- Date posted
- 1y
ROCD
The thing I feel is so hard about ROCD in particular is that there is not an objective definition of what is or is not cheating. Some people believe if you talk to a guy that is not your partner, it is a form of emotional cheating. Some people believe porn is cheating. Some people have such a high bar for cheating that it may be that as long as you dont have sex with them it does not matter. But I think the fear in ROCD goes deeper than that. In my case I do not think I fear actually cheating. I know that I am capable of controlling the actions my body takes. It is the fear of desire. It is the fear that I am a bad person and that if my partner knew I thought about cheating that he might be hurt. That he might see my true character and leave. So I guess the base fear of ROCD for me is isolation and abandonment. Who would ever want to be with someone who was terrible person? I have cheated before. I cheated on my HS boyfriend in college about 6 years ago. And while that was a horrible thing to do and heartbreaking for him, I have paid for it. To this day I cant find peace in any relationship because I am afraid I will do the same thing to them. I cant be alone without thinking I will cheat, which makes me overly clingy when naturally I am not. What does ERP look like for this? If cheating is subjective, and emotionally cheating exists, couldnt ERP be actually cheating on my partner to overcome the fear? This has prevented me from doing it.