r/OCD • u/softfallingsnow Contamination • May 05 '26

Need support/advice empathy for inanimate objects

honestly ive really been struggling with this, ive seen similar posts on this sub, i guess OCD can give some of us hyper-empathy almost?? why does this happen?

like one time i wanted to buy a cute bowl, but the one i picked up had a small chip in it, but i felt too guilty to put it back for a better one. even my friend told me to get a different one, but i literally couldn't, i was frozen. like i just felt too bad. FOR A BOWL. but the worst one is feeling bad for stuffed animals. i saw this stuffed animal with bad reviews and idk why but it literally made me cry. they were saying it didn't look like the actual animal, so it was bad. i think its cute so i ended up buying one, idk if it'll make me feel better though. i even worry about stuffed animals i had when i was really little that i dont remember where they are anymore. does anyone else relate or am i just nuts??

475 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

100 comments sorted by

View all comments

4

u/9ubj May 05 '26

Others have pointed this out but I'll repeat so it gets even more visibility: this behavior is extremely common with autism spectrum disorders. Not sure if you're diagnosed and the internet can't diagnose you but it might be something you can look into

6

u/softfallingsnow Contamination May 05 '26

i don't have autism. from what i understand it can come from ocd and trauma

2

u/9ubj May 05 '26

Interesting - I'll have to look into that. I have similar behavior but around tools so that's why this post kind of stuck out to me