I hate the groinal response so much it is such an awful symptom. I struggle with sexual intrusive thoughts and the uncertainty it gives when you are hyper-fixating on your physical symptoms- “Am I aroused or is it OCD?” The re-checking is such a big compulsion of mine that I need to stop. Does anyone else suffer from groinal responses 🥲
Something I remind myself of with groinal…. I experience sexual themed ocd too & pocd & rocd. So I do understand how horrible groinal can be. But what I try to remind myself is it is actually IMPOSSIBLE to be SEXUALLY aroused by something you don’t want. There is other forms of arousal which are not sexual - fear is a type of arousal, and we feel both fear based arousal and sexual based arousal in the same region - I’ve found sometimes my groinal responses to things can feel more intense than when I’m sexually aroused by my partner… which I’ve spent many nights crying about it… but I like to remind myself that it’s impossible to feel sexually aroused by things u don’t want to think. For example, someone who is sexually assaulted, they are not enjoying that situation or feeling turned on. They are fearful and frightened. Which sends the same signals to your groin. They may not understand what a groinal response is and think they felt sexually aroused but it’s actually the opposite. The thing is as an ocd sufferer we are more fortunate (if you could call it that) in understanding what a groinal response is, many people without ocd might experience that and mistake it for sexual arousal… because they don’t understand how groinal works. Think about this, when you are with your partner or a sexual partner (you feel comfortable and good, joyful, desire of wanting to get off etc) that’s the complete opposite to your feelings with a groinal. Let me paste a link in my comment which has helped me tremendously with GR. https://www.psychologytoday.com/au/blog/demystifying-ocd/202112/making-sense-physical-sensations-in-sexual-themed-ocd?amp
@SadUnicorn3 Thank you so much ❤️
@Bee. It’s okay. I know how hard it can be. But know you’re not alone and thousands of people , if not more, go through the same thing
@SadUnicorn3 Just finished reading through the link you sent and it genuinely really helped me better understand,
@Bee. I have read alot of articles similar but whenever I see people post about this I always copy and paste this one in particular, I find it really helpful and it made me understand the difference between sexual arousal and fear arousal.
@SadUnicorn3 I have the same, where once I’m triggered, the groinal response may be stronger than when I’m w my husband and it causes despair,
@SadUnicorn3 🦄 sometimes it seems to me that I want it, but I won't want it, and regarding the comment above, how can you have a groin and you know you don't want it.. if I knew, I probably wouldn't have a problem..
Yes, but mines is the opposite, my sexual intrusive thoughts are so bad that I constantly worry I can’t be aroused, which worries me even more because I have a girlfriend which causes more anxiety with performance
@Brianm95 I also get that and it’s terrifying, good luck handling your OCD ❤️
@Bee. My OCD first started when my sister (who’s 17) got her first boyfriend, I had an intrusive thought at the idea of her having intercourse, the thought made me almost commit suicide and I still get it till this day, I struggle to be intimate with my current girlfriend due to the thought reoccurring, trust me when I say I know how dark and horrifying OCD can be, but hopefully we both get better, good luck with yours too!
@Brianm95 Thank you so much, we will get better if we keep on trying ❤️
I feel like also personally for me it is worse when I am having a really bad mental health day because I notice everything. Even sometimes just noticing a person I put focus on my genitals and it makes me feel aroused because I am so over aware of it
I keep getting these groinal responses when I think about kids or see one and it's really distressing, I only just learned that OCD can make you feel that and it's not actually attraction but it's so hard to remember that and I've seen people talking about accepting uncertainty but I'm so scared to think "maybe it's attraction maybe it's not" instead of "no it's not attraction that's disgusting" and idk what to do
This has been stressing me out, i don't find many specific scientific articles on groin response or similar topics, this makes me wonder if we all actually have a more serious problem? None of the therapists i've been to seem to think about OCD when talking to me and i'm not even diagnosed with anything, i'm always wondering if this means that i'm bad and i'm just hiding behind a false thing. Maybe my therapists would not comprehend that fully and i 100% understand them, apart from thoughts i have other things like groinal responses, that's one of the most uncomfortable things to say because i'm always afraid that by describing it, they'll suspect something way worse. It is worrying that i have not been able to find anything else for that topic on the internet apart from what this same app posts or the same old sources, i cannot find a big study very focused on it and that scares me
A compulsion i do is if i get a groinal or anticipate it i take a step. Adjust my legs and feet to avoid the groinals. I was carrying my daughter and worry about groinals which sucks. I had groinals when I picked her up but discarded it didnt give it attention. Then when i put her down i had intrusive thoughts about groinals worrying if i get it. I took a step to my right and just sat with the groinals and the thoughts. I do t remember if i took a second step or not but ocd hyper-focused in the groinal sensations and i feel guilty its telling me i took tbe step to get groinals and i sat with it to arouse myself but i think i took the step as a compulsion and my ocd hyperfocused on the ocd and was aware of it and just let it be but ocd is saying i acted on the thoughts and aroused myself i know thats not true.
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