Does anyone go through stages of anxiety worrying they might be a psychopath etc?

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[ArkoN]

i understand what you mean. im worried about my future.. if i ever became homeless, who knows maybe i would go insane and steal stuff for a living. get into drug addiction. the possibilities are endless

[Concept]

No, but you cam fool yourself into thinking you have more problems than you already do by taking online sociopath/psychopath tests and then watching the results make out you're one, both or the other when all they do is reflect cross-overs between a variety of mental illnesses.

[Appear]

It's not a silly question at all, and I believe it's fairly common.

When I first started to suffer from severe anxiety attacks I'd worry I was psychotic, question if particular things I experienced were just hallucinations, convince myself I was about to crack and go on some violent rampage and so on and so forth. I still have small bouts of it - the other day I walked past a car with its door open and keys in the ignition and I had the thought 'what's stopping me from jumping in a going for a ride?', which sent me on a infinite regress questioning the extent of my personal autonomy and worry over my potential criminality. My bad-ass fantasies aside, the truth of the matter is we all have such thoughts and worries from time to time, it's just most won't pay much attention to them or imbue them with much importance. Difference is, when you're anxious, you'll likely lend these thoughts more significance, and elaborate on them to such an extent they start to seem plausible.

[Concept]

True. If you tell or instruct a thought to disappear then it can come back with a vengeance. I think it's part of the brain rebelling against a strict, rule based system, the desire to be wantonly nihilistic.

[David K]

Everyone has thoughts like that to some extent, I think. If the thoughts are causing you serious distress and you can't stop them, it could be Pure O OCD.

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[David K]

Originally Posted by hidden_away

Hi david I just read some of the post about pure O OCD and it sound like me but I cant read anymore because now Its getting me all stressed thinking its possible I have something more than what I already have. never seems to end When I've calm, down a bit I will give it another try. Thank you

I can understand that The important thing is that you find the horrible thoughts distressing because you're not a horrible person. There's no chance that you'll act on them, but they keep coming anyway.

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[Jam]

As soon as I read your post I, like David, immediately thought it could be Pure-O OCD, which is something that has crippled me for years, mate. If you do have pure o, the best thing you can do is research it, understand it, and maybe seek help if you feel you need it, cos that option is always there, and the help you can get (cbt) for pure o is actually good.

[sam1w2e]

That's a very interesting post David, thanks for sharing it. I had never heard of Pure O OCD before now and I can (some what) relate to it after reading about it.

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[Jam]

Mate, you don't have to promise me anything, if I told you the pure o ocd thoughts I have you'd probably think I'm a twisted f'k and you'd probably call the police on me, lol... That's pure-o though, the sufferer is plagued with intrusive thoughts which are distressing in nature, but the thing to remember is that the thoughts go against the true nature of the person. You know, the fact that the thoughts worry you means the thoughts are not a true reflection of who you are.

With SSRI Im bit like you... I've been on SSRI's before, but I had to go off them cos of the side effects. I took them to get better, but it made me worse, I was pissed off. I will never touch meds again.

With pure o, knowledge is power. Read about it, also read other people's experience with pure o, you'll be surprised how knowing you're not alone can make you feel better.

[Generation Erm]

I think its natural to have those thoughts when you feel like an outcast filled with self-loathing. when I was going to AA you'd hear lots of that. one guy described how he used to dress up as a ninja at night and vandalise cars however its a massive leap to go from damaging property to physically hurting others but when you read about these mass shootings in the news and how the media always portray them as loners and social misfits it goes make you worry about what would tip you over the edge to do such a thing. being a superhero fan i'm more inclined to fantasise about being a vigilante coming to someones rescue and beating the crap out of bad people than harming innocents but I also have really macabre instrusive thoughts at times like i'll never forget this film called hobo with a shotgun. it really freaked me out cos I could relate to the character and took joy in his mindless violence of justice.

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[Morgana]

Fear of causing harm to others isn't unusual, I've heard of it before in people who suffer anxiety. If it preys on your mind a lot it can be a form of OCD.

[hidden_away]

Requesting thread and my account be deleted please.

[Pal]

If you meant psychopath in the proper sense then the fact that you care whether you might become a psychopath or not basically proves you aren't.

[diplodocus]

Originally Posted by hidden_away

I guess if anyone was one of the things I described above then would they even worry about it? I guess it would be like everyday normal life to them?

I don't have any type of sick fantasies or anything like that so just in case any of you're worried I might be nasty or something very wrong I promise you Im not.

I think this is a very important. People who do or are really capable of horrible things often have very vivid and real fantasies before they do these things. They feel so real that they aren't far from actually being realised and fleshed out so to speak.

You aren't having these sorts of thoughts but just worries about being a bad person, and you show real empathy, in this case for your son, so I'd say that you needn't be worried about actually being a sociopath much less carrying these acts out. Sociopaths don't have empathy, they can pretend to have it but they don't actually really feel it. Since you really feel genuine empathy then you most certainly aren't a sociopath.

[misska]

I worry about other people I know being psychopaths more

[ArkoN]

lol ive just realised i have traits of pure o ocd. ive always claimed to be a little bit ocd, generally linking it with my adhd, but until now ive never had any solid proof :/