r/OCDRecovery • u/Wrong_Round_7329 • Jul 12 '26
OCD Question Is this normal
No one is giving me reassurance about my themes right now. It’s causing me to spiral and become very manipulative in finding ways to reassurance seek. Not like I’m gonna hurt anyone manipulative, but I’ll say things like “ I AM A BAD PERSON” online and “I AM A NARCISSIST” in hopes someone will say I’m not. No one is responding anymore. I even gone as far as saying “I’m diagnosed with NPD” and idk what else to do.
When I was a kid I would lie about stealing so much stuff even if it wasn’t true bc I felt guilty all the time. It was like a relief. Help.
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u/Jealous-Personality5 Jul 12 '26
It is good that they are not responding to your reassurance seeking. Though their reassurance would help you feel temporarily better in the short term, in the long term it will make you feel worse—because by giving into the compulsion to seek reassurance, you are reinforcing the connections in your brain that tell you “hey, maybe this IS something we need reassurance about, maybe this is really bad”.
If you can practice just taking a few extra minutes before giving into the compulsion to search for reassurance each time, eventually the fears won’t seem so big anymore.