To those of you who feel like there’s no escape or feel like this is the end for you trust me it’s not I have been dealing with pocd for about a year now over one small intrusive thought thats felt so real to me and is hard to detach from however little by little I have detached some days are harder than others but please do not give up do not make yourself feel like you’re a bad person because you are not if any one of you wants to talk about your pocd and needs help don’t hesitate to talk to me about whats happening I know it can be a hard thing to handle but together we can overcome this!

I know it can be rough trust me I’m going through a rough breakdown at the moment and its hard not listening to your intrusive thoughts but look theres nothing wrong with you you are not a bad person the simple fact that you feel the need to avoid kids or feel guilty by even being around them or staring at them goes to show you’re not what your ocd makes you feel and believe you are I know its so hard to train your mind to understand that your ocd is full of bullshit but you have to train yourself to remember your ocd is just doing things to fuck with you! If I can fight this so can you and do not be affraid to contact a therapist through this app I currently have a therapist through this app and she is amazing she has helped me so much! I know you might think you’re alone on this but you’re not I’ve been struggling with pocd for a year thinking that I may have swiped the back of my hand slightly on the outside of my nephews underwear to test if i liked it or not. I know that the image was an intrusive I know that the hand swiping isn’t real but because the human brain can’t remember everything it uses gaps as a gateway to saying it might have occurred but the bottom line is it did not occurr I’ve gone through every memory and gap possible on top of that the simple fact that I feel guilty and scared goes to show it didn’t occurr why? Because if that was my intention don’t you think I’d be doing it constant without any remorse or guilt or feelings of being scared. If that occurred I wouldn’t be avoiding every kid I come into contact with I wouldn’t be avoiding my nephew at all. However, thanks to my therapist and ERP I am able to be around kids and my own nephew now sometimes I do have days where I get scared or feel guilty like today and it feels so exhausting sometimes you even want to end things but you shouldn’t don’t let ocd take over your life. Think of this talk we just had as motivation to overcome this, understand that you are not alone and you are not judged you have me as a friend who suffers from pocd and intrusive thoughts as well. We got this!

@Ella_O Thank you so much for the response. I appreciate it so much! This was super encouraging. You’re right, we can both get through this.

@ocdsurvivorem Yes we can! You’re not alone you have me and the rest of this community to help and support you!

@Ella_O My ocd has changed over the years. Around Xmas time it came blasting back as pocd. I just can’t get the visions out of my head. Sometimes I feel like I want to die just to stop them. I’m doing therapy and meds but it’s not going away and I’m so scared

@Lynnrich I know it can be scary trust me those intrusive thoughts love to stick and when they stick you start to believe they are real memories and you can’t even fathom sometimes ending it all feels like an easy escape but you have to remember pedophiles don’t feel guilt or remorse nor do they feel disgusted with what they think imagine or do. You have to remember although that intrusive feels real it didn’t occur