So basicaly Two days ago I found a video on YouTube about astrology, and the woman speaking said smth like: you should look inside yourself because you have a tendency to ignore your own identity and your own true feelings. Instantly I thought of this endeavouring rumination about me being bisexual. Cause now I’ve kinda come to terms with the fact that in no way am I gay. So okay, the thing is, recently I’ve started to think that girls especially have an inclination towards bisexuality, mainly because they are affectionate with other girls. Bear in mind the fact that, since this hocd started, the lines between normal dating actions and behaviours between people are blurred to me. Now I realize that I am ruminating more and more this possibility of me being bisexual, but there are counter arguments like : I would never ever date a woman, I would never ever have sex with a woman and to me they are beautiful yes, they are sexy etc but I don’t want to do anything with them. Then, my consequent thought is maybe I have internalized homophobia idk. This is all soooo distressful and irritating and confusing. Deep down I know that I am a straight girl, but I feel guilty every time someone asks about my boyfriend because of these intrusive thoughts. It feels like I am lying to them, telling them that I am straight, when in fact I am not. Have you ever had such experiences?

If you’re endlessly arguing with yourself about your sexuality, it’s still OCD. I hate the advice to “look within” because everyone says it and it sounds great but it’s just not something people with OCD can do to get an answer. People with OCD try to “look within” all of the time but end up a less solid identity than anyone. I’d say that right now given your theme, I wouldn’t look inside about sexuality. Some day when you’ve beaten this and your sexuality is no longer a focus for your OCD and you’ve gotten really good at dealing with OCD, sure: look within. But not right now. You’ve already done that again and again and it’s only confused you further.

Hey, I’m not a therapist but to me it sounds like this bisexual thought could be another formation of your ocd. And perhaps the ruminating and attempts to reassure yourself that you’re straight are compulsions. Like I say, I’m not qualified to diagnose but that would be my guess from experiencing something similar myself. It’s super hard to think clearly when you’re anxious though so be kind to yourself if you can! I’ve actually just come across some great videos about ocd and sexuality, which helped me to understand a bit more eg ‘OCD3:OCD & Sexuality’

Anxiety isn’t the only OCD reaction, there’s also guilt and depression and others. The fact that you feel a guilt spike every time you say you’re straight should be a good indication that it’s OCD. And I’m sure as a compulsion it wants you to “admit” or “confess” what you “really are.” Like any other compulsion, resist. Don’t tell yourself you’re bi over and over again to make up for it and try to get rid of the guilt. Just let it be there and dissipate on its own.

Thank you for the advice, one more thing, is it normal for people struggling with ocd to get thoughts and even not react to them with anxiety, even admitting to themselves that they are bisexual, mainly because of guilt, for example I feel guilty all the time for not admitting to myself that I am bisexual, because of the fact that I used to watch lesbian porn. Despite the fact that I would never ever do anything sexual with a woman, I still feel guilty for saying to others that I am straight, with my past actions that are clearly doubtful. How do I cope with this guilt?