- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
No offense taken, I assure you. I know sex OCD is common, but I find it very complicated to put that apart from PTSD symptoms. Something happened to me and every time the topic comes it freaks the hell out of me. I tried to do what CCT says and keep it on solid ground by contradicting emotions with facts and it became a ritual. Frightened of anal sex evocation or rememberence - reading about people actually liking it - not feeling better. For the dog thing I'm a hundred percent sure it is OCD. Just less sure if it comes from me or as a side effect from diseases and medications.
- Date posted
- 5y
Both PTSD and OCD are notable for their intrusive thoughts. IMO it doesn't matter if it's OCD or not, because PTSD has a similar treatment profile with ERP being gold standard. But how do you "expose" yourself to such terrible thoughts? The same way anyone else does regardless of theme, sans act, by accepting "maybe this could happen" and sitting with the anxiety caused by a thought or trigger until it lessens without doing any compulsions (ruminations are a sneaky C for me and cause me panic attacks, I'd watch out for that lol). I understand the pertinent issues in your intrusive thoughts are quite traumatising- it really helped me (I was Dx OCD at the same time as PTSD) to learn some self defense, figuring out what I would do if a similar situation were to come about again (especially now that my main abuser has been released from prison), and knowing that even if I am armed to the teeth, bad/violent things could still happen (and they have, and I'm still alive and kickin, doing better than ever in some ways even :p). What you're going through sucks. Best of luck.
- Date posted
- 5y
There's not enough hearts to answer this
- Date posted
- 5y
I find ERP for trauma a very harsh and even dangerous way tbh. As far as I know that‘s not state of the art. So I understand your concerns. I have trauma too and no, there is no way to „expose“ myself to the theme.
- Date posted
- 5y
What have you done to go better with it?
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes I did a complete year of EMDR and the intrusive thoughts began halfway of the therapy. I find myself reading and reading about rape, domestic violence and certain sexual practices to reassure myself that it doesn't always happen this way, that sometimes people do it with consent because they simply like it, etc. My therapist said months ago that the therapy was over and my PTSD cured. She refused to answer when I wrote her I got some tremendous anxiety issues that didn't exist in the first place. I'm also autistic and I wonder if something didn't just turn wrong with EMDR. I also started to fear that I mistreat my dog (that's cristallised on my dog, no worries about the cat) and I can't take it when he behaves bad, just telling him off or when my partner tells him off it triggers a panic attack. That could sound like OCD right? Also I've got many other health problems that could cause anxiety and many medications too. I don't know what I got, I just know that something went wrong and I'm confused about how to address it
- Date posted
- 5y
It sounds like OCD. And the topics and triggers of a person's obsessions can change over time. In general I have contamination OCD about germs, but there have been episodes in my life were I've obsessed about random things (like magic and romantic interests) with the same iintensity. Really give ERP for your current obsessions a try. And don't be surprised if your obsessions change in the future.
- Date posted
- 5y
I don't know TRE, is there a resource out there you can point out to me?
- Date posted
- 5y
Oh, this I got. Composing music helps a lot. Drawing, cooking, building things out of wood, yarn, and stuff. That's the disturbing thing, I'm pretty active and not at all depressed, just randomly freaked out throughout the day. Thank you so much for the tips, I'll go look for that
- Date posted
- 5y
EMDR is a highly effective treatment for PTSD. It also involves intentially bring up traumatic memories ( while stimulating both alternating sides of the brain) then desculating that anxiety with healthy coping strategies. You do this repeatedly with the same memories over and over again until your able to descualte the anxiety instantly. Look into it.
- Date posted
- 5y
Other medical conditions can impact it too. I have fibromyalgia which causes anxiety. when My fibro flare up my OCD gets worse. Treating my anxiety with medication really helps my OCD.
- Date posted
- 5y
I am a rape survivor too. And I will watch movies and porn about rape at times too. Dont feed into the obsessions! They will only get stronger if you do.
- Date posted
- 5y
I don't watch movies and porn about rapes, I couldn't. I'm not at all into porn in the first place. I rather am sex repulsive if anything. I began to feel intense distress towards male gay people (and anybody who displays hypersexualized) but I am historically NOT AT ALL homophobic (I'm bi, myself, and perfectly ok with that) and it's that, that distresses me most
- Date posted
- 5y
Well, sex repulsed I mean. Which isn't right but just the best way to explain it.
- Date posted
- 5y
@Ailil And that's not the result of traumas, I've always been this way
- Date posted
- 5y
I'm sorry I misunderstood. I was sleepy while reading your post. I'm very sorry if I offended you. The point is, no matter what your obsession is, if you feed into it will compulsions it will get stronger and stronger.
- Date posted
- 5y
Sex (and sexual orrientation) OCD is relatively common. Your concern about exposure therapy triggering your trauma may be the OCD trying to scare you. That's what it does. It hijacks the mind.
- Date posted
- 5y
Hi Ailil, in the first place I avoid display of violence. Then I do trauma release exercise (TRE) from time to time which is basically shaking of your body. And I try visual exercise like the „inner safe place“. Also I have little bottles with natural oil withe me so the smell can help not to sink into memories. But I have not yet recovered from the trauma! It‘s a difficult process.
- Date posted
- 5y
My panic attacks have become daily, I have to do something about that, it's exhausting
- Date posted
- 5y
For TRE I just searched on youtube. It‘s invented by David Bercelli, but I found a woman demonstrating the exercises. He‘s from the US so there should be ressources. I think it‘s good to find something that is just yours and not affected by shit, like drawing or whatever it is for you.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
I’ve been feeling the urge to avoid intimacy or purposefully engage (for reassurance that I won’t give into a compulsion) because of intrusive thoughts and fear that I’ll “check/test” my reactions. My OCD is making me so scared that I’ll purposefully think of a child and try to see if I like it. It’s so complicated but I guess I’m mentally checking if I would mentally check during intimacy. I’ve even envisioned myself checking and it’s making me so nauseous. I know it’s a compulsion like any other but the sound of “touching yourself to the thought of a child” sounds atrocious and vile. I’m terrified I’ll automatically start checking next time I am being intimate. I truly feel so worried. If anyone has gone through something similar, I’d appreciate hearing your experience. Or if anyone has any advice?
- Harm OCD
- POCD
- Students with OCD
- Mid-life adults with OCD
- Older adults with OCD
- Young adults with OCD
- Real Events OCD
- "Pure" OCD
- Date posted
- 22w
Does anyone else struggle with this? It's been the main thing powering my POCD, and it's only been getting worse. Especially when I see posts online of people sharing their personal stories relating to CSA, specifically grooming. It's so triggering now, but before this theme developed, the most I'd feel while reading posts like that would be disgust targeted towards people who did those things. Now, my first thought is, "What if I do something like that one day? What if I've done it before and I don't remember or didn't know I was doing it?" I have many, many different intrusive thoughts or worries related to this theme, but it all circles back to this specific fear that I'll become like the people who hurt and took advantage of me. Does anyone have advice for this? I'm not sure if I've asked a similar question in the past or not, but is this something I need to deal with separately before beginning ERP for OCD? I'm just curious and also lost on where to begin with all of this. I'm just glad I'm able to begin working through all of these issues now, rather than later in life when I'd probably have a lot more responsibilities. Anyways, any feedback is appreciated! 🤍
- POCD
- "Pure" OCD
- Real Events OCD
- Older adults with OCD
- OCD newbies
- Young adults with OCD
- Mid-life adults with OCD
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 8w
I feel like after years of living in survival mode from various back to back traumas, I don’t know how to turn off my brain. It’s always in some sort of overstimulated cycle of overthinking, rumination, self checking, and seeking reassurance. I know there will be more peace after treatment. But just hating like I’m stuck in always feeling like I’m waiting for the next shoe to drop when so many shit things have happened to me early in life. How am I suppose to be excited about what’s next?
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