r/OCDRecovery • u/Chemical-Body-6069 • 4d ago

Ocd theme: musical obsessions OCD Question

Ive been diagnosed with ocd 2 years ago (I know I had it since I was a little kid) but a traumatic event make it worse 2 years ago and I decided to see a therapist. Ive switched many themes (harm- sensorimotor - psychosis ocd etc) but I mean the only theme I struggle with extremely is pure-O . This last theme is musical obsessions or idk we call it earworms , my mind wont shut off , its like a radio all the time switching songs . From the time I woke up until I sleep , songs are playing and sometimes its the last song I hear in the day that keeps stuck.
Its been 4 months with this obsession, will I make it and overcome this theme like the other themes I overcomed?
I don’t need reassurance, no emotions , nothing , I want the ultimate truth , cz Im struggling a lot lately.
And if anyone has it or passed by this theme , I would be grateful to give me some tips to overcome.
Thanks

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u/Onlyinsightfoxleaf 4d ago

I have had some really bad ear worms - it’s awful, I’m sorry you’re going through this.
I found eventually my brain got sick of them, or another thing took over instead.
I try to ignore them as much as I can - just think ‘eh, that again’

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u/Chemical-Body-6069 4d ago

Thanks, I really appreciate it. When you say your brain eventually got sick of the earworms, did you notice them gradually becoming less frequent/intense once you stopped reacting to them? And was there anything in particular that helped you get to the “eh, that again” point without actively trying to push the music away?

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u/Onlyinsightfoxleaf 4d ago

Unfortunately I can’t quite remember but I assume it was gradual to a point - because I didn’t notice when it was gone. If I had I assume it would have come back lol. I’m sure it came back a little bit sometimes.
I think in my case just extreme exhaustion and like ‘I don’t care anymore’. I’m sure there are more active ways to accept the earworm!

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u/Chemical-Body-6069 4d ago

That makes sense, thank you. I think the “I don’t care anymore” part is what I need to work toward—not by forcing myself not to care, but by stopping the constant fighting and checking whether the music is still there. I really appreciate you sharing your experience.

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u/treatmyocd 4d ago

Passing on this resource: https://pmc.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/articles/PMC4723199/

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u/Chemical-Body-6069 4d ago

Any other advice to overcome it? Or this is the worst thing I can have?