Hi everybody. My name is Matt and I just had my first therapy session and I am optimistic. I am suffering from ROCD and overcame SOCD about 4 years ago. I just wanted to reach out and talk to anyone going through or has gone through ROCD. I would like to chat with anyone going through this. I hope everyone is having a good day🙂

That's is awesome, congrats! Do you have any advice about what worked best for you. What kind of issues were you dealing with?

@realconshus I had a lot of intrusive thought about not being physically attracted to her. Instead of trying to convince myself that I was attracted to her, I kept telling myself that maybe I’m not and I’m stuck in this relationship. It was very triggering but that was the point. I also do some ACT therapy, I think it supplements ERP very well. I also used the YouTube channel AwakenIntoLove for information and support

@Drvmstick I will be doing the same and accepting what OCD tells me about my attraction toward her. I'm glad it worked for you. What is ACT?

@realconshus It’s Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. It’s basically just acceptance. If I feel bad, I just accept that I feel bad and that it’s gonna suck, but I can still go to work or do what I need to do when I feel bad. And I know it’s temporary and will pass. Makes things a little easier when you learn to embrace it 😌

@Drvmstick I see, I get super anxious when I start feeling bad because it confuses me and I want to know why. This helps though because most of my issues come from panicking

@realconshus Yeah that used to happen to me too! And still does, but way less. I would get anxious about being anxious, and that’s a vicious cycle

@Drvmstick Totally. So how much would you say your symptoms have decreased?

@realconshus Drastically. I can go weeks without symptoms. And when they do come on I have learned how to accept them and ride it out and I always come out the other end feeling even stronger than before

@Drvmstick I think it helps to think of OCD episodes as opportunities to grow

@Drvmstick I agree. I'm glad to here that your symptoms have gone way down, that's where I want to be. So far today, I am doing well using "maybe yes, maybe no, I am living my life and moving forward" It sure beats checking and worrying 😀

@realconshus Yep definitely chat anytime

I feel the same way, but I'm confident we are probably going through something similar

Thank you. I'm glad there is support here

I'm sorry to hear that you and your girlfriend broke up. It's good that you're getting help and I hope you stick with it.

But I still struggle with it in some form or another every day! I find that it jumps around between different little themes. Like I got better about questioning if I imagined my feelings for him, and I got better about my sexual anxieties, but then I started getting anxious about commitment and our future. Whenever I’m feeling more secure about that, I start getting anxious about him hating me or wanting to break up with me. Sneaky!

@jello86 I’ve also noticed some derealization that is really difficult to find any advice about. Like “wait, who even is this person?” type feelings, and all my perceptions start to feel odd like I’m in a dream and things feel creepy. Touch and kissing can feel repulsive in those times. If anyone else has had that experience, I would love to talk about it 💙

@jello86 I have experienced this. It's really tough and confusing. I think in the end, if we do the work and use the tools, things can get better. I think trusting that it's OCD is probably one of the biggest components to getting better.