Compulsive Staring OCD

Hi! I think I'm struggling with compulsive staring OCD. Before, I had these uncomfortable thoughts of minr but I just got better and now it seems like they are coming back because of an unexpected happening in school. My professor called me to recite and I wasn't able to answer his questions and he said that he thought I was really serious but it seemed like I was just looking at his body. I felt extremely uncomfortable and now I can't just stop thinking about that. Everytime I get to converse with other people, I try so hard to not look at their body parts because it is inappropriate but I always end up looking at it and what if they notice and they feel uncomfortable because of me. I really think that because of that incident, I became really sensitive to these thoughts. And I worry about what if my family, friends, and other people think that I'm a pervert. And I don't want to be a pervert because I know how it feels to be uncomfortable 😭😭 I'm still a college student in the Philippines and I am thinking of opening this up to my parents but I have this fear of what if they misunderstand. Also, I want to try ERP by myself and see if it will improve my situation or not. I really really want to seek help but I don't know how and when. I just want to be able to function normally again. I know that I can overcome this.

hiiiloly

Date posted: 2y

This had to be one of my most difficult obsessions to deal with. I never experienced it in my life until I began working and certain coworkers who caused me anxiety would trigger it. I have a hard time making eye contact due to thinking I might give off wrong vibe so i always would look down and odd occasions something on persons clothing or their posture strikes me off and it makes it seem like im staring. Most awkward time ever was when I went to look down after coworker was coming out of bathroom, ofcourse they were Zipping up their fly which caught my attention mistakenly I looked away so fast but still most awkward moment I have ever experienced. Other times have happened but not so bad. The only thing helping me is fake it til you make it lol. I try my best to conversate as I cant think about the thoughts if im more present with my surroundings and trying to maintain a convo. Its helped alot but its taken alot of practice. You can and will definetly over come this and you may even already be overcoming it step by step as youre aware of the compulsion, the trigger, now its just matter of working on healthy coping mechanisms and rewiring the thoughts so they dont begin.

icandothis_15

Date posted: 2y

Can I ask if you are still having these kind of thoughts now? Thank you so much! I felt a little bit better.

Killer Bee

Date posted: 2y

@icandothis_15 I suffer from staring OCD and the more you tell yourself not to stare the more your brain will force you to stare.... I'm in recovery, my staring compulsion happens less often now, but i still have encounters where the OCD shows up and it's gutt renching.

icandothis_15

Date posted: 2y

@Killer Bee I am doing some kind of ERP right now with myself like whenever I talk with other people, I try not to push away the thought of looking at their body parts inappropriately. But it still kinda bothers me everytime I think that they notice and they will perceive me as a pervert even though I don't want to be one. I tried looking away everytime but it seems like it is some kind of compulsion and won't help me improve overtime :( it is so hard to function at school since I have to talk to my friends, professors and a lot of people. I also have this thought of what if I don't go to school anymore. And it scares me because school used to be fun for me before all of these things. But I know that the more I try to avoid social settings, the more it will be harder for me to overcome this. I'm really scared :(

Killer Bee

Date posted: 2y

@icandothis_15 I know how it feels for people to have the wrong assumption about you, due to this disease. The solution to that is not to care what people think of you.

Pravya

Date posted: 2y

@icandothis_15 How you doing ERP yourself? Is it possible and did it works??? Actually i decided to see a doctor who doing OCD treatment. So please reply if can do ERP myself.

Wed_Wheel

Date posted: 25w

My SO OCD

I have just recently realized that I had SO OCD. This began whenever I was watching porn and had an intrusive thought about the guy in the porn. It was more minor at first, it was a majority of what I was thinking about throughout the day but it didn’t feel as distressing at first. If I had downtime to think about it, it would affect me but if I was just going about my day I wouldn’t notice it. I began going through the compulsions of checking myself. This lasted for a while until another obsession occurred. Then it seemed as if my SO OCD took a step back. I would have flare ups but they would seem to pass. Recently, I had a very bad night of constant compulsions and looking at pictures and imagining things to check myself. After that night it was very distressing, it affected me to the point where people around me began to notice and ask me if I was okay. One of the big reasons I was so upset was my girlfriend, we have been together for over 3 years and I want to spend the rest of my life with her. I was thinking “Oh my god, if I am gay I can never be with her.” I would sit and cry about it thinking I would lose her and that might life would change because I was gay. I finally had enough and talked to her and my parents. We did some research and I was so shocked to find out that I had a form of OCD, it was like a weight being lifted off my shoulders just knowing that other people have been where I am and that I’m not gay. However, I may have naively expected the compulsions and obsessive thoughts to go away now that I knew I had an actual problem. But I found that the compulsions and thoughts were still there and I was going to put some effort into getting better. I have researched and now know what to do when experiencing intrusive thoughts, yet I still have been performing the compulsions which is just feeding into the OCD. I find myself having intrusive thoughts and then start performing compulsions to see if they are true. What really bothers me is when I have an intrusive thought that tells me that I do like something. But when I think about it I have no desire to pursue those thoughts. However when I feed into the compulsions they just seem to feed into each other. It is like my OCD ignores all the things that I know I like and goes straight to panic mode. I am also trying to do ERP and am going to start doing my best to get better. Does anyone have any tips for not performing the compulsions no matter how anxious you are feeling and no matter how real the intrusive thoughts seem to feel?

Sexual Orientation OCD

Sam0506

Date posted: 21w

Any tips for staring ocd?

Hi everyone, I suffer from a really embarrassing form of ocd and it’s one of the worst ones-staring ocd. I quit my job last year because of it and I’m going back to work next week and I need some tips as my job is very customer forward. I have really bad anxiety around people wearing anything that shows their stomach or cleavage. My ocd always fears I’m going to look at the wrong places and it even goes to their movements randomly and makes me look like a weirdo because my eye darts to their hands. It’s gotten so bad it’s become a habit and now my eye instantly goes to those areas. It’s very frustrating and it’s ruining my social life. Please no judgement, I know it’s a weird form and I wish I never developed it. Any help is appreciated.

issphra 🫶🏻

Date posted: 20w

Looking at People Through a Sexual Lens?

Hi everyone, I have been struggling with something for a while and I am starting to wonder if it is related to OCD. For as long as I can remember, I have had this habit of looking at people, whether friends, family, or strangers and even kids, through a lens that feels like it is from the perspective of someone who might find them attractive or sexualize them. I don’t want to feel attracted; it just feels like my brain automatically puts them in that perspective. I’ve done this for as long as I can remember, and I honestly thought it was just part of me being curious or creative. I have always thought this was just a quirk of my brain, but now I am starting to wonder if it is an OCD thing, especially since it feels automatic and I get anxious afterward. Has anyone else experienced this? I did not think this was part of OCD, but now I am not so sure.

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Compulsive Staring OCD

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