Hello Everyone!

Welcome Watermelon🍉! You are definitely NOT alone! It feels so good to finally be around others who have similar struggles. I am 41 years old and have struggled with OCD since I was in elementary school. My OCD & compulsions have taken on multiple forms throughout the years... When I was a kid, I would pray/count/check things relentlessly to calm myself down or to make "wishes" come true (I hated my childhood), when I hit puberty I had intense crushes on guys, when my kiddos were born I developed an irrational fear of thunderstorms, now I struggle with ROCD (I have this irrational fear that my long-term boyfriend is cheating on me or that he doesn't love me as much as I love him), and I have always been obsessed with neat/orderly and get all out of sorts of my routines are thrown off. Have you started treatment with an NOCD therapist yet or tinkered thru all of the content posted (i.e. articles, webinars, reels?).

I'm Jesse and I'm 26, nice to meet youu! Mine was so scary at first because I didn't know what was happening to me? I was obsessed with a thought to the point where I thought I needed to go to a psych ward. Then I started questioning what was happening and found out it was just that. Things go so much better over time, from seeing a therapist to stopping and realizing that thoughts are just thoughts! Btw welcome to nocd, everyone here is super cool.

Hello Watermelon🍉! Lovely to see you on here. I’m Landon and I’m 16 struggling with Pure OCD, for context as a child I never showed signs of having OCD nobody thought I even had it it was that mild! So I began becoming more aware of my OCD in August of 2022 when I was in a Biology Medical class in which we studied forensics and crime scenes. My friends asked me if I’ve seen the Jeffery Dahmer crime scene photos and I hadn’t so curiosity beat me and I looked it up. It was traumatizing and I felt hopeless and felt humanity was all dark and evil. But the real signs began when I watched an interview he has with a news channel as to why he did what he did and that’s when the lovely “What if..?” Popped in. My obsessions were of harm. I got scared I liked what he did and I saw my family and friends the way I saw in the crime scene photo. Later this became me seeing myself being the cause of their harm. For weeks I cried and felt so hopeless and alone. My Mom knew something was wrong and took me to a pediatrician in which I first heard the term “Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder” my doctor told me I wasn’t alone and that there was hope for me to be happy again. I started Zoloft (Sertraline) and I’ve made slow progress but all that matters is I’m making progress. Every day I see my family and friends that way and I still doubt myself from time to time. But I no longer feel hopeless I feel that happiness can be mine again. Thank you for reading my story. I wish you the best through your journey of OCD. Much Love!❤️

Hi. I have had OCD since adolescence but now I struggle with what I consider the hardest theme, real event OCD. I have been getting better with medication and therapy however. It is good to fully disclose to your therapist your thoughts and theme so they can tailor exposures to it. It is super hard to handle this condition but thank God it is manageable. I work with a therapist in person as a part of a behavioral health program and soon I will on here too with NOCD. The solution is training your brain to realize there is no solution, regardless of your theme. It is so hard to accept but it's possible!! I believe in you.

Hello! Same here I’m 19, in college and had ocd since 9! Right now my main struggles are magical thinking and pure ocd. I was officially diagnosed a year ago, my ocd has been very severe I say it’s my biggest obstacle in life no question.

👋 I'm 37 and had a pretty sudden onset of OCD last summer, though it definitely developed slowly over the last 3 years. My first theme was health, but the one that pushed me over the edge was harm. I try to do my exposure, mindfulness practice, and be with the community here every day. Today was pretty good, low anxiety, not much intrusive thought. Tomorrow might be harder and it'll be alright.

Thank you all for responding and telling me your journeys with OCD 😊 Thank you again!!!