- Date posted
- 22w
- Date posted
- 22w
You’re not a rapist in the way people usually mean, which is someone who forces or plans to harm others through sexual acts. You made a plan while sober, which people expect you to be your responsibility, but it’s also understandable you were young and inexperienced as a virgin, you couldn’t have fully understood the risks. You didn’t set out to hurt anyone. It’s painful when realizing the possibility that harm might have happened, but your guilt shows that you care and want to do better. You deserve to heal, learn from this, and keep making better choices moving forward. The label others have given you isn’t a thoughtful or helpful way to guide you, especially since you can't apologize or even know for certain how the other person felt. It's between you and them, and without knowing their experience, you can't fully process it through confrontation or closure. Getting feedback from others can be helpful for refining your life choices, but in the end, they weren’t there, and most people aren’t great at giving advice without judgment. You’re doing the real work by reflecting and trying not to repeat, and that matters.
- Date posted
- 22w
when you say im not a r*pist in the way people mean, does that still make me a r*pist in other ways?
- Date posted
- 22w
@hi3456 Someone calling you a rapist based on your side of the story feels like a big stretch. It’s similar to people saying I'm "not a real Asian" because I'm born in America while also being told "not a real American" because my parents aren't born here. People may ignore real definitions and just judge based on bias or buzz words. Labels like that shouldn’t erase context or truth. Real predators show entitlement, not remorse, and even if anyone tries to act innocent, no one can keep pretending to be kind just like a kind person can't keep pretending to be mean. Even if their logic or OCD sounds convincing, it ignores real definitions and personal truth. Only those involved truly carry the weight of what happened and how to move forward. Intent matters, and based on what you shared, you didn’t act with harm or malice. You don’t fit the true meaning of a rapist. I've witnessed including myself while sober if the act was actually consensual and had to check in what occurred happened the way I remember it. That's how humans are trying to hold space to care for the other person to make sure we're on the same track or to make any adjustments once. It's not meant to condemn, it's just communication etiquette and learning. Just some people including a consensual party may alter the story whether out of misunderstanding, misguided, malice, or even mentally ill (their brain cannot register the same event the way a video camera does). You will not be the first nor last questioned on your actions no matter how big or miniscule, so forgiveness is more important and better tool for learning than obeying ambiguous "almost". Those who are educated, trained, or experienced still struggle finding proper etiquette because humans be using different languages, complex, and changing rules. Note it's OK to change decisions, not make a boundary and change it after the decision is done. Example of my experience was I was told if a guy buys you dinner he gets to sleep with you, I declined and asked what if I did. He said if he does sleeps with me, it means I'm loose and lied to him being pure (no where did I insinuated this) so I'm supposed to pay back the cash he used for my meal. Rare case but miracles of wonder goes both ways, see great wonders of how great humanity can be and wonder how the heck humans procreate to have reached to witness this interaction. Just like this awful date, treat it as a passing lesson, remember what you want to do and you don't have to remember how it came to be.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 22w
It’s possible to forgive yourself for the events of the past and move forward according to your values without having absolute certainty about what happened. No one can know for sure what took place — so torturing yourself about it serves no one. Moving forward according to your strong ethics values helps you and those around you. Can you imagine a world where you accept uncertainty on the issue and let the past event remind you of your true values going forward?
Related posts
- Date posted
- 14w
Hate myself for who I used to be. I used to sleep around. I drove drunk a couple times. I was careless. I’m so ashamed because it’s not who I am and especially not who I am now. I did it because I was lonely. And now I suffer not knowing if I hit or killed or hurt someone. This pain is just draining.
- Date posted
- 6w
Hey, was hoping someone could resonate with what I’m thinking / feeling. Apologies as it will probably be a long one! Has anyone else had a constant rumination over “consent” me and my partner had a situation two years ago, we were went on a night out, were both pretty drunk (me more than him, but both had quite a bit to drink) had a big argument- we got home and went to bed, in the night, I was half awake, heard him saying my name, I didn’t respond so he rolled over, later on mabye like 10 mins, he said my name again- from his memory, I responded and we were “intimate” how we usually would be, and he said I seemed how I usually would, responded like I typically would and was involved and participating, I woke up the next day, could remember little bits of things, but very very minimal stuff- we talked about it and he was really gutted and listened to the fact I was worried that I couldn’t remember everything, he was so upset- (I don’t think it’s totally unusual for me not to remember intercourse, especially after a few drinks) he totally understood and tbh has dealt with my boundaries perfectly since. At the time I went through a really really bad stage of extreme anxiety and rumination over it (iv also got a bit of trauma with this topic from previous relationships) And it was taking over my life, I posted in a girls group I was in what the situation was, most of the people said that mabye it’s just a bit of boundary setting but it dosent seem like anything was intentional and he seems like a good person who cares about me (which he is) - there was one girl, who replied, and the reply was that I should go to the police, and it was r*p* and that it was taken advantage and all this really strong stuff, obviously being the way I am, my brain has absolutely clung to that comment, and two years down the line, i still cannot shake it off- I know who he is; and I know he’s respectful and is an all round good partner, but the what ifs, doubting, and that comment are still taking over my life to this day. I just don’t know what to think and how to feel anymore 😞 If you managed to read it all, I appreciate it! I know it’s not short so thank you 😊
- Date posted
- 29d
Recently I (16m)feel hopeless I feel so sick and sad idk what to do I feel lost I feel like a monster everything has been hell, and I don’t know how to move on from the never ending guilt . I did awful things when I started high school, thinking being sexual was the way to connect.(idk if all of this was because when I was 8 I was shown explicit content by my older brother) I crossed boundaries, overshared, and kept flirting with friends and making sexual jokes, even after they said no (all over text). One friend stopped talking to me and can’t even look at me now. I feel like a monster. Why shouldn’t I be locked up? If I got therapy, I feel like I’d be sent jail. Idk if I can move on. Then there were these 2 guys who were older than me one was 16 one was 17. The 16 yr old was introduced to me by my online friend who is my best friend and I begged the 16 yr old for pics (idk how it started but after my friends ex randomly messaged me and sent me pictures and then blocked me right after I think I became addicted to chasing that high) the 16 yr old eventually sent me a pic but it was real and I stopped bugging him on it after that but i feel so bad I did that but my friend tells me not to feel bad cause the guy was weird but I still feel bad. Then the 17 yr old I did the same thing with him but went too far when I tried getting pics from him by using my best friends ass pics she sent me (she was 15) I don’t think I grasped how wrong this was but that’s not an excuse she eventually found it when I told her after she tried getting pics from the guy herself to try and help me and the guy got mad when she stopped talking to him cause we found it weird talking to him. I told her about how I sent the pics she said she felt sick but forgave me cause she thought I was gonna harm myself. Fast forward the guy told me after I had still been flirting with him that I s@d him (we never met in person ever) and I felt so guilty and apologized a lot and he got annoyed and told me that he had been kinda manipulative to me and kept me in a loop of mystery and I don’t talk to him anymore. But one of my other friends stopped talking to me after I was being by too emotionally taxing on him because I became very depressed and didn’t wanna life anymore and tried to stop lifing a few times. And now idk if I actually s@d someone if I did that to someone and now I think I’m a pdo and I think I s@d my baby cousins and my little brother and now I’m scared bf I can’t even get help because my parents don’t believe in therapy and even if I wanted to I’m scared because I don’t want to go to jail but I think I deserve it honestly why should a monster like me live.i wish I could move on like my older brother and maybe he shouldn’t idk who seems to not feel guilty maybe this is what I deserve idk I feel like I can’t go on I’m in my junior year and I saw one of the people and immediately just got crushed with the guilt and spiraled of how actually shameful I am if I tell any of my friends they’ll just leave or worse
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond