Trauma and rejection can exacerbate OCD

The study suggests looking at the underlying causes; perhaps, in some people, obsessive thoughts and rituals are fueled by old, painful experiences. The researchers spoke with 16 adults who had been officially diagnosed with OCD. The people talked not so much about the symptoms themselves as about how they felt and what, in their opinion, had had the greatest impact on them in the past. Two painful themes emerged from the stories — themes that recurred again and again.

The first was childhood traumas. Most often, they occurred within the family and were associated with violence, neglect, or bullying. These events left more than just a mark on the memory; they changed a person’s sense of self. Many developed a fear of becoming someone who causes pain, as if the evil they had experienced could be transferred to them. One participant, for example, faced sudden aggression from his father after his parents’ divorce and has lived ever since in fear that one day he will become like that. This fear is not abstract: it can trigger obsessive thoughts, and attempts to control them turn into rituals that are meant to prove: “I am not dangerous.”

The second theme is the feeling of rejection. It doesn’t necessarily involve loud conflicts; sometimes, emotional detachment, unpredictability from loved ones, or the sense that you will never be good enough is enough. Some people remember how their parents would praise them one moment and then abruptly devalue them, reminding them of even the slightest mistakes. Others felt that they didn’t live up to expectations, no matter how hard they tried. Under such conditions, self‑esteem becomes fragile, and the ground for fears is particularly fertile. Against this backdrop, thoughts like “what if I’m actually bad” easily take root, and it is precisely this that can become the focal point for obsessive ideas.

The authors of the study do not claim that OCD is always linked to trauma, as the sample was small and the memories were subjective. But these stories help to better understand why some people experience obsessive fears that acquire such destructive power. If the root of the problem lies deep within ingrained beliefs about oneself, then treatment should address them directly. For example, there are already techniques that allow one to take a fresh look at difficult memories and change their meaning. And the trauma‑focused approach itself helps both doctors and patients see that frightening thoughts such as “what if I cause harm” are most often an echo of old wounds.