Hi NOCD users, welcome to our app designed to allow you space to share your experiences and for us to share helpful information. I was wondering what are your thoughts about the level of difficulty separating your trigger from your obsessive thoughts and then separating the obsessive thoughts from the compulsive behavior/action? I find through working with NOCD clients, that many run all of these together because it can be very difficult to catch and separate them from each other? At times, it seems to all happen so quickly and automatically that you may not see them as separate? Would love to hear your thoughts. Thank you for being here and any efforts to answer these questions for me!

I’m new to the app and wanting to know who else experiences this form of ocd. Some background I was a therapist for over 10 years now I am out of the clinical space. So I have background knowledge of ocd but never knew much about relationship ocd. I realized over the last several years with my now fiancé, that I have a hard time just letting go in general, whether that’s an argument or statement or feeling. I want to be able to just accept things at face value and move on (and talk later if my partner is ready as needed). But when conflict arises I can’t disengage till there is a clear resolution. It’s causing serious strife as he can feel trapped and it escalates the argument. I am reading more and this sounds like relationship OCD. Anyone else experience this? Curious on what others have done to work on this for themselves. I do have a therapist but we are not doing work in this area yet as I am realizing this is an actual concern.

Hi everyone! My name is Tara, I’m a therapist here at NOCD. Before becoming a therapist, I worked various jobs in arts, textiles, prop styling, I worked in restaurants... I basically did what I could do with an undergrad in art living in Brooklyn, with a secret hope that I might someday pursue a career in mental health. Fun fact, I held onto that hope for 10 whole years before I decided to take a risk and apply to grad school! I wanted to become a therapist because I just knew that this was a field where my mind could work at its best and do the most good. Anyone else here with ADHD may understand. I simply cannot retain long term focus on something if I don’t absolutely love it, and I absolutely love this work. Having a job where my sole purpose is to connect with others and help them tap into their inner strength is an actual dream come true. I specifically love working with Exposure and Response Prevention and treating OCD, since the whole point of ERP is to show you you’re braver than you think you are. And it works so, so well. If you have a fear, and you think you “can’t” approach it, know that you most likely can. It might take some time to prove that to yourself, but with time and a steady dose of discomfort, you’ll get there. I’m sure that “discomfort” part didn’t sound appealing but let me ask you this - does OCD make you feel uncomfortable? Why not put some of that discomfort to work, in your favor? If you’re struggling with OCD, or you think you might be, know that you probably already have what it takes to thrive in ERP. You’re here. You recognized that you were struggling, you decided to find help, you downloaded the app, and you started reading through posts. I’m sure somewhere along the line, you felt at least a little uncomfortable, and you decided to take the next step anyway. That’s ERP in a nutshell :) Please ask me anything about OCD, your current symptoms or ERP. I’ll be responding over the next 2 days to questions.

Hi there, I’m new to NOCD and just want to say that I’ve been depressed and feel as though this opportunity could potentially connect me to people who struggle with similar issues. We’re not certain I have ocd, but I do exhibit symptoms that do seem to fall under ocd’s general category. So I’d like to ask whoever reads this: what are some good ways to engage with this community that might benefit me the most? I’ve been seeing that people struggle with many different intrusive thoughts and some of them (for example dating related or jealousy) I’ve definitely experienced. Is there a way for me to possibly filter based on subtype, and for that matter also how can I best stay safe on this platform? I see there are trigger warnings but do people sometimes post triggering content without them? How about if I receive rude or abusive comments, things like that. I do struggle with many different intrusive thoughts and so may run into darker threads if I filter for those subtypes. Also, I tagged the subtypes that seem to apply to me the most here. Thank you!