- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
Hey Maureen, I hope you’re okay it sounds like things are hard at the moment. I think L22 is right, you should talk to your therapist (do you have one at the moment?) about it first and tell them how you are feeling. Mental health can make you feel like you need to push other people away to protect them, but you’re not selfish if you stay with him. He is his own person and will know for himself if he wants to be with you - you don’t need to make that decision for him. Also, just remember that you are experiencing a really distressing mental illness and your loved ones will want to be there for you ? sending best wishes x
- Date posted
- 5y
Your mind may tell you that you are a burden because of your mental health struggles, but it is not true. Mental health may be a challenge, but it doesnt make you less worthy of love. Social support and love are things we need in our lives, and it sounds like he means so much to you. My advice is don’t give up on yourself. There is alot of treatment and support out there. I cannot advise on whether you should or shouldnt be with him, but I would recommend that you speak with a therapist if you can before making that big decision because maybe a professional could provide another perspective that you havent considered. Id also say, give your partner a chance to have an input. Does he understand what youre going through and how hard it is for you? If you both want to be together, but mental health is the only thing getting in the way, thats a perfect thing to speak to a therapist about!
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you all of you. In a moment of weakness I did send him that message and his exact response was "This is silly talk. I'm not having it! Everything is okay sweetie. This is just a bump in the road", and then he called and we talked for a bit and I feel a lot better. But yes you guys are all right I need to talk to my therapist about this, and I have been. She recommended this CBT book called "Mind Over Mood" that I bought months ago, and am finally going to crack on and start reading it tonight. On a side note. Thank you to all of you for your support. This little community we have here is tremendous help to knowing we're all fighting the same battle. Knowing people who truly understand what you're going through and are there to listen is everything <3
- Date posted
- 5y
Don't, I did it once, and it made everything worse, if he loves you enough, he will help you going through this, and you will love him too, because if that happens, that's pure love! You would be selfish for ending that love and breaking your lover's heart.
- Date posted
- 5y
OCD makes me feel like I'm a monster that has already hurt him because of my false memories. I know I won't be happy without him, but aren't I being selfless by setting him free?
- Date posted
- 5y
Okay so maybe if you really wanna go through with this. Ask for a break? I doubt that might the best thing to do but if you think it’ll help you. Just ask for a break and make him Understand that it’s just your thoughts.
- Date posted
- 5y
I’d wait at least a week
- Date posted
- 5y
Echoing Laura here - your partner has agency in this relationship and you don’t need to make decisions for him. He’s choosing to be with you. I can feel your pain but remember you are worthy of love just as who you are right now. In my own relationship OCD ending the relationship by saying you deserve someone better or challenging him for being with me are sneaky compulsions designed to seek reassurance OR to validate a fear he’s wrong for me (both sides of ROCD at once, yay). Do talk to a therapist if you can. Hope you feel better today.
- Date posted
- 5y
^ well said. I did it once as well, it hurt me so bad to hurt him. But it ended my anxiety but I just wasn’t happy that I wasn’t with him. Like Cyndi said, if he loves you enough he will understand as he will help you.
- Date posted
- 5y
Does he know what you’re going through?
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes
- Date posted
- 5y
But he's away for work right now (2weeks), and it's been a huge trigger for me
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
It hasn’t even been a week since my boyfriend broke up with me because of my OCD and depression cocktail. He said that the breakup wasn’t out of him not loving me anymore, but because he and his family had already dealt with very strong mental health issues in the past and that a) he couldn’t bear seeing me hurting all of the time and b) he wasn’t sure that he wanted to be “my nurse”. Then he said that I shouldn’t blame myself because depression and OCD are never anyone’s fault. I’ve tried to be very understanding: I do believe one has a right to decide what one wants in their partner. He doesn’t want a partner with mental health issues, I can understand that. I can also understand that these five months since my OCD made itself known have been very hard on him. But, I also feel so betrayed. He used to nitpick the word “love” so much and reflect on what it actually meant to love. He said loving someone was choosing to stay with them during the good times and the bad. This is absolutely the worst bad time in my entire life. And he said, and also said it to my mother, that he would stick with me through it all. Now five months later, he’s changed his mind. I don’t get how he can say he still loves me and abandon me when I most need love and support. If it’s not my fault like he says, why leave me? He said he still wants to be in my life—at a safe distance, where he can’t see all the ugly parts of what OCD and depression can do to a person. All of this makes me feel as if I wasn’t worth the effort of dealing with everything. Then that’s not love is it? I also feel very lonely as the only people that know about my OCD were him and my parents. He made himself into one of my biggest pillars of support, and shaped our lives so that he could always be with me. So we’re in the same classes, and although we share friends I’ve always felt that they entertained me because I was his girlfriend. As for my closer friends, I’ve felt that I was drifting apart from them and although I’ve furtively mentioned my problems with OCD to them, they either don’t care to ask or aren’t really sure how to talk to me. I feel so alone. And now my “number one supporter” has left, and it angers me very much. Especially because I’ve been the one to calm him down and give him hugs and explained what topics we saw in the class he missed the day after we broke up. I’m the one that convinced him to eat three cookies for dinner because he didn’t want to eat. And I’m the one that had to tell him that friends don’t wish each other a great night every night, like we used to do. It seemed like he wanted things to stay the same but without the relationship part of kissing and dealing with my panic attacks. It feels it’s kind of unfair because he’s not without issues and I didn’t judge him once and always tried to be there for him, and the single biggest issue I have ever had was too much for him. The vengeful part of me wants him to hurt as much as he hurt me. I hope he understands his decision has consequences and that he can’t be with me in the same way he was— especially now that I know that he leaves at my most critical, vulnerable moments. I’m writing this while mad. But I know later I’ll feel sad and more understanding and want to be friends with him again. And then I’ll get mad again. And so on. I know this is just a really tough situation however you look at it. But I’m still overwhelmed by the thought that if OCD had never struck, we might still be together. I also deserve some love and support 😔 Thank you if you read all the way till here. I’m sorry if it was a long read, but I’m very thankful. Nowadays it feels like NOCD is one of my remaining sources of support. I’m very grateful for everyone on here, I hope all of you have a great day and that it’s a victory against this accursed mental disorder
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 25w
I realized I’ve depended a lot on my boyfriend for comfort through my ocd, and I’m starting to feel like even before my ocd I was paying more attention to the relationship itself more than him, or the attachment: even though I remember distinct feelings of me wanting to be with him forever, and feeling so happy and complete with him, time didn’t exist, I felt like my most authentic self. So now I’m trying to create a healthy attachment and see him as his own person, which was helping at first, but now it feels as if I’m seeing that I don’t actually love him for him, the thought of moving forward in life without him breaks my heart and I don’t want to but my mind keeps telling me that I want it because of the attachment. He’s the exact type of person and partner I would want but it feels like whatever I feel is not enough.. But I DO experience moments of affection and care and admiration for him but they don’t last long..before I started making this shift in perspective even with the ocd I was still so sure and confident in moving forward with him, I felt so much like I wanted to be with him for the rest of my life. But now that I’ve made this shift it feels like I’m seeing him from a whole different place. Like all those good and happy feelings I had for him are gone now and I don’t have any confidence in what I want anymore. Before I did feel confident that I wanted to be with him but now it feels like there’s this wall between him and me :( I want to be with him I know I do, because even now I still feel the desire to keep going, but I can’t see the future anymore or the confidence to keep going. I was never much of a future thinker, even in my personal life but this feels like added proof I feel like I’m alone in this like no one else has this situation and the chances for me to realize after I recover that I don’t actually love him are so much higher 💔
- Date posted
- 10w
I broke up with my boyfriend today because of how bad my anxiety had gotten I couldn’t tell what was my heart and what was my head. I’m heartbroken because I feel like I lost my best friend and I truly do have love for him and want him in my future. I want to spend the rest of my life with him. We broke up because I’m not on medication for my anxiety and have a doctor’s appointment coming up on Wednesday to see about getting some. I still feel anxious after our breaks but I feel guilty to admit that I do feel better. I’m still just anxious in general a little and I don’t know why. We had decided to stay in touch but not on a daily or even weekly basis, just because there is no hate in our relationship just pure love. I’m just so scared and sad that I really will lose him and be all alone.
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