What Is Existential OCD? Symptoms, Causes & How to Fix It?

Have you ever questioned yourself about your existence? Like what happens when we die? Or what is the real purpose of our life if we all have to die?

If yes, it can be a sign of existential OCD.

Existential OCD is a subtype of OCD in which a person experiences intrusive thoughts about life, death, and reality that feel compulsory to know. People in this state remain trapped in these thoughts, which ultimately causes distress.

Although it’s pretty normal to experience existential thoughts from time to time. Existential obsessive compulsive disorder (E-OCD) involves tormenting over philosophical ideas in relation to life, the universe, and human existence. These are the questions that cannot be answered. However, individuals remain stuck in the loop and waste a lot of energy and time. It’s a unique condition that can occur at any stage of life and severely impact life.

It’s highly treatable with the right combination of medication and therapies.

What is Existential OCD?

Most people are familiar with the term OCD, in which people fear germs, wash their hands again and again, or put things in symmetry just to feel right. However, obsessive-compulsive disorder goes far beyond and makes one question the unanswerable things. These can be: Why am I here? Is anything real? This represents E-OCD.

It involves intrusive, repetitious, and uncomfortable obsessions centered around philosophical questions. This variant of OCD makes one ask philosophical questions that can be about existence, consciousness, meaning, and aims, and go far beyond casual wondering. It can lead someone into a rigid loop of ruminations and obsessive behaviors.

As per the research by the National Institute of Medicine, an estimated 1.2% of U.S. adults had OCD in the past year, and 29.6% of people with OCD experience intrusive thoughts about philosophical issues. Moreover, this can be confused with depression, as people struggling with depression also sometimes wonder what the point of their life is. It’s a complicated condition, as people in this lost for hours to do compulsive behaviors to alleviate the anxiety or dread feelings.

Symptoms of Existential OCD

Existential OCD has its own specific set of symptoms and revolves around obsessions and compulsions.

Here are some of the common existential OCD obsessions and compulsions.

Existential OCD obsessions

People in this state have extreme anxiety because of obsessions. Some of the common obsessions related to existential OCD include:

• Excessive anxiety about life, death, reality, and consciousness
• Urgent, invasive thoughts which make them question the need to know the meaning of life, its purpose, etc.
• Extreme fear about death and the afterlife
• Doubting the perception of reality
• Dissociation, depersonalization, or derealization
• Worrying as if they are fundamentally bad people.
• Feels like their mind and body are detached
• Detached from surroundings
• Disconnected from your loved ones
• Fighting out the reality of nature and the universe
• Not sure what’s going on, whether they have OCD, or if their thoughts, feelings, sensations, and urges are symptoms of a different thing

Existential OCD Compulsions

People struggling with this condition draw conclusions to prevent a feared outcome and anxiety. Some of the common compulsions include:

• Mentally considering existential questions, such as the significance of life, purpose, etc.
• Comprehensive research on philosophical subjects
• Not going to the places that trigger their obsessions
• Not performing the activities that force them to be in their body, such as sexual intimacy or exercise, to avoid thinking about their existence
• Googling questions
• Seeking reassurance from yourself or loved ones to confirm their existence is real
• Ruminating on whether their dreams are actually real
• Doing self-punishment for where they think they were wrong
• Overly researching philosophy, religion, or science to “solve” their questions.
• Mentally reviewing or replaying conversations.
• Avoiding topics like death, spirituality, or space, which trigger their obsessions
• Telling oneself constantly to avoid intrusive thoughts.
• Compulsively journaling or writing out arguments to find certainty.

However, at that moment, one may feel relieved, but it gets worse over time.

Is Existential OCD Different from Normal Thinking, Depression, or GAD?

Yes, it’s different from other philosophical thinking and depression. As most of the people remain confused between them. Here is how they are different.

General Philosophical Curiosity

We all contemplate the big questions of life. But there is a difference between general curiosity and existential OCD. People who have general philosophical curiosity feel open-ended and thought-provoking. Whereas E-OCD causes stress, is intrusive, and cannot be ignored. As a normal curiosity may temporarily create anxiety or dread, but people without OCD remain in dread and fear, which causes discomfort. Also, a person with normal curiosity can stop themselves at any time. Whereas existential obsessive-compulsive disorder cannot be stopped

Depression

People with depression often struggle with hopelessness and ruminate on meaningless things. However, both are distinct conditions as people with depression are mood-appropriate and related to a negative emotional state. In E-OCD, there are thoughts that clash with your core values and sense of self. So, this is how both have differences, as distress comes from having intrusive thoughts, not from having a low mood.

Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD)

Existential OCD is confused with GAD, it’s because both conditions cause excessive worry. However, both are distinct conditions, as individuals with GAD experience worry specifically about general things such as health or finances. Whereas people with existential OCD are triggered by intrusive thoughts, which drive them to do compulsions in order to reduce their anxiety. Also, people in this state specifically think about unacceptable, deeply threatening, or question their existence. So, the main difference is that GAD revolves around specific worries or making oneself solve the problem. On the other hand, OCD, the obsessive thought feels uncontrollable and is followed by a compulsive urge to resolve the distress.

How does it feel to live with Existential OCD?

Living with existential obsessive-compulsive disorder causes many troubles, as they often look like a ‘deep thinker’ or a ‘daydreamer.’ It’s a very difficult form of OCD, as people remain stuck in a loop of disturbing obsessions and resolving compulsions that can severely make it hard to live a quality of life.

Here is how it affects the quality of life:

Detachment from the World

People experiencing existential OCD remain stuck on resolving the obsessions. However, it ultimately affects their time and energy and makes them neglect their loved ones, family, and friends. They tend to remain alone and spend hours thinking about intrusive thoughts, as they wonder if they are for real, why they are created, why this universe is created, or if their loved ones would care if they died. However, these obsessive thoughts make them think negatively, and they ultimately think that no one really wants to be around them. Also, they constantly talk about life and death, which is why they may also avoid social interaction as they feel like they might be judged by others. So, this isolation can strain relationships and quality of life.

Existential OCD and Derealization/Depersonalization (DR/DP)

People living with this subtype of OCD experience derealization and depersonalization. So, basically, the term derealization means that the world around isn’t real. It often leads to detachment from the people, places, and things. Rather than feeling grounded or real, they may feel things foggy and senseless. On the other hand, depersonalization means that one may feel like they are detached from their body, as if they are watching their life as if it were a movie. These experiences are very common in people who are struggling with existential OCD.

The Sense of not truly living

People who struggle with this condition remain stuck in the cycle of why they are here. However, this indirectly makes their emotions numb and leads them to the sense that they are not truly loving as they wanted to be. All this happened because a person spends most of their time and energy on unanswerable questions, which takes them away from the present moment. However, this ultimately makes things feel hopeless and pointless, and makes one think that they are not fully living their life.

Lack of joy

Excessive questions about existence affect one’s life and cause one to lack the joy of life. As it’s really hard to find enjoyment in life when everything seems to be unreal. Or when a person always thinks about life after death. This tendency is common in all types of OCD. Furthermore,

People with existential OCD, obsessions can feel extremely dreadful, which can lead to hopelessness and cause issues in overall quality of life.

What are the Causes of Existential OCD?

The causes of existential OCD are still unknown. But there are some of the factors that may contribute to the development of this condition, which include the following:

Genetics

Most of the mental health conditions are heritable and run in families. It means that if anyone in the close daily struggles with OCD, there is a chance that you may also develop this condition. However, it is not simply genetics alone that can cause OCD. But for most of the part it can increase the vulnerability to develop this condition, but it is not a guarantee.

Environmental factors

The environmental factors also play a major role in the development of existential OCD. The factors include upbringing in a stressful environment, traumatic life events, such as loss of a loved one, abuse, or complications during birth. All these factors increase the vulnerability to developing OCD later in life.

Psychological Factors

People struggling with this condition may tend to engage in a deep, conceptual thinking pattern, which makes them more inclined to existential concerns. Also, people who lack cognitive processes and struggle with discrimination and perfectionism may also be more prone to develop existential obsessions.

During treatment, at the Renewed Mental Health Group, we help you heal by diagnosing the root cause and helping you understand why you are having these existential thoughts! Additionally, it’s a highly manageable condition that can be managed effectively with the right combination of medications and therapies.

Treatment Approaches for Existential Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Existential Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (E-OCD) is highly manageable with the right treatment approaches. It can only be diagnosed by a mental health professional, as they check the overall history of the patient and diagnose the root cause. After that, they create treatments that align with the severity of the conditions. Medications work differently for everyone; they might work for one person, but may not work for another. So the mental health professionals recommend medication management, which helps patients to reduce the side effects of the medication and stay consistent with the treatments. This condition can be managed by combining medications with therapies. A psychiatrist combines these in order to get accurate outcomes. Some of the most effective psychotherapies that can help include:

Exposure Response Prevention Therapy

It is considered to be a gold treatment approach to treat OCD and its subtypes. It’s a specialized form of CBT that has been proven to be really effective for OCD. In this therapy, a mental health professional and the patient sit together and talk about their issues. A mental health expert slowly exposes the patient to their feared stimuli. The purpose is to practice not engaging in compulsions.

Here’s how it works:

Exposure: mental health experts deliberately make the patient face triggering thoughts. It can be reading a quote from a book about existence or death, or making them watch a movie that triggers their fears.

Response prevention: the patient resists the desire to engage in compulsions, such as reassurance seeking.

However, this process helps in training the brain to accept uncertainty without panic or compulsive behavior. Also, it can be done in a safe environment.

Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT)

CBT is one of the most effective treatments for OCD. It really helps in managing this subtype by challenging and reframing unhealthy beliefs and reducing the need for compulsive behaviors. In this subtype, a mental health expert helps the person identify the intrusive thoughts that cause anxiety and challenge them in a way to reduce them.

Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT)

ACT can help in managing the intrusive thoughts, intense emotions, and urges to engage in compulsions. Through this therapy, one may learn skills that help patients to learn how to resist the mental and physical compulsions. It helps in avoiding the triggering points by denying them and fighting them. It has proven effective for existential obsessive compulsive disorder, as through this, people can accept their struggles and make necessary changes in their behavior. Therefore, through ACT, people find ways to see their thoughts as they are.

Group Therapy

People who feel isolated can get help through group therapy. A group setting provides a connection and encourages the patient to stay connected with the treatments. Group therapy can provide individuals with this condition a sense of community and understanding. People meet the individuals who are struggling with the same disorder, which can help reduce feelings of isolation and provide practical coping strategies.

Medications

Medications work best along with therapies. Some of the common medications that can help include Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs), which are commonly prescribed for this subtype. Also, medications can help balance brain chemistry and reduce the severity of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.

Get Compassionate Treatments at Renewed Mental Health Group

If you’re struggling with existential thoughts and feelings of dread and impacting your quality of life, then please get in touch!

At Renewed Mental Health Group, we have a licensed team of mental health specialists who offer compassionate treatments with a multidisciplinary approach. We offer a warm and friendly environment where you can talk about your issue without the fear of judgment. Our friendly team of qualified mental health therapists is committed to your full recovery from this condition. We also cover a wide range of insurance, so you don’t have to worry about the bills. You can also get treatments from the comfort of your home, as we also offer virtual treatments.

Book your consultations now!