- Date posted
- 3y
ocd attacking interests/hobbies
(I posted this same thing on the ocd reddit too so sorry if this isn’t your first time seeing this lol) hi so i feel like this is soooo stupid and inconsequential but i dont really know what else to do about it basically almost ever since i started having really bad ocd episodes i had like "sub-themes" where like, for example, when i was struggling with sexual intrusive thoughts, and at the time i was super into this one video game, i started getting thoughts like "well what if you started associating the sexual thoughts with the video game". and this just completely drained all my passion and enjoyment for the game, because all i could do was keep checking my emotions and thoughts and see if i really *was* associating the game with my intrusive thoughts. but the more i stressed about it while playing the game the more i started to actually associate them with eachother, or thats what i thought was happening, anyways. i hope that made sense so this has been happening for pretty much every single one of my interests ever since my ocd "started". again it sounds really dumb, but being interested in a show or book and just having passion for a piece of media was something i had always done for as long as i can remember, ever since i was a kid. ever since my ocd got really bad, i cant do that anymore without ruining it for myself. it's really put a damper on my sense of self and my happiness and passion for life. even in some of the worst times in my life i always had a video game or something to obsess over and take comfort in. i can't do that anymore, not without being constantly on edge. seriously, i feel like a completely new person everytime i get to enjoy a piece of media, at least before ocd starts attacking it. its come to the point where ill be consuming media and then i just think "what if you stopped liking it right now" and then i really dont know if im actually enjoying it or not, and that stresses me out and then the media starts stressing me out and then i actually *dont* enjoy it anymore. it makes me feel so empty and it genuinely depresses me, i feel like im going crazy and like, it feels different from when im genuinely not interested in something anymore, or at least thats what i think. i know that i can let go of interests just fine whenever i just dont like it anymore. but whenever *this* happens, its like i still really want to consume the media and enjoy it like i did before, i really do miss it, but everything in me is saying that i shouldn't go back to it, its over, ill just have to find something new again. bcs i genuinely do feel worse if i try and push through and keep consuming it. i really didnt want this to be this long but i just wanted to know if anyone has experienced something similar to this and what i should do about it? and thank you for reading through all of this lol