- Date posted
- 3y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Hello! Testing your thoughts is a compulsion and is leading you further down the rabbit hole. I have never had SOOCD but I know how convincing OCD can be. I have definitely heard of others with SOOCD that do not feel arousal towards women. It is your OCD playing tricks on you. You are so worried and scared of the thought that your mind is tricking you and it keeps bringing up the thought more and more. The best thing you can do is simply ignore the thought. You don’t get arousal towards women? So what OCD, you don’t care anymore. The more you stop testing the thoughts and not do compulsions the less your brain will send you that thought. Simply going about your day and not caring will help you move towards recovery. A great resource for OCD help it to look up Ali Greymond on YouTube. You can do this!
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 3y
Thank you for your question. The arousal you feel when you check or test is called the groinal response and it is quite common in sexual orientation OCD. I would suggest doing exposures instead of engaging in checking behaviors. You can use response prevention messaging when you get these thoughts. Say something like, I may or may not be attracted to women or I may or may not be gay. Practice sitting with the anxiety instead of pushing it away. Eventually it will get lower.
- Date posted
- 3y
Please any help ?
- Date posted
- 3y
But I don’t think I ever have felt arousal to women and the arousal to men is real leads to orgasm so what do I do any help please
- Date posted
- 3y
It feels like real arousal like I’m getting turned on tho
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 3y
I guess my question would be about the fear. Is there a fear of being gay? A fear of not being accepted? Disappointing someone? What is the worst thing that you can think about being attracted to men?
- Date posted
- 3y
Just scared I dot want to be
- Date posted
- 3y
So what I feel isn’t groinal response
- Date posted
- 3y
So it’s not ocd and I am actually gay ?
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 3y
So when someone is in ERP therapy one thing we always talk about is that we aren’t hear to answer questions. OCD wants answers, but it’s more about sitting with the anxiety you feel in the uncertainty. Does that make sense? OCD wants you to have to seek reassurance, often times you want answers to questions that other people can’t answer for you. Are you in treatment at NOCD? This might be a good place to start!
- Date posted
- 3y
Yes I have been for a while but I don’t want this arousal towards men I want it to women but it never happens that way it’s like anything to do with men brings on arousal
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 3y
Are you doing exposures with your therapist around the HOCD theme?
- Date posted
- 3y
Yes some have u got any ideas for this arousal?
- Date posted
- 3y
Could it be groinal response
- Date posted
- 3y
I just don’t think this arousal is cause of ocd
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
Checking is a compulsion that will only make ocd stronger. Our bodies will have responses to stimuli even when we don’t like what we are thinking so when you get these thoughts you can respond by saying maybe I am attracted to this person maybe not. I don’t need to figure it out. Not easy to do but it beats doing compulsions because compulsions make ocd stronger each time we engage in them. It’s hard work, but we are stronger than we think.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 15w
I need too know that I'm not insane, really. I am 16 and for the past two weeks, this has been completely ruining my health and happiness. I only recently came out as a lesbian like 3 months ago after a lot of confusion about my attraction since I used to think I liked men. At first, I felt so sure that I liked women, but lately, I've been having these unwanted thoughts about the possibility of liking men. I never used to feel this way, but now, every time I look at a man, my brain obsessively fixates on it. It forces me to imagine kissing him, loving him, things I don’t want, and then tries to convince me that I do. It’s painful. The thought of this fills me with fear and anxiety, leading to panic attacks and breakdowns. I don’t want these thoughts. I hate them with every fiber of my being, but I’m terrified that one day I’ll act on them and somehow like it. I used to think I liked men, but back then, I was in a very unhealthy space in a time of escapism and something deeply parasocial. I’ve only ever liked the attention and validation a man could give me, but these experiences are somehow treated as further proof that I’m "bisexual." I’ve never been in a real relationship with anyone, which makes my brain constantly challenge me—telling me, “You don’t even know what love feels like.” It won’t shut up. It keeps obsessively trying to make me prove that I’m a lesbian, testing my reactions and questioning my certainty. Is this normal?
- Date posted
- 14w
As a lesbian with SO-OCD, I feel so helpless. It's truly exhausting because no one I know understands what I'm going through. The first response is always, "You're just confused" or "You don't have to know yet." But that's not the issue, I do know. I just never see any lesbians with SO-OCD so I feel so invalidated. These thoughts flood my brain constantly, forcing me to analyze my reactions to every man I see. I feel trapped in an endless cycle of "testing" myself, trying to prove that I don't like them. But my brain fights back, telling me I do want to love a man, making it feel real even though don't want it. It's terrifying. At this point, it's hard to even hold onto my identity as a lesbian because I'm so overwhelmed. I don't know if this is what real attraction is supposed to feel like, and that fear eats away at me. The truth is, when I think about being with a man, all I feel is disgust and fear-but my brain twists that into doubt. I hate it. I'm at the point where I'm scared I'm going to have to accept something I don't want because I don't know if this will ever go away. I miss who I was before all this.
- Date posted
- 12w
I really dont know if it is ocd anymore I dont want certain sexual things with my bf anymore that i used to like When i envision it with a girl it is so easy to envision and it feels like i want that , that will give me the satisfaction This feeling is making me really question if i am still into men , desire men sexually Is this still ocd , i really dont know anymore , as it is a feeling it is too real
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