- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
You’re not alone! I’m currently having a really tough time with this. The worst part is when I convince myself that there isn’t anything wrong with me. I haven’t been actually diagnosed with OCD but I saw my therapist today and showed her a website about ROCD. Feeling really down when I read about people struggling to recover from this too. :( It’s nice to have somewhere to talk to others who understand!
- Date posted
- 5y
I’m not formally diagnosed either, and honestly just knowing this much about myself with the OCD and knowing how far it’s gone back in my life and I didn’t know and haven’t caught it, I don’t know if I want to be formally diagnosed. It’s kind of an irrational scary thought, even though it’s not really. Sorry if that’s a bit confusing. It’s like I’m struggling to accept it about myself and a diagnosis will make it real, even though I already know how real it is for me. I’ve been on the convincing end too. Except, I feel like I’m convincing myself that I love him even though I have 5000 negative thoughts in my head that say otherwise, and in reality, I do love him. But then I feel guilty and it starts back over. It’s all very confusing, but I’m with you there.
- Date posted
- 5y
@cupcake55, it’s hard sometimes to find a therapist who specializes in OCD and is trained in the right therapy for it. Don’t be afraid to keep searching to find the right fit!
- Date posted
- 5y
I can relate. Once I learned that ROCD is a thing and that googling articles is a compulsion it was like a lightbulb went off in my head. My therapist reminds me that there is no one way to know and no right answer to whether a relationship is right or not. I understand how hard it is!
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you so much for responding! I’m the same way, when I learned about compulsions so much made sense to me about what I was doing and how much I actually feed into my OCD. I would love to find a therapist that truly gets it, you are very lucky❤️
- Date posted
- 5y
You are not alone!! You now have a community of people who can completely relate to you. I have been dealing with the same thing and through it all I have learned that love is a choice. I know that my boyfriend is amazing and that I wanted to be with him forever before this hit me, so I continue to choose him everyday and fight this monster. I’m not sure if that was very helpful but just my two cents :)
- Date posted
- 5y
Such good advice, love is a choice is actually one of my favorite reminders. Thank you so much for your words, you really helped ease my mind a lot ❤️
- Date posted
- 5y
@EDC Of course! It helps ease my mind as well just by typing it out :) every day is a struggle, but I know we all got this!
- Date posted
- 5y
Wow you guys, this is seriously so uplifting, you have no idea! I felt so alone and the compulsive thoughts were eating me alive. Thank you for commenting, all of you! And you guys aren’t alone either. I’m happy to share any of my experiences or thoughts to help in any way I can!
- Date posted
- 5y
So it’s not like I’m always having obsessive thoughts about my boyfriend, but I always have this inner feeling that something isn’t right when there’s absolutely nothing wrong. Does anyone else have this? Like even when the thoughts aren’t there
- Date posted
- 5y
ME all the way
- Date posted
- 5y
@EDC Glad I’m not alone!
- Date posted
- 5y
@Chrissy417 You’re not, for sure. Actually, when I get that feeling you’re talking about, that’s when I start googling. And inevitably I find hundreds of articles titled “Listen To Your Gut!” “Your Chemistry Just Doesn’t Match!” “How You Know He’s Not The One!” I instantly freak out and think all the worse things about my relationship and my feelings for my boyfriend. There’s a YouTuber I recently followed called “Awakentolove” and she talks a lot about these topics and about how they trigger OCD so badly, and how with OCD, our gut feeling can be wrong sometimes.
- Date posted
- 5y
@EDC I actually watch her videos and follow her on Instagram!! She has definitely helped me a lot as well :) the doubts are still there though, it sucks
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w
I’ve been really struggling the last week and I need some help. I’ve been seeing a guy for about 2 months who checks a lot of my relationship boxes. He’s so kind and we have a lot of fun together. The first few weeks I was totally smitten but had moments of fear about being committed. We talked about it and decided to take things slowly, and then I would have days of feeling like every thing was perfect with some fearful feelings in between. Two weeks ago now my SO-OCD and ROCD started to come back a little as well as my more anxious-avoidant behaviors. I started to get more scared of the future and it was more intense. At the end of last week, he asked me to be his girlfriend and I said yes. He is exactly the type of person I see myself marrying and has great values and is so secure about me. Until last week, he generally made me feel so safe and secure. Ever since saying yes, I feel so scared and anxious and my SO-OCD and ROCD is on max. I also find myself getting more annoyed and irritated about things that were minor annoyances or non-issues before. I’m having intense physical responses to both OCD themes, and the nagging thought and feeling that I need to end things with him because we aren’t right for each other. It makes me feel so sad and guilty. Sex is becoming harder because of the thoughts too, whereas at first it was perfect. I don’t know who I can talk to about this without them telling me to just break up with him. Everything is so new so I think they’d chalk it up to my intuition. But I do want to be in love and have less fear around relationships, so I don’t want to give into the fear. I think it could help me to set boundaries and have space for myself more often. I think I need some advice or insight. I know I shouldn’t ask for reassurance, but having some around how other people have felt at the beginning of a relationship would help. Why is it that the label is freaking me out so much? How do you guys set boundaries to prioritize yourself when you feel this way?
- Date posted
- 17w
Hi everyone. I’m really struggling and I need to let it all out. I’ve been dealing with ROCD (or what I think is ROCD) for a long time, and I feel like I’m at my breaking point. I’m in a loving relationship with a boyfriend who is kind, understanding, and patient. But ever since I started reading a lot online, googling symptoms, talking to AI like ChatGPT, searching for reassurance, things have gotten worse and worse. And now… I feel completely disconnected from my feelings. I don’t know what’s real anymore. My boyfriend told me that he believes I’ve convinced myself that I have something that needs to be treated, and that all this constant researching is making me feel worse. And honestly, I think he’s right. Before I fell into this cycle, I could be more intimate with him. I used to say “I love you,” I used to feel warmth. Now I don’t say it anymore. I haven’t in a long time. And it hurts him. And I know I’m hurting him, and that makes it even worse. He also said that maybe I’m having these obsessive thoughts because I don’t have a daily purpose, that I need to get occupied, to stop being consumed by this. And others in my life have told me the same. He even suggested taking a break from each other for a week, just to give me space. But I’m terrified of that. I’m scared that the thing I fear most will become “the truth.” I’m scared I’ll feel relief, and that will mean everything I fear is real. But he told me that if I don’t want the break, maybe it means I still care. Still love. Still want this. The problem is, I don’t know anymore. And that’s what’s killing me. I’ve also had a psychologist who told me that just because I feel guilt or “care,” it doesn’t necessarily mean I like him — and that sent me spiraling. She said that maybe I care about people in general, but it doesn’t mean I love him. And it made me feel like I’m just lying to myself. That maybe I’m holding on out of obligation, or because I set in my head that I “have to be with him.” And even when he tells me beautiful things — logical things — things that SHOULD make me feel safe and seen… I don’t feel better. I just feel more empty. And then I start spiraling again: “If this doesn’t help me feel better, then something must be wrong.” “What if I’m just pretending?” “What if I’ve been lying to myself all along?” I feel like there’s something wrong inside of me. Like no matter what anyone says, or how much love I’m given, I can’t feel it. I just want to know what to do. I want someone to tell me what this is. I want to stop feeling like I’m running after a version of myself that used to feel, used to love, used to be calm. I don’t know if this is ROCD or if I’m just slowly facing a truth I’ve been afraid to accept. Please, if anyone has felt this way, I need to hear that I’m not alone. And if you’ve come out the other side… how? My relationship is perfect and he is perfect, i just deal with this and i am far from happy.
- Date posted
- 14w
Hi all, I’m quite new to the whole ROCD thing as I was just diagnosed after years of thinking I just “wasn’t meant for love/dating” because of how horribly I would spiral into a depressive, extremely dread-filled and horrifically anxious state of mind and immediately cut it off during the talking stage with guys. After breaking up with a guy who I truly liked and cared for TWICE, I was finally diagnosed with OCD and it all really makes sense now. It feels weird trying to explain it to others though… I don’t know if I’m alone in these feelings, but it feels like every time I start talking to a guy—usually after the first date but the worries are extreme even in the beginning when I perceive that they are starting to like me—I end up in this major depressive episode where I don’t feel real or like myself, I can’t take care of myself, I’m either hysterically crying or I feel numb, I feel completely trapped (even if we’re not officially dating yet), I question everything in case I’m missing a red flag of some kind or some hint that this person isn’t right for me (even with simple things like a guy giving me flowers, I end up thinking “is this moving too fast? Is he being weird? Is this love bombing? What if he has an ulterior motive? Why did he really give me these?” when logically I know it’s probably nothing) I feel like I’m always looking for evidence to see if they are secretly weird, if we aren’t compatible (always “casually” ask them to take the Myers-Briggs Personality Test to try to find out as much information as humanly possible right off the bat due to fear of being stuck with them only after realizing their real personality) It then typically escalates to a point where I never want to check my phone in fear that they texted me, I feel smothered from any communication, I wish for them to break up/break it off with me, the thought of them just icks me out and almost disgusts me, I can’t get out of bed, I can’t stomach going out with friends or family of theirs, and I usually need to introduce 24/7 drugs of some kind (weed and nicotine) to my daily routine to cope with the feelings/use it to eat something because I can’t eat when I’m with them/due to the anxiety around dating them. With the man I just broke up with FOR THE SECOND TIME AFTER A WEEK OF DATING, it had gotten to a point—as it always does—where the pain of trying to be with them is greater than my appreciation for them. I might smile at my phone when they text me and be full of joy around them, but the portion of time when I’m NOT around them and left to just think about the relationship or observing how they are behaving rather than being in the moment is just too much. Once I break it off though, it feels like a bag has been lifted over my head and I’m finally back to my normal self. I usually need a couple days to emotionally recover, and then I’m up and cleaning my home, taking care of myself, and back to making plans with others. I feel lonely then and might miss them, but I know it’s just not fair to ANYONE right now to date someone like me. Is this relatable? Do I sound crazy? - Z
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