I see all these quotes about relationships on Instagram saying don’t waste time on someone whose not right and if you love someone you know etc and it’s stressing me out like it makes me feel so guilty and I’m trying so hard to get over ROCD but I’m so scared about finding out that I should just end things because I want to be honest with my boyfriend I don’t want to find out I do t have ROCD and it’s really just not right between us it makes me feel sick cause I want it to work out so bad :(

How to tell the difference between normal relationship doubts and ROCD? Im going on a rant now: I have avoided relationships for the most part over the last 10 years. as soon as I get past the 2nd or 3rd date I feel like if I dont know that they have the potential to be “the one” then I worry constantly about wasting my life and theirs. I had 2 relationships that lasted about 3 months but the whole time, I just wanted to get out even though they were both good guys. In November, I had my first panic attack and soon discovered what I was dealing with (and still managing it) is SO-OCD. Then I learned of ROCD and wondered if that is something I have struggled with since my teens. As soon as I get into a relationship I have these strong urges to break it off for minor stupid things. Things that honestly make no sense. Like a weird freckle or chin (real examples). Not to mention I am afraid of getting intimate because Im super paranoid of getting pregnant... I started talking to a guy during quarantine and it’s slowly turning into more than friends. I really like him and enjoy spending time with him but I am constantly worried. Being aware of ROCD has helped me be mindful of the present but all my old habits are trying to come back full force and I find myself trying to avoid him. Ive read as much as I can find on ROCD and I can check off almost all the obessions and compulsions that are associated with ROCD. But it doesnt affect me the same way SO-OCD did. Like I felt like I couldnt breathe, and I could barely be in public. I wanted to escape so bad all the time. With this ROCD (if thats what it really is) I dont feel that panic, I just feel worried, stuck, and distracted. Not to mention, if I can manage to stay mindful, how on earth do you even tell someone you just started seeing that you have ocd, let alone so-ocd and rocd. It just adds to me wanting to avoid him. Also, how do you go from being dateless and single for 2 years to starting a relationship in the middle of a quarantine while you’re learning that you have OCD.

I’m so terrified that my feelings are not a product of ROCD and are actually real. They feel real, I think they are, and it makes me mad because I just want to be in a happy relationship but then I have a really real thought that picks apart every aspect of my partner: what he looks like, how he sounds, how he acts, how weird he is, his intelligence, his emotional state, etc. recently it’s been really sad because I feel critical towards him doing normal things like feeling exited, or trying to be funny, or making jokes, or even him being vulnerable and crying. I feel so judgemental and it feels so real, like that’s how I really feel, and maybe I do think he’s a little weird but I don’t want that to stop me from loving him. And I feel like it’s bad for be to think and feel all these things. I don’t want to let these thoughts take over my life and ruin all the growth that him and I have done together, but it honestly feel like that’s how I really feel some days, and idk if it’s ROCD.

I have been with my boyfriend in college for 4 months now. This is my first relationship and being in a relationship made me discover i have OCD, I never knew I had it before. How do I stop the ROCD from feeling so *real*? Does anyone else struggle with this? Suddenly my mind starts saying no this isn’t ROCD you’re just in denial and you need to break up with your boyfriend because you can’t “waste time” with him because it is probably going to end anyways. A huge trigger for me is also the fact that this IS my first love and I know those rarely last. I keep thinking this is just going to end in pain and heartbreak so I should end it now or what if I get stuck in this relationship and fast forward 10 years I wish I had dated someone else and not wasted my time and it ends in divorce or something. I feel so at war with myself and my OCD is so good at convincing me it’s real. Even right now I just had an attack and I swear maybe I do need to break up with him because of how bad my ROCD is itself. Anyone else feel that? like meta ROCD where “I need to break up with him because the ROCD is going to ruin things anyway”. Please help, how do I tell what I really want