I was talking with my family. I got groinal and usually try to avoid it. My therapist said for erp dont avoid it. Even lean into or aomething. I felt my hips thrust or me lean forward as i was sitting and ocd makes me feel guilty. I than did mental compulsions like self talk repearing “no” and ruminating on it after. But i know i wasnt trying ti do anything inappropriate
oh wow, i really feel for you—i’ve been there so many times with these kinds of intrusive thoughts! what's helped me get through these tough moments is to remind myself that OCD is just like having a really annoying radio station playing in the background that you can't quite turn off. it's there, but you don't have to dance to its tune, you know? your therapist is right about leaning into it for ERP—it's about letting the thoughts and sensations be there without reacting or trying to push them away. and hey, don't be so hard on yourself! living with OCD is super challenging, and you're just doing your best in your messy mind. remember, you're not alone in this, and it's okay to have these experiences. it's all part of the journey to recovery. keep practicing self-compassion and know that you're on the right path! sending you lots of positive vibes and strength—you've got this!!! 🌟
@vasqueztim what happens if the thoughts dont even disturb you anymore? i just panicked about that like “what if i actually like it but dont wanna allow myself to lean into it” or getting the urge to try masturbating thinking about it. i believe this is the backdoor spike because i’ve dealt with this for a while now but idk i feel all over the place but i also dont feel terrified which is whats scaring me?
Don't feel guilty for things beyond your control. Your brain can generate thoughts, emotions, and even physical reactions without your conscious input. When you engage in compulsions, you're signaling to your brain that these thoughts are important and need further attention. As a result, your brain will continue to bring them up and may even trigger physical responses to see if you still consider these thoughts significant. Imagine this scenario: you're walking at night, and a street dog starts barking at you. You have two choices. If you run, the dog is likely to chase you because you've reacted to its barking. Alternatively, you can ignore the barking and remain calm, understanding that the dog is just trying to protect its territory—much like your brain trying to guard what it perceives as important, which is your child. Though the situation might be frightening, recognizing that both you and the dog value the same things ( your young girl) can help you stay calm. Over time, if you consistently show no threat, the dog will recognize you as non-threatening and stop bothering you. I hope this analogy helps clarify the process.
@hanysm@gmail.com Thays makes sense. My reaction either starves or feeds the ocd. What about the symptom of guilt. Thats my trap commonly getting me stuck. And i also feel like if i dont say im doing erp before doing an action than it doesnt count so ocd makes me feel like i did something with a ill intent. Like if my therapist said lean more into the groinal and i did but didnt say im doing erp than ocd makes me feel like i did it with sexually inappropriate intent. Perhaps both were involuntary reactions. Im aware of those. But i just noticed the groinal and me leaning. Than getting stuck. Idk if i leaned the second time but the doubt and guilt around me leaning while havin groinals is the thing causing me anxiety
@Anonynmous19 - You might feel guilty because you believe you're responsible for your thoughts and reactions, but you're not. Think of it like the street dog analogy: you can't control the dog, yet you feel guilty despite knowing its protective intentions. You can't change how the dog feels or thinks; you just recognize its good motive. By remaining calm and not reacting, you show you're non-threatening. Trying to communicate through gestures (compultions ) might be misunderstood as hostility. Understand the dog's intention to protect, acknowledge it, and walk calmly. With time, the dog will leave you alone. May Allah grant you peace and healing.
I felt the groinal and i was sitting i noticed i hunched or leaned forward which made the groinal worse. I paused and i think i remembered my therapist saying ocd can cause involuntary actions. Idk if i leaned smore or not but i know i was stuck and than did mental compuksions like saying no and shaking my head no and moving my arms to resist the anxiety but the guilt that follows is what keeps me stuck in rumination and ocd telling me i did something bad. My therapist said for erp just let the groinal be there. Lean more into. It doesnt nean anything. Ocd is making me associate it to aomething bad ir feel like i did a wrong but “a cigar is just a cigar”
Ok so I’ve been kind of upset about this all day so I figured I would share this. I’m really nervous doing it because I don’t want to get judged for it. I feel so guilty about it all the time. So a couple of years ago I was babysitting a family friends kid, and they were crawling all over me, jumping up and down, and I wound up having a groinal response (I really don’t wanna say the kind.) I kind of put it in the back of my mind and forgot about it, but around last year I remembered and latched onto it and it threw me into my OCD spiral. I remembered this happened maybe two other times before that, and of course I felt weird and guilty by it. I didn’t experience any sexual arousal, yet this happened to me. I always had sexually intrusive thoughts ever since I was a little kid, so perhaps I was just having a groinal response to when that was happening because I was thinking “omg what if...” or whatever, but of course I can’t remember my thoughts. Now I know what a groinal response is and that they come in all shapes and sizes (lol) but because this happened *before* I realized I had POCD, my brain has convinced me that it was some kind of genuine attraction and that I wanted to do something bad
TW - This post is directed to the men. Also, this is going to be TMI I'm a guy and I've been having a rough time talking to people now. A lot of times I get groinal responses even during talking to people -- really anyone, including family members and other dudes. I'm not really sure what the reason is. But it is difficult having that happen because as a guy, it is of course more obvious to the outside world when it happens, and I have to hide it. Anyway, I was at college just a few hours ago and ran into someone I knew from one of my clubs and they talked to me and I got a groinal response and I had to cut the conversation short because I obviously wanted to get out of that situation and I didn't want anyone to notice and think I was some kind of pervert. Of course, I wasn't even thinking that way. And what makes it worse is that it also just so happened to be a lady. But it's just really hard to get a grasp on those thoughts because of OCD. Man, it stinks... Anyway, sorry for the TMI
Anyone often worry were they arousing ovr someone because of intrusive thoughts and groinal responses? I was grabbing ny bag strap snd it was near my lap in public snd i worry was i doing something inappropriate. I get stuck snd dwell on it worrying then i worry more if i was doing something. But i was like why would i do a bad thing especially in public. Ugh its exhausting.
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