Number ocd scared I’m in a countdown. Please can anyone offer some insight.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jotia

I don’t really know what you mean exactly but I guess seeing the number it’s self is meaningless it’s just someone’s number plate.

---

Keep reminding yourself. People devise all sorts of ways to help them cope with a scary, arbitrary world but in the end these things are completely random.

Sorry don’t know what’s going on didn’t mean to delete that and it won’t let me post again keeps saying it’s a duplicate reply.

Thank you, I am feeling a bit better today about the numbers countdown. Mostly as I have seen hardly any 62s. Well now my ocd has just convinced me I can’t wear blue or black based on seeing certain numbers when thinking about wearing those colours.


It’s so tiring living in a world that feels so unsafe.

Has anyone here battled with similar fears with numbers and colours and been able to over come them?

Or similarly felt like they are very unsafe in day to day life due to “magic” or feel like the universe is against them?

I’d love to think like a normal person and not seemingly live in some sort of magic alternate reality.

I've had magical thinking my whole life. I very much think the actions I take on a daily basis will somehow cause something bad to happen.
Have they ever? No. Do I believe they won't? No. I have days where it takes over everything, and days where I can let it go. So I can't say I've been able to over come them. The only way really to get over magical thinking is to purposefully stop doing those actions cold turkey, and that only works for me on a short term basis.
The only thing that helps me every now and then, is thinking that I can't be possibly be so arrogant to believe that my actions can control the whole universe. But honestly it's a deep rooted fear.
Ultimately it's a copying mechanism. It's you believing that you can ward off bad stuff, by doing certain things or avoiding certain things. It's completely irrational. And yet I've lived with it daily for 30 years and still believe it. So I guess this is my way of saying I understand, but I haven't found a way to get over it yet

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Sparkling_Fairy

I've had magical thinking my whole life. I very much think the actions I take on a daily basis will somehow cause something bad to happen.
Have they ever? No. Do I believe they won't? No. I have days where it takes over everything, and days where I can let it go. So I can't say I've been able to over come them. The only way really to get over magical thinking is to purposefully stop doing those actions cold turkey, and that only works for me on a short term basis.
The only thing that helps me every now and then, is thinking that I can't be possibly be so arrogant to believe that my actions can control the whole universe. But honestly it's a deep rooted fear.
Ultimately it's a copying mechanism. It's you believing that you can ward off bad stuff, by doing certain things or avoiding certain things. It's completely irrational. And yet I've lived with it daily for 30 years and still believe it. So I guess this is my way of saying I understand, but I haven't found a way to get over it yet

---

Sorry to hear you deal with this too and haven’t found a way to over come it. Although I do know people do so you might one day. Are diagnosed with ocd or just anxiety? I was told stuff like this is classic ocd as we doubt everything and want to be 100% sure we are safe so the alert system in our brains is faulty and thinks everything is a threat. It wants to keep us safe but is just confused.

Thanks for sharing anyway, glad I’m not alone. The more I talk to people who share that they go through similar the better I feel.

Can some please help I hardly got any sleep last night and just woke up panicking.

I managed to calm down about the countdown thing and was starting to see it as bullshit until last night again something awful happened. I saw a video on Facebook reels of my main health fear. I was a bit shock up as I am when I see it mentioned but there was nothing strange about it so I moved on. Then an hour later I was on Facebook again watching a funny skit video and thinking it’s almost been an hour since I saw the other thing. I click on the comments and see it mentioned in the first comment. I panicked as I have never seen it mentioned twice in one day. Then I checked the likes and they were 25.8 (58 was yesterday’s number) I was again scared then decided to go through my reels and stop on any with 58 in likes, comments or shares. The first 4 I stop on were all about death.

I came to the conclusion though that I’m just being an idiot as most my reels have turned to being about depressing stuff and decided to get some sleep. Except I had the urge to check one last time for signs and clicked back on reels. The first reel to come up was a greys anatomy vid and had 58 shares I was thinking please no not mention my fear and skipped through the vid and the they do! The guy in the vid has it. Technically in a different place to the other two mentions and my actual fear but enough to through me into a panic and I got no sleep.

I have no idea how to see this as just nothing I’m honestly terrified now and feel like I have to all figured out and there is no hope.

I’m such a mess I can’t even eat breakfast right now I’m so scared :/

I have no one in real life to talk to about this they don’t get it and just get angry I just don’t know how this isn’t a sign when I literally said if I saw that specific number on a video about that health fear it confirms it.

It doesn't confirm anything other than that you're hyper-aware of numbers, promise.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by BlueIris

It doesn't confirm anything other than that you're hyper-aware of numbers, promise.

---

Thank you.

I feel like if I hadn’t gone back on my phone and seen that last one I would be ok with it but I just can’t rationalise the last one. Seeing the number and then thinking of it’s about that health fear it’s a sign then it is. Do you not think that’s odd?

It’s not a health fear that comes up very often either. However it’s what I’m most scared of and my ocd has been using it against me for months and months now. I obsess about it all day. Just can’t get it out my head as it’s so scary.

Quote:

---

Originally Posted by Jotia

Sorry don’t know what’s going on didn’t mean to delete that and it won’t let me post again keeps saying it’s a duplicate reply.

Thank you, I am feeling a bit better today about the numbers countdown. Mostly as I have seen hardly any 62s. Well now my ocd has just convinced me I can’t wear blue or black based on seeing certain numbers when thinking about wearing those colours.


It’s so tiring living in a world that feels so unsafe.

---

Whilst I can have my own personal quirks and foibles about seemingly random and inconsequential things, remember that numbers (and colours) can't physically harm you, nor do they truly make the world unsafe in absolute terms.

Also, try not to get too embroiled in conspiracy theories and the like.

Mind you, like I admitted in my first paragraph, I've always had a bit of a thing about certain words, logos and lettering fonts/typefaces, that most others probably wouldn't give as much as a second thought to otherwise.