- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
Of course you can. Please do. When you go to a therapist, don't hold back. Forget about the fesr that your thought's might be "too dark" or "dirty". It's OCD. If they knoe a bit about it, they won't be surprised. And being honest will be very important tfor your recovery. So I mean it. Don't hold back. whatever bothhers you. Let them know
- Date posted
- 5y
Never thought of that, thanks I’ll give it a shot
- Date posted
- 5y
Hey Redmax- Well done!!!!! Good luck.
- Date posted
- 5y
I'm happy for you Redmax ?
- Date posted
- 5y
I understand it's personal. Doing homework is vital. In fact I need to do script erp ( which is hard!) I'm glad your seeing improvement! I live in Los Angeles I'm taking a mindful classes affiliated with UCLA. If you check your local colleges they'll probably have mindful meditation classes. Off to the gym. I like to keep in touch with you. ❤✌
- Date posted
- 5y
Hopefully, will a psychiatrist be fine to talk to? I have hocd and little pocd
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes it helps Gummydrop. They are qualified too :)
- Date posted
- 5y
Can I talk to them about my hocd and my pocd?
- Date posted
- 5y
I feel like I can’t ignore the thoughts
- Date posted
- 5y
They are hard to ignore :( So do I... but we'll get better :)
- Date posted
- 5y
The trick isn’t to ignore the thoughts , it’s to slowly becoming okay with them being there, like okay I have this fear of whatever stuck in my head fine Ill let it make me feel uncomfortable but I’m still gonna get on with my day, it’s so hard at first but it gets easier
- Date posted
- 5y
@RedMax You're right :)
- Date posted
- 5y
It is tricky. Just trying to sit with awful tboughts is so painful. I can see improvement. Part of me still can't quite believe I have this disorder! It's do bizarre. ?
- Date posted
- 5y
Even though I "knew it". I was diagnosed a little over a month ago. That's when it seriously dawned on me the seriousness of this. I've suffered a lot just accepting that I'll have to live with this, that a dementor (harry potter jajaj) will be following me all my life.
- Date posted
- 5y
SAME ITS DO HARD TO BELIEVE
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes! I'm happy as well. Gosh you found out a month ago? It took me a couple months my friend told me to pray awful thoughts away it was the devil! I knew my brain was misfiring and I was on a loop. We should be grateful so much information and support is available. My ocd came out 9 months ago from a stressful event. I'm not surprised my brain explpded!!!! I heard a great statement: my distress surpassed my coping skills. Yep. This has been quite a year for me.
- Date posted
- 5y
Hi Janietay. Well, I've had it for 11 years. And my first terrible episode was when I was 16 years of age. But I got diagnosed 1 month ago and since then I've learned about how treatment goes and about what I should expect... it's so scary I must admit. And also so sad to know that I'll have to live with this ?
- Date posted
- 5y
Oh boy at least you got diagnosed. I'm working with an ocd specialists which is amazing. Truly we need to do the work. I started meditating and am taking mindful meditation classes. What's your theme BTW?
- Date posted
- 5y
Pure O, HOCD. I'd like to take mindfulness classes too. I think it could help a bit at least.
- Date posted
- 5y
Me too with A little pocd. For a while i thought I was a criminal but that's basically faded. The mindful classes help. In fact is like to get certified so I can facilitate mindful groups. It's challenging with ocd sufferers. I think the most jarring is violent thoughts especially since I'm a gentle non violent person. It's cruel ocd, attacking what's important to us.
- Date posted
- 5y
Yeah... that's so true. It's not just about making you think you're not the person you think you are or the orientation you have always identified with. It' also about not letting you enjoy things you have always enjoyed. You know, it's not only you're mind you "you might also like guys" (in my case), it's more your mind telling you" you like guys and you'll never get to enjoy sex and have a happy relationshio with your girlfriend. You'll lose all your attraction to girls and you have to accept it". It's so unfair and relentless...
- Date posted
- 5y
Horrific!! I can't imagine. I'm sorry..may i ask what state your in?
- Date posted
- 5y
I've definitely improved from where I was 2-3 months ago. I still do compulsions all the time and my thoughts are present constantly. But just getting to better accept that this is my reality, that I must do my homework and commit myself is a step forward to me. Also, some of my fears from 3 months ago have slowly been fading. New ones come, but it helps in understanding that OCD will come at you with many things, so the content is not that important. To me it's harder in some aspects because my obsession is not the typical HOCD one. But I prefer not to talk about it now. :)
- Date posted
- 5y
That's a bit confusing to me, you know? The script part of ERP. Im currently developing my imaginal exposures m, like literally just started to write them down. But I don't feel "too triggered" by them. Not as much as the thought thought that they contain, which do scare me. I don't know if I'm doing them wrong or something. What is the scary part of doing your scripts? F.ex. is it writing them, reading them, visualizing them, the way you describe them or what? Sorry if the question doesn't make sense, I really want to understand better how to improve my imaginal exposures :( Makes me feel like I won't get over this if I can't tackle my fears head first.
- Date posted
- 5y
And yeah, of course you can keep in touch. Whenever you want. :)
- Date posted
- 5y
Grrrrr.. I just wrote tons and it erased. Hey there. So I get you!!! I think were doing it right. It's about habituation. Writing it Everyday re reading focused and fully present. Now for a while I thought I was a criminal. I.watched crime shows and read articles. That theme diminished. This theme I hate!!! Doing erp doesn't bother me. It's the thought that keeps running through my head. Now I need to do hw. It hard because it affects me. I generally isolate a little because. The subject matter sucks. Am I making sense?
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes you are making sense :) I isolate too. It hurts because this got me distant fromcmy girlfriend and that's what has hurt the most since she's the person I care for the most. Doing erp doesnt bother me much either, which confuses me even more. I have been triggered in some moments, but most of the times exposures actually make me feel even better, not worst.
- Date posted
- 5y
It feels easier to do erp with no-one around. Thinking about it erp is easy sometimes I actually forget I'm putting my self in the triggering situation. I did notice that I can feel down a couple days after. I dislike script writing for obvious reasons. Do you want to set a goal? We both do erp for something super hard all week everyday.
- Date posted
- 5y
Jum... actually script writing es easier than exposing to images or videos. That's interesting jejej And honestly, I'm thankful for your challenge. It's nice to have someone who wants to do something together with this. It means the world. But I'll have to pass for now. I'm following a rythm with my exposures and I'd prefer to stick to it. Most of the times I can handdle it well. But when I force myself, it has backfired terribly. So I prefer not to push myself too much jajaj. I hope you can understand ?
- Date posted
- 5y
I get it no problem! It's so funny this is my nature knock it out go hard. ? what happens is then I have these huge expectations and get impatient and frustrated. The scripts make me cringe. But then I'm sure it all does.?
- Date posted
- 5y
That's why I want to improve my scritpts. They are not triggering me like I think they should. I think I need to make them more "descriptive" and think them more "vividly". Im sure that would be very triggering...
- Date posted
- 5y
Yes! Come to think of it your right. Hey do you have the book, Freedom from Obsessive compulsive disorder? By Jonathan Grayson.. He's pretty radical and has chapters on script writing.
- Date posted
- 5y
No, I have like 2 others that are pretty good too. The Mindfulness Workbook for OCD is one of them. I'm interested in hour suggestion for the book though. I'll give it a look. Thank you very much?
- Date posted
- 5y
Did shala nicely and Jon Hershfeld write it? I have it and their book. In fact a have a whole library in the subject!
- Date posted
- 5y
Nice!! It was Hershfield and Tom Corboy. It actually pretty good. The mindfulness part seems like a goal I'd like to pursue. But I haven't gotten too commited into reading it and applying it yet.
- Date posted
- 5y
take care of yourself. talk soon. ✌❤
- Date posted
- 5y
Take care and resist compulsions (yeah, easier said than done, jajajaj)✌? ❤
- Date posted
- 5y
Hahaha I'll try.
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 24w
As a 20+ year OCD vet and OCD conqueror. I wanted to share some tips and tricks that help me. 1. A thought is not the same as a belief. You can think something, and not believe it in the slightest. 2. Thoughts DO NOT represent ANYTHING. They are not indicators to who we are as people, they are pop up ads for the brains computer. 3. We DO NOT control our thoughts! The average person has about 60,000 ( yes, 4 zeros) a day! NONE of which are controlled. 4. We DO have control over which of those 60k thoughts are important. i.e. thought A. I could murder my entire household- survey says? not important ( because yea, sure, you could, but you probably don't really want to) thought B. i need to do my laundy-survey says? important... unfortunately, i hate laundry. which brings me to number 5. 5. Emotional reasoning ( where you let your feelings impact your decisions) is a COGNITIVE DISTORTION. It is a flawed thought process and should NEVER be used. "wanting to do something" does not mean you SHOULD do it, same and sometimes NOT wanting to do something doesn't mean you shouldn't do it ( picked what is important) my brain might tell me i WANT to break up with my husband, ( unimportant) and it might also say i don't want to get up and go to work in the morning ( important). 6. YOU-ARE-IN-CONTROL. Not to be confused with HAVING control. We don't control our thoughts, we control which ones are important, we don't control our feelings or emotions, but we control how to react (or not react) to them. We don't control our OCD, but we can control how it affects our lives, and that can mean that is has all the power, or none. 7. If the action you want to do ( confess, get reassurance, check, analyze, avoid, re-do) are to gain relief from anxiety, IT IS A COMPULSION. DO NOT DO IT. Sit with the anxiety and train your brain to realize its not dangerous or important with ERP ( this takes time, but practice makes perfect) 8. Know your enemy. NOCD has a HUGE amount of articles and information on ALL subtypes of OCD and how to respond and how to treat them. OCD is MUCH easier to combat when you understand how it works. 9. BE PATIENT. BE KIND to yourself. Prioritize healthy habits, a healthy body is better equipped to handle OCD. Good sleep, whole foods, sunlight, social interaction, exercise ( walking especially). When the mind feels weak, make the body strong. 10. You are not alone. OCD is classified by the World Health Organization as one of the top 10 most distressing disorders. Reach out to people, seek medical help. Medication is not evil, it can be life-saving, TALK to people. Bonus Tips * if the question is " What If" its OCD. * Total certainty does not exist, be content with 99%* *"But this feels different, this feels like its not OCD, that its real*- emotional reasoning... its OCD. Hang in there. You got this. Im here for any advice, questions, or support. Today is a great day to have a GREAT DAY.
- Date posted
- 21w
i want to get this out of the way; i’m not suicidal. i’m a 17 y/o guy whose been living with OCD for what i assume is most of my life despite only getting the diagnoses last year. i’ve been hustling on despite my mental health really consuming my life to moments in time where i question my sanity and self control. it’s the lack of control that really kills me with this disorder. each day i wake up, it’s the same persistent reminders; it’s the same meaningless conversations replaying; it’s the same small rituals that just barely let me breathe before the thoughts return. nothing i do is gonna stop that unbearable monogamy where i have to sit back and let my eyes be peeled open; i don’t know how to live with that. no pill has worked on me, and any response i give the thoughts just make them worse. right now i’m trying to just sit through it and not care. don’t let it effect me emotionally; try not to feel the discomfort. then it starts to manifest into physical pain where i feel the bones of my chest have this pressure—like staples entering them at the rhythm of a heart beat. i’m getting though this, but i’m not enjoying my life when doing so. i don’t know if i have a future where it isn’t just this repeating through the process of each day. i don’t want to spend the rest of my life avoiding the one thing i’m supposed to have control over. i also don’t want to drown my days in self medicating or get addicted doing so—like i already am. i don’t see the way to make this life of mine work, especially given how much i don’t have to do deal with at my age. of course that will come to. look, i’m not at risk; i really don’t want in anyway to die despite being basically hopeless. i’m numb to the pain of it, i don’t feel anything in my desire to escape these cycles, i just need an out. i’m not seeing a way to move forward. i’m willing to hear anything.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 13w
Hi NOCD community, I wanted to share my story of my journey so far with OCD to provide perspective to anyone who needs it. I can't believe how far I have come with a huge part because of my NOCD treatment and utilizing ERP. For reference I am a 24-year old male, so for anyone who is like me and on the fence with treatment, trust me it is worth it. If you ever want to talk about OCD and are not sure where to start or need guidance please do not hesitate to reach out to me. I am now almost 2-years into treatment and working on recovery to this day. Sending my support to all. My OCD Story Adolescence Growing up, I didn’t know what mental health was—or even much about who I was. I was somewhat consciously aware, but something always felt off. My life seemed surrounded by reacting to fear instead of exploring or discovering like a regular kid. It felt like there was a switch in my brain that never let me settle in. My earliest compulsions were more physical than mental. One example that likely went unnoticed was how I would obsessively organize and align my toys in a certain way. It may have seemed like I was just being finicky, but now I recognize this as an early sign of OCD. The key is understanding that anything can become a compulsion—it’s not about what you do, but why you do it. In my case, it was always to avoid a bad outcome or neutralize a feeling. Another moment that stands out was in preschool during a performance. I was reciting something I can’t remember in front of an audience—a common childhood fear—but the way I coped was by repeatedly hitting myself in the head with my fist. I wasn’t aware I was doing it, but it calmed me, even though inflicting pain had no logical connection to the fear itself. Looking back, this was clearly a physical tic. My dreams were disturbing too. I’d experience that terrifying space between sleep and consciousness. My parents once had to put my limbs in ice just to fully wake me. And even the process of going to sleep became ritualistic. I had to jump into bed using my left foot, pray a specific way (including naming everyone I didn’t want to be affected by harm), rotate clockwise, shake my pillow four times, and do various actions around my room—cleaning, checking the door, and more. All to prevent the visions in my mind from becoming real. Teenage Years Though my childhood was tough, things really escalated in high school. My family life was chaotic—divorce, shifting homes, and being the older sibling trying to hold it together. I was smart and creative, and I found joy in creative writing, fantasy books, cartoons, video production, and drawing. But the storm really hit freshman year of high school. I was bullied relentlessly—for being shorter, having low self-esteem, and dealing with an undiagnosed mental illness. One night while trying to fall asleep, I noticed my heart beating fast. I panicked, convinced something was wrong. My dad said it was heartburn and gave me soda (caffeine), which only made things worse. I slept maybe an hour, and we went to the ER the next morning. After a full workup and an EKG, the doctor concluded I was physically fine and gave me anti-anxiety medication. But that wasn’t the end. I had more episodes. I became obsessed with the idea that something was wrong with my body. I had blood drawn thinking I had a thyroid issue. I panicked at doctor’s visits, which spiked my blood pressure, fueling more health fears. I was also in an advanced biology class, learning about diseases and cancers—which triggered me to the point I felt like I was going to pass out. Motion sickness and vertigo became a daily fear, and I became terrified it would never go away. That became a core theme in my health-related OCD and deeply affected my quality of life. It was also during this time I developed HOCD (Homosexual OCD). Intrusive thoughts about my male friends consumed me. I couldn’t relax around them or enjoy hanging out. I compulsively told myself I was straight, watched porn to “test” my reaction, and mentally analyzed everything I thought or felt. It was exhausting. It chipped away at my confidence, especially with women, though I know other external factors played a role in that too. Still, I had no education around mental health and assumed this chaos in my mind was normal—or that anyone seeking help had to be “crazy.” I couldn’t have been more wrong. Adulthood Despite all that, I managed to graduate high school with good marks—even finishing at a new school I attended for just eight weeks after moving in with my mom. College was a major turning point. For the first time, I experienced independence and the ability to sit with my thoughts. I still didn’t know what I was dealing with, but being away from a broken home and forging my own identity was incredibly freeing. Freshman year felt like a fresh start…until the pandemic hit. Like many others, I was forced to return home. For someone with OCD, the sudden lack of control and isolation was devastating. I was trapped in my room, stuck in my head, with nothing but virtual classes and uncertainty. Still, I eventually got back to campus, focused on my career in the sports and entertainment industry, and was accepted into a prestigious program while working multiple internships and completing challenging coursework. But with roommates and stress came new obsessions—and still, no diagnosis. I eventually sought therapy for anxiety, realizing my mental state was unsustainable. That’s when two of my most distressing OCD subtypes emerged: Staring OCD and POCD. They worked together in the worst way—fears of inappropriately staring at people, especially children. It felt like I couldn’t exist in public without fearing I’d harm someone just by looking at them. It shattered my self-worth. I couldn’t enjoy life, couldn’t even look in the mirror. The guilt and shame consumed me. I turned to talk therapy, where I was diagnosed with severe anxiety and depression. While sessions brought momentary relief, it quickly became clear I wasn’t getting better. In fact, the act of confessing my thoughts—seeking reassurance—was fueling the OCD. Still, I didn’t have the language for it. After doing my own research (a compulsion in itself), I discovered POCD and Staring OCD. For the first time, I read stories that sounded exactly like mine. I brought this to my therapist, but they dismissed it. Unfortunately, OCD is still widely misunderstood—even among professionals. Because I didn’t fit the “cleaning and checking” stereotype, I wasn’t taken seriously. In 2023—just two years ago—I found NOCD, a teletherapy platform specializing in OCD. I scheduled a free consultation, thinking “Why not?” I was miserable and desperate for relief. The therapist who evaluated me confirmed: I had OCD. She administered the DSM-5 criteria and said I was a textbook case. This was the turning point. Through NOCD, I finally received proper treatment with Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP). I learned how OCD functions, how to track and reduce compulsions, and how to sit with discomfort instead of running from it. It took time—5 to 6 months before I noticed true change—but for the first time in my life, I felt heard. I wasn't alone. NOCD gave me a judgment-free space to unpack the most disturbing thoughts and to not be defined by them. I won’t sugarcoat it—this journey has been painful, frustrating, and nonlinear. I still live with OCD every day. But now I have tools. I’ve continued treatment with multiple NOCD therapists, joined support groups, and practiced exposures: scripting, imaginal scenarios, response prevention, you name it. I’ve learned to live with uncertainty instead of trying to solve the unsolvable. The biggest lesson? Stop trying to figure it out. OCD is emotional, not logical. The moment I stopped trying to outthink it and changed my relationship with it, everything shifted. Today, I’m not “cured,” but I’m grounded. I’m more myself than I’ve ever been. And now, I want to give back. I want to share my story so others know that they’re not alone—and that OCD doesn’t have to rule your life. Whether you're 14, 24, or 44—there is help, and there is hope.
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