Is there a link between PTSD and OCD? I was m*lested when I was eight years old by my older best friend at the time, I was showed adult films and flashed by an older family at a very young age, that was when I started acting out and my behaviour changed completely. 1-2 years after the event, I began to display OCD symptoms though at that time I had no idea what OCD was. We ignored the symptoms for years which gradually got worse. I thought it had gone away after I had moved, I thought I had gotten better but the worst was still coming. I moved again and by this time my mind has pushed my trauma to the back, I replaced those memories with the good ones and forgotten all about life back home until I moved again. I hadn’t been talked about s*xual assault, m*lestation or any of the above because my family is extremely religious and don’t discuss those subjects so I had no idea what happened to me was not okay I thought everyone’s friends did this to them. This was around the time I attempted, but failed which I am glad I did, though nobody knows about it. Once I started researching and hearing other stories from people who went through the very same thing as me as a child it opened my eyes. It also brought back flashbacks and intense emotions I had never experienced in my life. I’d get them on the bus ride home, in class, at home, I’d get triggered very quickly and easily. The flashbacks have stopped for now, though I still haven’t told anybody about the friend who violated me. That’s when my OCD began developing into what it is today, and I went to see a therapist and turns out I had it. Sometimes I wonder if I would’ve told somebody maybe I wouldn’t have this. I don’t like thinking about this or talking about it’s been on my mind for quite a while.

Hello! It’s my first time using this app. About to get really personal. I’ve struggled with OCD for a long as I can remember. Picking at the skin around my nails, having “scary thoughts.” After I moved out, my OCD seemed easier to manage for a while. However, a year and a half ago I was rapped. Ever since that night, the OCD has come back and is so much worse. Being raised Catholic, my intrusive thoughts center around the fact that I am no longer “pure”. I know that what happened to me is not my fault, but my OCD loves convincing me otherwise. Sometimes it’s almost like PTSD where I have flashbacks to that night. Any suggestions?

MY OCD STORY I’d like to tell you guys my ocd story because why it happened is still a mystery to me. I have never dealt with ocd for my life. I only dealt with some thoughts recently that I would worry about and obsess about but...most of my ocd thoughts would be something that my ex boyfriend would say. For example. My ex boyfriend would say things like, “I’d fuck her” about a random girl. Now I get those thoughts and deal with sexual ocd trying to repress those thoughts. Another thing is my ex used to say weird things about girls younger than him. Way younger, and talk about their body and how they’ve changed so much since the last time they’ve he’s seen them. This caused me to struggle with pocd. Anybody have any thoughts about this? I am not trying to blame him but just wonder if someone else had this experience or can explain what more this experience means for me. My therapist calls these traumatic memories, which I then obsess about.

I believe I’ve always had intrusive/OCD thoughts. When I was younger I always repeated phrases because my brain went “if you don’t do this your whole family will die” but it wasn’t anything too bad. However, when I was 15 I entered my first relationship. I had divorced parents and didn’t know what love was - so it ended up being abusive and I did not know. He forced me to disclose all the people I found attractive as well as all the “unpure” thoughts I had. He deemed fantasizing cheating - which I respected - but also caused for a lot of intrusive thoughts to make me freak out. He also gaslit me and accused me of cheating for the lightest things (gave my cousin a side-hug) and prohibited me from getting male friends because he thought I’d cheat (I’ve never been unfaithful or even flirted w another man. I’ve always had strong morals about it) I believe this trauma is what made my ocd what it is now, since I’m used to being accused for stuff I didn’t understand or have control over. I believe that understanding OCDs roots allows me to heal because it reminds me that I could exist without this thoughts and still had a good moral compass.