Have people had a loss of aesthetic attraction to opposite sex after removing the intrusives thoughts and the anxiety from HOCD ?

Try NOT to be so all or nothing Typo

I hear you Try to be so “all” or “nothing” Perfection is the enemy of good.

I know what you mean. It definitely confuses things in your head. I wouldn’t say there is a total loss of attraction to the opposite sex but the doubts always creep in which make it all less aesthetically pleasing. The attraction is compromised now.

It seems different from what I have. To be a little more precise : Last year after a year of HOCD, I realized that I was not attracted to men and that I would never be. After a few correct weeks (intrusive thoughts almost non-existent, false attractions had disappeared...), I almost overnight lost my physical/esthetic attraction to girls (not totally but almost). I lost the ability to find them beautiful. Suddenly I saw defects on their faces, I no longer found them beautiful, even those that were beautiful to me before that. I've been in this situation for a year. At first I thought it was a HOCD effect, I looked at pictures of girls every day to see if my attraction had returned, then I started to feel anxious, crying every night for several months. I'm afraid my attraction won't fully return. Since about October, I don't really have any anxiety anymore but I'm still worried (I guess ?)my attraction won't return or not entirely , I don't test myself anymore but my aesthetic/physical attraction still hasn't returned. I don't understand why nothing has come back yet.

It's interesting and I think I sort of know what you mean. My HOCD was bad for a long time. I wouldn't force anything. Allow all the thoughts to be there just like you did with HOCD, Try not to question it so much and just allow the process to unfold. Remember, this is not some mystery to be solve. You are trying to solve a puzzle but that is an illusion. Right?

I just hope my attraction will return fully, nothing else.

Been thinking more about this. I think your OCD has morphed worrying about girls now. You’re checking all the time. Seeing blemishes. They’re making you doubt your attraction to girls. Maybe treat this as a new obsession and expose yourself to these thoughts like you did with HOCD. Thoughts?

What do you mean by "not to be all or nothing"? I don't feel like I'm checking (I did but I stopped a few months ago). It's just that when I see a girl, I'm not going to find her pretty but it's automatic. Even a girl I thought was beautiful before all this happened. I've always found girls beautiful, it has always been important to me (being in a relationship is something important to me and it goes partly throught aesthetic attractivness) so no longer having aesthetic attraction to women is... Complicated.

You had stated, “I hope my attraction will return fully, nothing else.” Sounds to me like an all or nothing approach. What about if the attraction only returns partly? Will your dissatisfaction continue?

Honnestly, if my attraction only partially returns, I do not think I'll survive very long...