- Date posted
- 1y
Fear of dating offset of rocd?
Hi yall just wanted to get more information as I’ve always wrote it off as something else before but I always figured you have to be in a relationship to know if you have rocd and if I think about my two brief relationships in the past ( long ago) it kinda of jives with it but is it still rocd if you get extreme anxiety and are super picky and second guess your attraction to the person in the initial talking/dating phase? Like I want to pursue a relationship so I’ll get n apps and start the swiping get overwhelmed with doubt and anxiety over f I want this then I get over that hurdle and then let’s say I really was into a guys profile but now he messages me and my full on panic button is hit, I question everything, why did I even liek him is he even that cute ? Omg what if I’m doing this wrong what if I’m broken or secretly gay ( I know I have so-ocd) omg is this gonna change my life in a way that I can’t handle? I don’t wanna lose myself in another relationship, what if they think I’m fat ugly or a freak cause I can’t get through talking or meeting a new person without spiraling ? And honestly I’m not even fully aware of what goes through my head it’s just so instant and intense and overwhelming and in the past I would just panic and stop dating all together and the last several yrs it’s been a struggle for me not to completely abandon it. I do get frustrated with myself and beat myself up at my glacial progress I’ve gone on maybe 2 attempted dates ( one kept cancelling and one just didn’t show up ) I’ve gone one successful date where I was able to get through it and go and I felt so proud of myself but I don’t think I was really interested in the guy and just felt guilty so I told him I wasn’t interested. I’ve been in therapy for ocd and overcome my other subtypes this one is just hard af and I’m doing my work and my modules but it’s so exhausting. How do I get over not feeling safe exposing myself and being vulnerable with someone else even though it’s want I ultimately want ? Sigh p.s. I have a feeling a part of my extreme anxiety is my first bf assaulted me and then ditched me so I know that’s part of it but I’m also like but that was over ten yrs ago and the way I reacted was to just avoid dating all together! I felt like I couldn’t trust myself and now I know I can but I get overwhelmed with this feeling of worrying about being a fraud and leading someone on if I can’t go all into it or my anxiety gets in the way and I’m wishywashy and battling myself so I need to go slow but ugh I’m so frustrated !!! Does anyone who struggles with this have advice/tools they use to get through it? Thank you in advance