- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
The feeling of calm may be simply lack of anxiety because you are thinking about avoiding commitment altogether, and when you avoid the things you are afraid of, you get short term relief (albeit long-term increase in symptoms). I felt that a lot too when thinking of breaking up before because it was an escape from all of the fear
- Date posted
- 3y
This makes sense! Thank you!! I’m really tired of my brain not getting why long term relationships are even a thing or how they’re even beneficial for me🙃I would really like to be confident in my choice to stay with my partner even if I do have doubts or crazy questions. He’s a really wonderful person and we’re such a great duo both romantically and as friends. We make a great team and I just want to actually experience the wonderful thing we have to the fullest. As well as heal whatever crap is going on in my head
- Date posted
- 3y
Doesn’t sound like there’s calm because you’re here.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
I feel the same. I am stressing about getting married and now I’m thinking about my ex too. It’s exhausting
- Date posted
- 3y
It’s the worst and I’m sorry you’re going through that. I feel like an imposter and keeping asking “why am I even here in this relationship etc.” it’s awful bc not too far in the past and before I have told myself why I’m staying and what for but clearly that means nothing to ocd. So I just feel like a lying imposter who’s somehow forcing herself to be in a relationship and I wanna scream but also it doesn’t feel super overloaded with anxiety 🥲🥲🥲
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@crc_1394 I’m sorry you are too. Did you have these thoughts when you were single? I notice that I was in a good place, enjoying life and dating around. Then I got serious with my now fiancé and yikes I’m terrified and I feel like I need to leave but I don’t want too
- Date posted
- 3y
@OCD33 I’ve actually been with my partner since I was 14 and he was 14. We’re 19 and 20 now. But my attachment style has always been fearful avoidant, it’s just that I’m discovering that now. Somehow the brain takes commitment and sees it as pointless but I feel like that’s because it doesn’t want to slow down and process stuff. It always wants to be on the go to avoid handling hard stuff and healing through it. Because the brain can’t see a way out, but there has to be freedom on the other side of this.
- Date posted
- 3y
@Sero82 Oh cool!! May I ask how old you all are now? And unfortunately yes, my intrusive thoughts focus on that we’re different ethnicities, have different upbringings, and any other difference we have no matter how big or small they are. It’s not fun.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
Right now I feel like I’ve realized something awful. Like maybe… I never truly loved my boyfriend. Maybe in the beginning I was just excited to be in a relationship. Maybe I confused that excitement with real love. And when the intrusive thoughts started, maybe it wasn’t ROCD — maybe it was the truth hitting me. I write this and it feels real. That’s the scariest part. It feels calm and clear and like maybe I’ve just been lying to myself all along, holding on because I “should,” not because I truly want to. I can’t remember how it felt to love him — and that makes it worse. I feel so disconnected, so numb, like nothing makes sense anymore. Every time I try to feel something for him, it feels like I’m faking it. Like I’m playing a role, not being myself. But the thing is… I’m not at peace. If this was really the truth, why does it hurt so much? Why does this “realization” come with panic, guilt, emptiness, and so much fear? I don’t want to hurt him. I don’t want to lose him. But I also don’t want to keep living like this — doubting myself, my feelings, and my past. I feel like I’m stuck in a cycle I can’t break, and I’m scared I’ll always feel this way. Has anyone ever felt like this before?
- Date posted
- 22w
feel like I’ve been stuck in this ROCD cycle for so long that I don’t even know what’s real anymore. Everything feels so heavy and confusing. I keep having thoughts like “I don’t love him,” “I never really did,” “I’m just used to him,” or “I’m staying out of guilt or fear.” They come with a strong emotional pull that makes it feel like I’m finally facing some ‘truth’ — but I don’t even know what that truth is. Even when things are going well with my boyfriend — when he’s loving, caring, affectionate — I still feel disconnected, like I can’t feel love or calmness. And then I feel guilty for not feeling what I think I should feel. I overthink everything: memories, how I used to feel, how I feel now, what I might feel tomorrow. I can’t tell if I’m just scared to lose him or if I’m trying to force something that isn’t there. I’ve read so much about ROCD and I know I’m supposed to sit with the thoughts and let them pass, but sometimes they feel so real that I don’t know how to keep going. Sometimes I even feel numb and that scares me too — like if I don’t react with panic, it must be true. I just want peace. I want clarity. I want to stop analyzing and doubting every moment. Has anyone else felt this way? How do you sit with this and not spiral? Thank you so much for reading. 💔
- Date posted
- 21w
I am struggling so much with ROCD symptoms, and lately everything feels more and more real, like I am finally “realizing” that I don’t love my boyfriend anymore. When I think about him, about him speaking kindly to me, or about being with him — I feel no warmth inside me, no happiness, no calm. This makes me panic, and I start thinking that maybe this is the truth, that I don’t love him anymore or never did. It feels like my mind is connecting everything to “prove” I don’t love him — I even struggle now to remember good moments with him or any time when I felt love. When I am in his arms, instead of comfort, I feel anxious and disconnected. When he says sexual things, I feel disgust or nothing. I also had a really hard moment with my mom yesterday — I told her I don’t feel love anymore, and she told me that I am lying to myself, that I am hurting both him and myself. I keep hearing her words in my mind now. On top of this, someone on NOCD told me to focus on traits I admire about him, but when I try, nothing comes to mind and this scares me even more — like maybe I never truly loved him, I just liked the idea of having a boyfriend. I know I have read a lot about ROCD, I know about ERP, I know I should “let the feelings be there” and not fight them. But even though I know this, I feel so stuck, hopeless, and burned out. The thoughts feel so real now — like I have a gut feeling that I don’t love him anymore, that I’ve changed, and I’m just forcing myself. I am also afraid that deep down, maybe I don’t want to love him anymore, I just want to feel “normal” again — and this terrifies me. Lately I feel like everything feels more and more real — like the thoughts and this horrible feeling are the truth that I was denying all along. Now I feel almost numb, like I have accepted this horrible idea and I can’t connect to my emotions any I feel desperate. I don’t know what is real anymore. Please, if anyone can relate or give some guidance, I would be very grateful. 💔 (edited)
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