Groinal responses really hold me back :( it’s what makes me feel like I’m just in denial

I know what you mean 🥺 I was actually doing pretty good for a couple days. I hardly had any intrusive thoughts and groinal responses and if I did I was able to just let it pass. Like I started feeling confident in who I was. But then I asked my bf a question the day before yesterday and his response ended up triggering me (obviously on accident) and then I started having a lot of groinal responses again which then are followed by intrusive thoughts. And feeling like I’m in denial :(

@Whyyocd Right once you start to feel confident you feel better and then there’s that voice that says your gay in denial for me I feel like I’ve been really bad for a week I feel like a shell of myself when I have the anexiety and heavy chest I can’t eat I feel tired all the time I want to sleep to avoid all this then I’ll look back in my life and try to reassure myself I’m not but that only lasts so long then it’s back to but why did you pay attention to that picture to much or why did you react like that you must like it your gay then it’s starts up my anexiety again like a loop I just wanna be myself again I wanna have control of my life

@Whyyocd Sorry for venting it’s just been a really riff week for me

@Igot12This No you’re totally fine! When did this theme start for you? I use to feel like that a lot in the beginning

@Whyyocd it all started in 7th grade after watching this one show that had a gay couple in it then I started questioning my sexualityand stressing and freaking out about it and it eventually went away but came back after one of my friends told me his mom left his dad for a women then it started up again . Then it’s stopped after I got into a relationship I mean the thought was there still but i feel like since my relationship was new I didn’t pay much attention to it then it came back again when I was pregnant and was really bad I felt depressed and I avoided my room cause that’s where I’d get my anexiety at the most I’d always try to leave my house I’d wake up freaking out like what if I’m gay and I feel warm and heavy chest . But now this time it came back I’m convinced that I’m in denial

@Igot12This Omg I’m so sorry! 🥺 mine started this year in June. I really like k pop and my dad always said they looked like girls. One time we were having dinner and the conversation came up again and he was like you should just come out already. And the thought “what if I’m gay” came into my head. I was avoiding everything and I couldn’t eat. Came to college and the groinal responses were terrible. Intrusive thoughts too. I was so scared about seeing my bf (he’s in the military). Things went really good with him but now that he’s gone it’s hard again. And idk if I have relationship ocd or not but I’ll have moments where I’ll freak out about that too. I had other themes before this. They started fall 2018. Feel free to vent to me whenever you’d like :) I don’t mind at all!

@Whyyocd It the worst especially been afraid to see your boyfriend recently now I’d be with mine I’d feel like I was there but my mind wasn’t it was focused on all these thoughts about being gay or what If I’m lying to myself that I like him and that I’m straight what if I’m in a fake relationship then I’d stress during our intimacy like do I actually like it or am I faking it or after having a good intimacy I’d feel more relaxed about the thougths then they’d come back what if you didn’t like it and you were just telling and making yourself think you did or if it wasnt good I’d see it as a sign that I’m gay and Thankyou it means a lot I’ve been feeling so alone all I wanna do I cry it’s hard cause I’m also a mother and to feel down like this and still have to keep pushing is very exhausting Id love to hear more of your expirence if your comfortable with sharing it with

@Igot12This Totally understand feeling alone :( If you have any questions you can ask me!!! Have you ever done therapy for this?

@Whyyocd No i haven’t but at this point it’s gotten so bad I feel like I need to .back when I was in school I remember one of the therapists said one of things I was describing to him sounded like ocd but I told him no cause I’m not a clean freak I didn’t know there was so many themes to this

@Igot12This I didn’t either! I think you should definitely at least try! It can only help ya know? I believe it’s helped me but I still have my bad days. One thing I noticed I don’t like doing is telling anyone that I’m doing better because I feel like I’ll jinx it and it’ll get bad again lol

@Whyyocd Yess I feel you .I’ve noticed that’s one I start feeling better through out my day and don’t have that heavy feeling on my chest I kinda tell my self like this won’t last long your gonna feel worse again .and mornings are horrible especially rn like my thoughts are consumed with that I’m gay and this keeps on coming back cause I’m hiding the truth from myself and then I start freaking out and feel scared

@Whyyocd I felt like I triggered myself by looking at these images on Instagram and I’d look at the women first so then my mind would be like only gay people focus on the girl more then the there was this one image that I felt like I liked but I didn’t want to have sex with the girl I just found the picture sexy then i read the comments and people were like I wish the guy she was hugging was naked too and then I’m like how come I’m not wishing that and then my head was like cause your gay deep down you desire that

@Whyyocd Like I said at this point I just feel like I’m hiding that I’m gay cause the thought of being gay or having to come out scares me cause I don’t feel like I have control anymore of my thoughts that’s all I think about and then I read that people who are gay are just scared of coming out then I think omg I fit into that category cause I must be gay these thoughts have invaded my sleep till the point where I wake up and tell myself your living a lie you are gay then I just start feeling sick

@Whyyocd I don’t feel like myself i hate being consumed by these thoughts and mind can never let me settle on one thing or rest it’s constantly going I always have the thought I’m lying to myself and the thought comes up all the time sometimes a certain song an my thoughts will be like that’s you cause your lying to yourself about being gay like everythought is about being gay or that I’m in denial I can’t even think a guy is cute anymore without the thought your lying to yourself coming into my head when before I was able too

Thank you :)

In the beginning it was washing my comforter and changing clothes every day or taking a shower when my anxiety got really bad

@Whyyocd I thought It was just me lol like I have to do 4 pumps of shampoo and conditioner or use the same ones until they run out I’ve noticed my compulsions got better thoe like im able to an extra pump and things will be okay

@Whyyocd Do you still have them

@Igot12This No those compulsions are gone for me. Well I guess except for the shower one. Whenever I feel super anxious I’ll go take a hot shower. It’s like I’m washing it all away or something. My main compulsion is ruminations for sure

@Whyyocd Rummination is a compulsion ? Cause I’m not sure if I do that I just feel like this is all I think about 24/7 like these thoughts consume me but rn that I’m talking about it I feel better and no anxiety I feel like a load off of me

@Igot12This You thinking about it all the time is rumination! And it is. And yes it’s reassuring to talk to someone else about this stuff because you don’t feel alone and like you’re in denial since someone else is experienceing the same thing. I feel better too lolll but we’re not supposed to seek reassurance because that’s a compulsion too and it will keep the cycle going.

@Whyyocd Wow I didn’t know I thought it’s just me overthinking like normal and your right but today I feel like needed this i felt so horrible anxious and filled with panic that I was actually gay

@Igot12This I understand! Therapy slowly keeps you from doing compulsions. It doesn’t happens all at once :)

@Whyyocd It feels good to be able to talk to someone about how I feel instead of keeping it bottled up I felt like I was gonna explode i would tell myself I just want to be me again and have control of my life or at least feel like I did

@Igot12This I feel better talking to someone about it too! I say stuff like that in my head too! Like for me I want things to go back to like how they use to be

@Whyyocd How come my hocd was never this bad before like I was able to get over it for a while or was I able to get over it cause im actually gay in denial and don’t want to face it

@Igot12This I ask myself the same thing! Except with other themes. It was easier for the other themes to go away but this one hasn’t yet

@Whyyocd Hey sorry for bugging but I feel like I need to talk to someone I feel overwhelmed rn

@Igot12This It’s okay! What’s up?!

@Whyyocd I just feel like this isn’t ocd I feel like I’m losing who I am i woke up this morning with intense anexiety I felt like crying last night I was testing myself with some photos and I think I liked them and the thoughts didn’t help at all and started freaking out convinced that I’m gay and I tried going asleep and eventually did but the thoughts follow me there and this time were saying you desire them and you are gay just come out and woke up scared and convinced I’m gay in denial then to top it off I read Reddit and quora and then people were saying this isn’t real and that we’re just in deep denial of who we are

@Whyyocd Then I start looking into my past and I think that’s it’s all true but I never had crushes on girls or when I’d go out they never caught my attention only guys did

@Igot12This I use to wake up feeling like that too! We just have to sit with the uncertainty of it unfortunately. I think you should really try therapy! Stop checking and looking for reassurance! It only makes things worse in the long run :(

@Whyyocd I had my first free call with the NOCD therapist and it felt so good to tell someone how I’m feeling I cried to her and I’m looking into therapy with them but I don’t think my insurance covers it :( .and your right I feel like it is making me feel worse like I’m to the point where almost no reassurance is helping anymore what helped you cope with the uncertainty ?

@Igot12This Exactly! Because nothing satisfies us. So we feel relief for a little while but then another what if question comes to us that will cancel out what relieved us. And it just keep going until there’s nothing left except to sit with the uncertainty. It’s still hard somtimes. Like today I woke up pretty anxious. I’ve been feeling more like myself and it’s been good with my boyfriend when I’m on ft with him (like no intrusive thoughts and etc). But sometimes I’ll get triggered thinking about all of my past thoughts and whether or not it’s actually OCD and etc. Something that has helped is thinking about how things have gotten better when I just let the anxiety sit there and then it all goes away eventually. Like I’ve thought a thought so many times it’s able to go away eventually because I get bored. Or I just stop caring. I obviously do care but you get to a point where you’re like well… idk what to do anymore. I know who I’ve always been and now there’s all this anxiety and etc. So I’m going to live my life the way I’ve always have. Of course even writing this my brain is like you’re just lying to yourself but I honestly believe once you’ve heard it enough, it goes away. When I also have to sit with uncertainty, I like to do things like paint or watch a show and etc :)

@Whyyocd I hope you see my reply lol I forgot to @ you in my long response that why 😂

When I was going through religious OCD I dealt more with things like this

@Whyyocd Honestly I never would of thought this was religious ocd or ocd at all I just thought in my head it cause you didn’t pray or you were to lazy to pray

@Igot12This Literally same. I just thought I had really bad anxiety and that there was something wrong with me because of the thoughts

In therapy, you learn how to deal with your anxiety with questions like that. I know exactly what you mean. I’ve had anxiety that I’m just using OCD as an excuse

@Whyyocd I just need help at this point I’m completely mentally and physically drained I don’t know where to begin is there somethings I can try myself that can help me beat this

@Whyyocd Sorry for the lengthy post btw :(

Of course!! I really hope you can get therapy. I think it would benefit you a lot!!! :) and I’m sorry for the late reply! I’ve been cleaning and getting ready to see my family for lunch! Happy thanksgiving by the way!!! 🥺✨

@Whyyocd Thankyou so much and it’s okay happy thanksgiving !😌

@Whyyocd Hey sorry for always bugging you I just don’t have anyone to talk to and I feel horrible and you really help take a look back and try to relax

@Igot12This You’re totally fine! What’s up!

@Whyyocd ?*