
Anytime you notice that you have strong negative emotions in relation to a memory, it’s important to pay attention to those feelings.
If you have a history of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, then you want to find a balance between feeling difficult feelings and questioning memories that have particularly negative emotions attached.
Say that you attune to the emotions that are typically tied to mental compulsions and/or an unwanted thought. Naturally, you will be able to learn what emotions might accompany the false OCD memory experience.
That will make it easier to find that balance as well as make it easier to recognize when you brain is creating a memory connected to an emotional experience that is distressing to you.
6. The memory is connected to traumatic events
Notice when your memory has a connection to traumatic events. Trauma is complex and we are still learning about the extent to which trauma impacts people and what qualifies as a traumatic event.
A decade ago, trauma was believed to be limited to life-threatening events that impact you or someone you love. Now, that definition is expanding to recognize the wide range of events or circumstances that can traumatize someone both in the long term and short term.
Therefore, take it seriously when you are impacted by something in a massive, painful way. Regardless of whether that event “fits” under the definition of trauma, give yourself the respect of healing from trauma widely conceived.
Part of that is noticing the ways that that trauma comes up for you on a daily basis through possible false memories or false beliefs.
7. You can identify cognitive distortions connected to the memory
Ask yourself if you can identify cognitive distortions that can influence your memory and trains of thought. Cognitive distortions can literally be defined as the ways that our brains distort the facts and circumstances we experience.
Cognitive distortions often make it harder to think positively when you feeling anxious or stressed out. These can include overgeneralizing, all-or-nothing thinking, labeling, and catastrophizing.
You can use this tool by asking yourself when you notice your thinking becoming insurmountably negative because, in that situation, cognitive distortions are usually to blame.
8. The memory interrupts your daily life in some way
Imagine that your memory begins to interrupt your life. As with any symptom of a mental health condition, you have a duty to yourself to find ways of avoiding that happening again.
That means that the first step to asking any of the questions on this blog is to recognize that you deserve a life free of suffering, regardless of how difficult it might be to achieve for OCD sufferers.
So, once you start wondering whether a memory is true or false, think of the role that that memory plays in your life and how much of your life it impairs and/or interrupts.
9. You engage in repetitive behaviors as a result of the memory
Memories are different from compulsions or obsessions, which you are likely well aware of. However, when faced with debilitating obsessions and compulsions, it can be hard to differentiate between those symptoms of OCD and a false memory that leads to repetitive behaviors.
When you start engaging in those repetitive behaviors as a result of your memory and the feelings it invokes in you, let that be a red flag that causes you to trust yourself in questioning that memory and identifying it as false.
Next Steps
1. Consider reaching out for professional help
The first step we will always recommend when looking into treatment options is to look into professional help from mental health professionals. We recommend seeing a mental health specialist because mental illnesses are difficult.
You struggle with intrusive thoughts that are terrifying, obsessive thoughts that feel impossible to ignore, and compulsive behaviors that are exhausting and time-consuming.
It’s difficult to manage those symptoms and more when they impact your daily functioning while also leading to a false memory OCD experience.
So, while we recognize how inaccessible therapy and seeing an OCD therapist can be (hence our name and mission), we always want to refer people to therapists. While therapy can be crucial for treating OCD, the most effective treatment will always be personal.
2. Identify and practice key self-care strategies
When therapy is inaccessible due to long waitlists or financial constraints, turn to self-care strategies. Self-care should be mandatory regardless of whether you have a mental illness and attend therapy.
But, it’s better to start late with self-care than to never start it at all. You can find some of our self-care strategies linked here as well as some other fantastic guides through a quick Google search.
Take care of yourself and prioritize your care because you have to prioritize your health in order to care for your future self and do the therapeutic work to work through OCD symptoms as they arise.
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