Getting Unstuck from Trauma-Related OCD

OCD can be difficult to live with on its own. For some people, it also becomes intertwined with trauma in ways that make recovery feel heavier or more confusing.

This page explores a few different ways trauma and OCD can overlap. Not to pathologize your experience or explain everything away, but to offer language for experiences that often go unnamed. Understanding this context can help you make sense of why certain fears feel especially intense, why empowerment may feel harder to access at times, and why a more layered approach can sometimes be helpful.

Nothing here means ERP isn’t important. It means your experience deserves to be understood clearly and compassionately.

trauma-related OCD

When OCD becomes traumatizing

Living with OCD can be deeply destabilizing over time.

Relentless intrusive thoughts.
Constant doubt about your intentions or safety.
Years of feeling like your own mind can’t be trusted.

For some people, this ongoing internal threat begins to feel traumatic in its own right. Not because something external happened, but because their nervous system has been on high alert for so long.

When OCD itself has taken this toll, you may notice:

  • a sense of defeat or emotional exhaustion
  • avoidance that feels protective rather than strategic
  • feeling frozen, numb, or overwhelmed instead of motivated
  • difficulty accessing the confidence or steadiness ERP often requires

This isn’t weakness. It’s what can happen when fear has been running the show for a very long time.

ERP still matters here. At the same time, rebuilding a sense of internal safety and empowerment can be an important part of being able to engage with it effectively.

If this resonates, you may want to read these posts:

OCD as a Trauma—and How to Fight Back
Learn how chronic fear and doubt can wear you down, and why feeling exhausted or defeated doesn’t mean you’re failing at recovery. This post also shares practical, empowering ways to fight back that support ERP.

Escaping the Nursery of Nonstop Negativity
Explore how OCD can trap people in a space of constant internal criticism, fear, and emotional intensity, and how stepping out of that mental environment can be an important part of recovery when OCD has worn you down.


Post-traumatic OCD

In some cases, OCD becomes intertwined with trauma or PTSD.

This can happen when:

  • you have experienced one or more traumatic events
  • intrusive thoughts echo experiences of danger, harm, or violation
  • OCD compulsions feel protective because they seem tied in some way to the trauma
  • trauma responses and OCD symptoms begin reinforcing each other

This is often referred to as post-traumatic OCD, meaning OCD that has merged with trauma or PTSD. It isn’t one or the other. It’s both operating together.

Feeling stuck in your OCD treatment journey when you have a history of trauma doesn’t mean you’re doing recovery wrong. It may mean there’s more than one layer that needs attention.

When this is the case, ERP remains a core part of treating OCD. At the same time, evidence-based care for trauma or PTSD is also important. When OCD and trauma are closely intertwined, addressing only one side of the picture often isn’t enough to bring meaningful relief.

If you’d like to explore this further, you can read my blog post on post-traumatic OCD, where Caitlin Pinciotti, PhD, an expert in post-traumatic OCD, and I discuss:

  • my personal experience with post-traumatic OCD
  • the characteristics of the combined disorders
  • what we know about OCD, trauma, and post-traumatic OCD
  • treatment considerations for post-traumatic OCD
  • things we hope you remember during your treatment journey
  • where to find treatment and additional resources


You can also listen to the Your Anxiety Toolkit episode where Caitlin, Kimberley, and I discuss post-traumatic OCD.

Post-traumatic growth

Having both trauma and OCD does not mean recovery is out of reach.

In some cases, the process of working through trauma with support can lead to post-traumatic growth. Post-traumatic growth does not mean minimizing the impact of painful experiences. It refers to meaningful positive psychological changes that can develop over time, even when distress or challenges are still present.

In the context of trauma and OCD, post-traumatic growth can look like:

  • gaining a different perspective on yourself, others, or the world
  • reclaiming agency after long periods of feeling powerless
  • building resilience through meaningful action, sometimes but not always by helping others

You can read more about my personal experience with post-traumatic growth following post-traumatic OCD in A New Response to Trauma and PTOCD. You can also learn more about post-traumatic growth in “Growth after trauma” on the American Psychological Association website.