- Date posted
- 5y ago
- Date posted
- 5y ago
@survival5050 Avoidance is a compulsion, so yes, evading her is a compulsion. Talking to her is probably one trigger. I’m sure certain circumstances, events, topics of conversation, etc. trigger you more than others. If you’re not sure if a thought is OCD, treat it as such. There’s no harm in treating a harmless thought as OCD, but there’s plenty of harm in treating an intrusive thought like it’s not, especially when your response is a compulsion. Check out this piece on ROCD: https://ocdla.com/rocd-relationship-ocd-myth-of-the-one-3665
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Sounds like ROCD to me. If it wasn’t, you’d simply feel disinterested or even bored at the topic but able to handle that feeling pretty easily.
- Date posted
- 5y ago
This is great, thanks!
- Date posted
- 5y ago
How do i identify a trigger and a compulsion? sometimes after a lot of time it starts to feel like a normal thing to do
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Trigger is something that increases your anxiety (I touching a doorknob that's filled with germs), compulsion is what you do to make yourself feel better (i.e. washing your hands)
- Date posted
- 5y ago
The more times you wash your hands after touching a doorknob, the more you're telling your brain that this is something to be fearful of, continuing the OCD cycle
- Date posted
- 5y ago
In my experience i started obsessing about being gay, it was a much stronger anxiety than with the other anxieties but it was easier to identify: i had a thought about a man naked i just had to think about that image for a couple of minutes, so it was easier to overcome (i only get a couple of unwanted thoughts and feelings every once in a while) but with my relationship is different sometimes is hard to identify if it is ocd or i simply don't love her, so talking to her is my trigger and evading her is my compulsion?
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Now started beinging afraid of ending with no friends because of ocd, and im seeing some patterns
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Exactly whenever she talks about love and sex or marriage i start shaking like diesel engine
Related posts
- Date posted
- 17w ago
Hi everyone. I'm feeling kinda scared because I have to wait a whole month to start ERP therapy, but I feel like I need to start doing exposures now because the longer I wait, the more anxiety I get. It just feels like the OCD monster is getting worse. One thing that helps me is asking one person about an obsession I have...asking a person that I trust, and then doing an exposure after I get the "ok" to do it. I feel like I do need 1 reassurance and then I can go ahead and do it. I know i'm not supposed to ask for reassurance at all, but i dont think you're supposed to do ERP on your own right? Does anyone have any suggestions for what to do while waiting for therapy? PS-the reason there is a wait is bc she's on vacation. After she's back we will meet regularly.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 12w ago
Looking back, I realize I’ve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldn’t explain: "What if God isn’t real? What happens when we die? How do I know I’m real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didn’t want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. She’d say, "Maybe you’ll kill yourself—who knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. I’m working again, I’m sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If you’re scared to try ERP, I get it. But if you’re already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?
- User type
- Therapist
- Date posted
- 8w ago
So you got to ask me anything… Now I’d like to ask you something! I’ve heard from Members that they were so scared coming to their first ERP session. They were terrified that I would think they were crazy, that I would tell them their worst fears were true. That I would confirm they are some form of a terrible person or have them hauled off to prison for their thoughts. I’ve also had Members share how they’re very scared to begin ERP treatment because they’ve researched enough to know it means facing the fear, without the compulsions that have kept them feeling safe (but not really safe) this entire time. They struggled to see how they could be capable of doing this, while simultaneously acknowledging that they did not want to live like this anymore. If you have had your first session, what were your thoughts before? Did you have any hesitations or fears going into it? How did it turn out? If you haven’t yet begun to work with an ERP specialist, what is holding you back?
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