- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
Respond with uncertainty: maybe I’m gay. Maybe I’m not. Can’t know for sure. Sit with any anxiety that develops until it dissipates. Do this again and again each time the thought arises. Think of the thought on purpose just to think the uncertain response. It’s called ERP therapy and it’s the most effective treatment of OCD. You have to face your fears directly and sit with them without trying to neutralize, suppress, and analyze.
- Date posted
- 6y
@ocdsucksbutt — Its a skill you have to learn through practice. A lot of people’s knee-jerk reaction to unwanted thoughts is to try to push them away. But you can always bring them back. Next time your mind sends you an intrusive thought and you start fighting it, take a second to stop, take a deep breath, and invite the thought back in. Have it again, but this time sit with the anxiety without fighting it off with rituals and compulsions. We all have a natural fight or flight response to danger, but as we habituate to the thoughts, that too will dissipate with time. You’ll start responding with “oh it’s one of these again. Sigghhhhh... ok.” Rather than kicking into high-gear fight mode automatically.
- Date posted
- 6y
Ask, have I ever actually been gay? And say hey, it’s okay I will give it a few weeks and see if this goes away. It’s no biggie if you are or aren’t
- Date posted
- 6y
I’ve tried that and the truthful answer is no I haven’t. Same thing with the thought of being Bi pops up too
- Date posted
- 6y
Me but in reverse lmao
- Date posted
- 6y
pureolife, but how do I not fight the thoughts? I feel like my mind automatically fights the thoughts without me wanting to, it’s just a defense mechanism
- Date posted
- 6y
Thank you. I truly hope I can manage, if not I’m not sure what I’ll do. A part of my anxiety is the fear of the longer I’m having this the worse it’ll get and it’ll be too late to fix.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 17w
I have a lot of trouble with my sexuality. I’ve been trying to figure out my sexuality for years. I’ve dated a man, and I wasn’t really into the whole time. And since then I’ve thought that maybe I’m a lesbian because I’m attracted to women, which I know for sure. But then my brain spirals, I constantly think back ti memories with my ex, how I felt with him, I check how it makes me feel. I often google to see if other lesbians have felt similar, I ask ChatGpt over and over again. I feel like I have to be 100% certain or that im faking for attention, or thst I’ll end up with a man. I guess im wondering has anyone else felt like this ? What’s been your experience how do you manage it?
- Date posted
- 16w
So I haven’t been on this app in a while. But I just want advice on how to overcome this. I’m now 18 and I’ve been trying out dating apps. I’m not gonna lie I’m kinda picky when it comes to dating only because I plan on dating to marry…so I take it a bit more seriously. But for some reason it’s so hard to click with people on these dating apps. So my friend was helping me through this dating apps process. I told her that I wasn’t interested in this guy I was texting anymore because of the way he was responding to my messages. And she says maybe you’re gay…this is honestly the sixth time (I’m definitely over exaggeration but this isn’t the first time someone had said this to me) someone has ask/said this. Every time someone says this it literally sends me down this spiral of are they seeing something I’m not seeing. Despite never having a crush on a girl my mind goes down this loop of overthinking. And when I say I don’t want that lifestyle or I don’t really find pleasure in being apart of the lgbtq community my mind is like in denial. I just wanted to have a fun teenage dating experience and now every time I open the app I always think what if I really am gay and I’m just in denial…or what if the reason why I’m not connecting with anyone is because I’m really into girls. Since i’m also religious, my mom wants to go what you’re denying who we are because of your religion. And I tried to reassure myself by saying I would know if that was the case like I would feel deep down who I’m truly attracted to and know that I’m trying to cover it up by dating men. This whole thing is so mentally taxing because I was going through this all throughout my senior year of high school and I’m not going into my freshman year of college so. Like I literally felt so much anxiety next to one of my classmates who was gay and a masculine presenting. I feel like if I would’ve told this to anyone, they’d say of course you’re in denial. But ig reply if you can relate
- Date posted
- 10w
Does anyone else get intrusive thoughts of same sex oral sex? I’ve been struggling with this repeated intrusive thought for over two years, and everytime I get it it’s like a stab in the chest, I hate it so much if I think about it for too long it makes me feel sick and I’d never want to do it so why does it keep coming back 😔
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