- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
This is exactly why I’ve stopped talking about mental health with my family members. Also because no one in my family will understand what POCD is, and when I DO talk to my family about my other obsessions they just say “you’re normal, there’s nothing wrong with you.” Like?? YES THERE IS LMAO
- Date posted
- 6y
I see. That’s frustrating! I only explain my situation to others if I’m ready to hear back: “that makes no sense.” I realized that when I wanted to get others to really “get it” and they didn’t that it actually became a cause of further doubt and anxiety.
- Date posted
- 6y
It can help to set a boundary and stick to it. Tell them: I appreciate your concern and I know your questions are coming from a place of caring, but explaining and justifying my diagnosis doesn’t help me, and I would like to stop discussing this with you. I’m happy to let you know how I’m doing, but I’m going to leave the details for my therapist. I hope you can understand and respect that.” If they bring it up again, say “as I told you before, it’s really not helpful for me to go into details with you. Thank you for asking. I am struggling and your support means a lot. But I’d like to leave discussing the details to my therapist.”
- Date posted
- 6y
Unless your family gets their own training in how to support someone with OCD, stop talking to them about any details. You can share if you’re having a particularly bad day or accept love and support, but don’t discuss the details of your obsessions. It’s not helpful, and actually using your family/friends for therapy isn’t a healthy dynamic to have in the first place — OCD or not. Your relationships in general will improve if you use those around you for love and support rather than problem fixers.
- Date posted
- 6y
i mean im not even trying to talk with them as a source of therapy—i was just trying to explain what i was going through and why id decided to go back to therapy, so it was really more like a casual discussion. trust me i definitely don’t use my family/friends as therapists—im currently in school to become one myself, so i keep discussions of my mental health to cursory explanations of why i behave the way i do sometimes bc they are nosy and ask haha
- Date posted
- 6y
which is just to say that i am trying to use them for love and support, but it always ends in an argument with them telling me im not experiencing what im very truly experiencing
- Date posted
- 6y
oh absolutely :( unfortunately my family is very. Very nosy so it gets hard to dodge even though it’s unhealthy :/ hopefully at some point they’ll respect my privacy!!
Related posts
- Date posted
- 16w
please i need someone to share experiences... - that a certain facial expression of a person to whom ocd is attached causes a lot of thoughts that are connected to that facial expression, and that the images in your head are very detailed, and that they have a sound, words, and that you have a feeling of some kind of crawling from the groin all over your body?
- Date posted
- 10w
My mom will sit and listen to me for quite a while, but she interrupts a lot and gets angry/upset. While I appreciate her passion, it's often stressful. Every time I come to her, if I even *mention* OCD, she gets frustrated and says, "Everyone deals with these issues, you know. It doesn't mean it's OCD." And I repeat, "I'm not saying my issues are unique — I'm saying the way I respond to them is a problem." But she just shakes her head and says, "Okay, I need to get back to my day." Full context, I'm an adult, and I live with my boyfriend, but I'm staying at my mom's for the next month. After living away from home for years, I went back to living with her during the pandemic, and I only recently left to live with him. Honestly, I think living with her for so long in my adulthood really messed with me and made me feel like a teenager all over again. I feel like my mental growth is stunted, and that's part of why my OCD is so bad lately. Not blaming, just noticing. She doesn't seem to understand how relieving the OCD diagnosis has been for me, because it explains so so so many things I've struggled with for years, and it's exciting to have more resources that can help me. But I think she sees it as me finding an excuse to *not* work on myself, which is just untrue. I'm not going to let OCD hold me back or use it as an excuse, but I'm also not going to pretend it's not a problem when I know it is — I was even diagnosed through NOCD. The whole point being to fix it, not use it as a crutch. When I have an issue, it's unbearable. Any issue, big or small, feels just the same. I feel a sinking feeling, my mind races, my heart beats out of my chest. I end up running to my support systems, crying, ruminating for days on end. Then, months later, the same exact issue can feel like nothing anymore, because it's no longer an obsession. I'm sure everyone deals with issues in a similar way, but I *know* there is something specific and debilitating going on with me. This is reassurance seeking, but in the face of being told I'm making a big deal out of nothing, can someone diagnosed with OCD tell me if they relate to the specific intensity of these feelings??
- Date posted
- 6w
I have experienced every theme that can be added to post but I’m currently experiencing those. So I am on the spectrum and I happen to have a high sensory profile and it definitely gives the ocd more to latch unto. I would see a pretty female with makeup done and it eatssss and I would notice the facial symmetry + how her features compliment each other and my ocd would be like why did you notice she is pretty, BECAUSE I HAVE EYES😭! I can’t be the only neurodivergent person that notices details and how attractive people are intensely? I do not even care about orientation but I know for sure if I was into women, it won’t just start plaguing me one evening Im my head shouting “you are gay” like man Im a female at least say you are a lesbian 😭😂😂😂😂. How can I genuinely have no interest and get outrightly repulsed by females sexually and romantically. It feels like I am being forced to be something im not. I tried accepting i am lesbian but I experienced more anxiety and could not sleep till I accepted i am still straight and it is ocd playing with me(ocd leave me alone, I don’t even enjoy playing with you) I accepted i am a lesbian like ocd said I should but why do I still love my ex and hope I marry him😭 + I couldn’t bring myself to be interested in females. OCD leave me alone because I don’t enjoy this game again! I’m not homophobic at all but denouncing Im straight doesn’t feel like home and I still find myself yearning for only men
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