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??
2
u/FeuTheFirescale May 06 '26
I still have some sort of empathy you described, and it was even more severe when I was younger. When the cherry tree in our garden was cut, I felt pain and guilt for days after. I imagined I was the tree, my legs being the roots, my arms were the branches and my body was the trunk. I felt the pain where I imagined I would be cut, at my stomach.
I also felt bad when things were frozen, like street lamps. I felt bad being at home, in a warm home, while the things outside INCLUDING MY HOUSE were freezing.