- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
i did the same mistake when i had hocd. i would compare my experience with experiences of lesbians even though i identified as bi. that’s a huge mistake we can sometimes make. regardless of the sexuality, comparing ur experience with others is not fruitful at all. just because something like that happened with them doesn’t mean it’s going to happen to you. u cant just become a lesbian, sexuality doesn’t work like that. just keep trying to tell ur brain “maybe i am a lesbian. so what?” and it’ll lose its importance
- Date posted
- 5y
Yeah I said that and immediately had a mini epiphany. Idk why but my brain likes to compare myself to other lesbians coming out. I feel like every realization I have about my strong attraction for guys is like a compulsion and that I need to be anxious about my hocd all the time for ERP
- Date posted
- 5y
What is scarying you ?
- Date posted
- 5y
That I might possibly turn out to become gay. That thought doesn't sit right or feel right at all. Like am I faking my OCD? If I am thats going to mean I had always been in denial which scares me. I don't want to nor have I ever liked a female. It hurts me to know that I could be gay or that I might like girls. I don't think I'll survive another day if I turn out to become gay
- Date posted
- 5y
But I'm trying to calm down and accept the maybe and maybe not. And just thinking this out more rationally though it hurts me soo much.
- Date posted
- 5y
@chamomile So this girl and her sayings triggered the fear to have an unexpected orientation ?
- Date posted
- 5y
@Alex Yes, because I don't want it but it feels like it might happen
- Date posted
- 5y
@chamomile You need to realize that what a person says doesn't automatically works for you too. Besides, what she's saying is literally impossible. Try not to pay too much attention to what random people say.
- Date posted
- 5y
@chamomile You can also analyze the intrusive thought. Why does the idea of being gay makes you so uncomfortable? What is the worse that could happen if it was the case ? And so on.
- Date posted
- 5y
@chamomile Well, do YOU pretend to like boys? Do you feel any romantic and/or sexual attraction towards them ?
- Date posted
- 5y
@Alex Analization is a compulsion. I know I don't like it since I've been kissed by bi girls and I never felt anything, got asked out by multiple girls, never had any remorse or guilt rejecting them. I've always been attracted to guys, enjoyed sexual and rksmntic thoughts of them (still do) and it's stomach churning when I have to think about a woman
- Date posted
- 5y
@Alex No I don't. Most of my feelings for them have been natural. I also imagine the naturally in a sexual and romantic way. Like I never feel awkward talking about them. On the contrary it makes me excited and giddy
- Date posted
- 5y
@chamomile Then it's pretty obvious you like boys. The problem seems to be more related to you being doubt-triggered by people's sayings than by your behaviour.
- Date posted
- 5y
@chamomile By the way, in the context of ERP, analization is not a compulsion. Rumination is though.
- Date posted
- 5y
@Alex Yes, now that I think of it it is. But still doesn't rule out the possibililty (or at least that's what ERP says) but I also know that I'll probably end up with a man in the near future deep down so I'm just trying to stay super calm
- Date posted
- 5y
@Alex Well isn't ruminating and analization almost the same?
- Date posted
- 5y
@Alex But regardless I still do analyze and I have made hierarchies to let myself do ERP :)
- Date posted
- 5y
@chamomile No, it's not. Rumination is thinking again and again about an intrusive thought until it distorts reality, because you end up thinking it's true. Analizing it in a healthy way is looking at the thought objectively and realizing it's unrealistic.
- Date posted
- 5y
@chamomile Good luck on having successful ERP. It's tiring at first sometimes but it works.
- Date posted
- 5y
@Alex Oh thank you so much. I just analyzed for a bit and I just had a mini epiphany and realization that how irrational my thoughts are. I was ruminating a little at the point where I started crying believing it's actually happening ?
- Date posted
- 5y
@Alex Yeah I've been doing it for two months now, it's going pretty good but there are some days where I ball my eyes out because I can't deal with a specific thought
- Date posted
- 5y
It's worth thinking hard about the role posts like this are playing in your illness or recovery
- Date posted
- 5y
Because writing a post on the topic while you're distressed is not acceptance at all
- Date posted
- 5y
@NOCD Advocate - Katie Well I write it because I was extremely overwhelmed to the point I wasn't able to accept
- Date posted
- 5y
@NOCD Advocate - Katie And it isn't like I'm a whole expert at reovery like you, I sometimes need to get my emotions out or at least talk about this. It isn't like I can bottle up this shit all the time
- Date posted
- 5y
@chamomile It's a learning process. It's ok to make mistakes and learn from them. I still am. Let's try to think of a way you could express yourself without creating opportunities for people to reassure you, even if you didn't directly ask them to
- Date posted
- 5y
@NOCD Advocate - Katie I'm not asking them to reassure me I just wanted some words of support. Is that too much to ask for? Wow...
- Date posted
- 5y
You're right, you didn't say "please reassure me". That's good. But nevertheless, the information you provided led people to provide reassurance. Think of your OCD like a dog on a weightloss plan. You don't want to give it treats. Telling people after they've given the dog a treat "hey, don't give my dog a treat" doesn't remove the treat from your dogs belly. In an ideal world here, as a community, no one would give reassurance. However, that's not the reality. Unfortunately, it's on you to protect yourself. Giving the nitty gritty details of your thoughts is like handing them dog treats as they enter your house, and then hoping that they won't feed them to the dog
- Date posted
- 5y
Oh okay I get it now. But I still sometimes need to just speak what I'm feeling since no body else to talk. Ill try not to give in so much but I just sometimes need to speak out since I'm doing my own therapy and ERP
- Date posted
- 5y
@chamomile Would writing in a journal maybe be a middle ground?
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 23w
I keep seeing tiktoks of things that are like ‘things I did as a lesbian in denial’ or ‘things my not so straight straight friend said’ and I feel like I might relate to some!! But idk!! It’s kinda triggering me. I’ve had this 5 years on and off now so when it comes back the whole well you’ve had it so long you must be gay comes up. I have been with my boyfriend almost 6 years and i love him so much I don’t want to be gay (nothing weong with it - I’m just not and don’t want to be!)
- Date posted
- 22w
I am very depressed right now. I really feel like maybe I’ve always been a lesbian and never knew. I never questioned my sexuality when I was young, never wanted to explore, I just was straight and didn’t think anything about it, that’s just what it was. I had my first soocd spiral in late high school but didn’t have a name for it, just that I was having intrusive thoughts and it was killing me that maybe I was gay. I can’t exactly remember how I got out of that but I continued to have crushes, talking stages, and dated. It went away and that was that I guess. Looking back now I definitely was still avoiding content and certain people, and still had intrusive thoughts but didn’t think I was gay. I guess they were less sticky. Something about me is that I’ve never had a boyfriend and I’m a virgin. I’m very shy and romanticize things like I love the relationships and scenarios I read about or that I see in movies or the thirst traps online haha. So I want that irl but am disappointed when that doesn’t happen. I have a very interactive daydream (started when I was 13 and still continued that fantasy world now too) with a boyfriend, friends, and a prettier version of me. I enjoyed making up scenarios about sex or romance in those daydreams and fantasies, but when it came to real life, I would get shy or scared when things were starting to get serious with men. I thought maybe this was an avoidant attachment style but now I’m not sure. I never considered female fantasies and I still don’t want to right now. I want to test and see which one I like better, but I’m afraid I’ll find that I’m a lesbian and I really don’t want that. Ive always imagined myself with a man but now I’m worried about comphet. I’m really depressed and I can’t tell because yes, I find some women attractive whether it’s their makeup, face, body, aesthetic, but I never thought that meant I was attracted to them in a sexual or romantic way until this spiral. Now I’m afraid of masc lesbians and pretty women because it triggers me. But I’m also afraid because I feel like I can look at attractive men, but I don’t feel the same way anymore. I can’t even daydream about them bc then my brain inserts a woman. I’m really scared that I’ve lost myself, because I truly feel like I have, but I don’t want to explore with women, I just want to like men, I’ve always liked that idea. But so many lesbians talk about liking celebrities, fantasy men, or just attractive men. Sorry for the rant but I’m struggling a lot right now. I feel like all my memories, even the ones that directly contradict being a lesbian, can be explained away by comphet, internal homophobia, denial, suppression, etc. When I do try and accept uncertainty, sometimes it feels ok, but then something will trigger me and I’m back at square one. I’m afraid if I take my meds I’ll discover something about myself that I don’t want to because I’ve always been depressed and avoidant of life because it never lives up to my expectations. My sexuality is on my mind 24/7! I can’t take it!
- Date posted
- 22w
i had recently been triggered to have so-ocd. its been on my mind non-stop. (i am a heterosexual female) and my mind has been all over the place questioning if i have been in denial the entire time. ive always had people tell me they sort of got that vibe it it never really affected me until my own mother had her suspicions. so i would constantly get triggered un public around the same gender, while knowing my true sexuality. ive always been attracted to men but as of recently ive been having super bad anxiety to where i cannot eat or sleep and feel weak all the time. it was like that for a week or so. now im in the calm where i have been trying accept the uncertainty but it still isnt fair as im getting triggered. im a little worried because it feels like i have been lying to my parents the entire time although ive never had the desire to be with the same gender. and i keep getting intrusive thoguhts that make me feel anxious and uncomfortable. its all starting to affect my friendships as im constantly getting triggered with the intrusive thoguhts. i feel a little less anxious compared to how i was a couple days ago. im really scared on why im having these thoughts now when i have been having romantic feelings for a guy the past year or so. ive also been struggling with false attraction and loss attraction to men. it makes me feel uncertain of my life the entire time
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