- Date posted
- 5y ago
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 5y ago
I agree 100% with everything you just said! I feel like more people experience this than we know, I don’t know how someone could NOT experience this. No one wants to talk about it because immediately people will say “it’s ok I support you if your gay/lesbian” so no one is going to want to talk about it. Today’s acceptance for LGBT+ people is great but it only fuels our HOCD wired brains more and more unfortunately. And I am not an extremely feminine girl, I have my days, I love to get girly and dressed up, but for the most part, I wear tshirts every day, no makeup, and have a very athletic build so I’ve definitely experienced the “oh you must like girls because of the way you look” and man that gets me on a spiral like no other hahah.
- Date posted
- 5y ago
I totally understand what you mean! I'm not even really sure how I got past it but somehow I got to a point where it stopped feeling like it mattered so much what my orientation is? I mean, even now I'm not really 100% sure, but for some reason it doesn't feel as urgent and scary, and I'm okay with not strictly defining it. It's weird how brains deal with these things. But I wish you luck in dealing with it, I know it's really difficult.
- Date posted
- 5y ago
I agree with u. I was straight and happy living my life but hocd has been messing my head up so much that it’s almost took my life one day..I am still struggling but I am recovering slowly. It’s just so hard to tell other about this because they would just not understand thinking I am either lesbian or bi or homophobic
- Date posted
- 4y ago
hi, i think i saw one of your more recent posts and that you now identify as bisexual? can you elaborate on how hocd made you realize that?
- Date posted
- 4y ago
@missbluesky I just woke up one day with these thoughts that made me feel sick and wouldn’t leave me alone
- Date posted
- 5y ago
I don't have HOCD but I appreciate your insight. It seems like quite a few people have trouble accessing treatment or social support because of assumptions of homophobia or that it's "denial". That's so tricky, because HOCD isn't well known whereas severe coming-out anxiety is. I think it's also important to remember that the stigma is still a factor for a lot of people with HOCD- they may have gay or bi friends and family, but fear the uncertainty of the potential impact on their lives of the fear were true. Not just because it would be contrary to their sense of self and their hopes for the future, but because it really could bring judgment, violence or discrimination. Magolor has definitely found the key on HOCD by getting to that point, it can for sure be reached through reasoning and response-prevention. What's wild is that for people with HOCD, it's an incredibly triggering prospect to think of living without defining your orientation, because it feels so urgent while you're in the OCD. And yet it really is the answer. Some people will eventually have a very strong knowledge of their sexuality, some won't. I've never had HOCD and I don't know my sexuality or need to know or to put labels on it, as it seems 99.9% irrelevant to my life. I simply flirt with or date who I want. I watch the porn I want. I don't even think about it. When people ask about my sexuality I basically say "beats me". When I get a strong crush, I imagine a future with the person. Nothing about my sexuality can ever harm me because I don't harbour ideals about what my romantic life needs to look like. There's no part of me which is ever going to take some demented grip of my choices against my will and tell me that from now on I must and am only allowed to date some specific subset of people, I'm in charge of my choices. I believe everybody with HOCD can get to the same point as me.
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Comment deleted by user
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Exactly!! I'm a teenager dealing with this and since my anxiety spiked, my thoughts are telling me I'm lesbian or bi :/ Keep in mind that I HAVE NEVER felt any sexual or romantic attraction towards girls. I might have found them aesthetically attractive, but nothing more. It sucks man!
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Yeah I can't talk to my parents about this bc they would just think that I'm gay
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Idk how you feel about this but I'd think in some ways it'd help because a lot of the time the key to dealing with an obsession is to not be afraid of the uncertainty, like the obsession has less power when the idea of it being true doesn't scare you as much? BUT maybe that doesn't explain it entirely because obviously there are still plenty of people who suffer from HOCD. For a while I dealt with something like HOCD (except it was more fear of being straight, so it was just flipped) - and actually it's interesting to wonder about cuz it's not like being straight is taboo in society. But I think the thing that the obsession latches onto is the uncertainty, and the fear of secretly not being what you think you are? At least in my experience that's sorta what it was like. I don't know if this helps with anything but it's just what your thought made me think about
- Date posted
- 5y ago
i definitely agree. im a bisexual woman my self so going through hocd was especially hard for me. the constant pressure to have ur sexuality figured out is immense and very very damaging esp with something like hocd.
- Date posted
- 5y ago
This is very true. Plus, a lot of articles talk only about HOCD as "the fear of being gay", but they don't mention that there are also lesbian/gay/bisexual/etc people that is also suffering from HOCD/SO-OCD.
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Truth is that a huge number of people on this app act like you just shat in your cornflakes if you bring up that fact at all. So that's a consequence of the fact articles don't talk about it. I've had people with HOCD demand I provide evidence that non straight people can have HOCD and in truth I hardly find anything at all online but there are LITERALLY people right here on this app who have had that experience.
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Thank you for this. Very important topic that’s unfortunately really relatable
Related posts
- Date posted
- 15w ago
Idk what else to title this. I was watching a film cooper video cuz why not and he mentioned smthn about wall paper customization and icons and stuff and I just kinda had a groinal response followed by the memory of me having my first crush on a woman (my friend at the time) that helped me figure out that I’m bi and I felt kinda intensely for her but that’s cuz a) it was new and b) we were kinda on again off again friends who haven’t spoken in a few years now and I’m over her entirely. It was toxic I think. She was too much like the person who bullied me in elementary school (they were friends as well so my mom made me cut her off which is. Fair. Made me really sad but eh that’s life) I saw her at prom cuz someone brought her. It was nice to see her but yeah that was it. And now I’m mentally comparing what I felt for women in the past (idk intense crush, listening to a lot of gay songs (think she by dodie) dressing semi masc cuz funky, we had nicknames for each other despite not dating or anything) to men (less intense crush but still big crush, I’ve only dated and kissed men so sparks rhere) and now I’m just slightly nauseous and worried that I don’t like men as much as I like women but I think that’s normal for any bi person? To have different levels of attraction to different genders? Idk I feel gross and icky now like I shouldn’t even be thinking about it or her cuz I have a bf. And I do look fondly upon it, now I’m nervous cuz I got more excited about her calling me a specific nickname than I do from my bf calling me honey even at the beginning? Honey felt more traditional and I love it but we do switch around nicknames and it’s always nice, not many butterflies anymore, and sometimes I get anxious when he does lately, if it’s a nickname in Portuguese. Or if he called me a shortened version of my name. What does that mean? I’m nervous now. I was doing half decently today now I’m nauseous again. I’m worried that cuz I liked the nicknames she and I had that means I don’t like the ones my bf and I have and that I just don’t like him or men cuz I’ve been feeling off around him. But I love when he calls me honey, it still feels good when he does it now but no butterflies. Idk what’s wrong with me. Is it even ocd at this point. Even if I do like women slightly more it doesn’t erase that I love my bf. I’m worried I’m leaning too much towards women tho and I’m a lesbian. Idk if my bi cycle is cycling or if I’m just a lesbian entirely cuz I don’t feel much when my bf takes off his shirt, sex feels different, and things feel stale and slow. But maybe that’s cuz I’m checking and comparing. Now I’m anxious fuck. I’m trying not to think about her idk why. I’m worried I still find her attractive or am attracted to her or smthn. She’s in my city. I didn’t care before but now I do. Or if I think about her I’ll think about other women and will only want to have sec with women which not really tbh. I wanna be able to enjoy sec with my bf. It just hasn’t felt right lately cuz I’ve been so depressed and obsessive. I wasn’t obsessing much last night when we had sex but it still didn’t feel passionate. It didn’t feel uncomfortable but I thought it’d be more? Idk. I know it’s normal to not feel him inside me cuz the vagina isn’t very nerved up compared to the clitoris but it felt like more the motions. But tbh. I needed it. Idk I wanted to have sex and it was a nice stress relief. I just didn’t feel butterflies which kinda bummed me out but we’ve been having sex since august so that’s normal. Idk. I haven’t been able to fantasize about sex. The fact that I’m bi makes all of this so confusing. Cuz yes hypothetically I can enjoy the thought of sex with a woman. But I don’t want to rn cuz I’m dating a man. And I can’t fantasize about sex with him cuz I’m getting intrusive thoughts about my friends and I having sex. I have this urge to watch porn cuz it’s been a while but I’m not going to. I’ve cut down a lot on masturbation. Partially cuz this partially cuz I wanna do things with my bf (when I’m mentally ok) but jow my brain is saying “Oo you think all these women are so hot you’re gonna go feral blah blah blah” and yes women are hot but I don’t wanna have sex with a woman. Idk saying women are hot doesn’t bring me anxiety but the thought of sex with one or leaving my bf and saying I’m a lesbian bother me. Cuz I know it’s not true. I love him I know that. I’d be happy if we stayed together. I wouldn’t regret a thing honestly. I like having sex with him. Idc if it’s not like porn or the movies. As long as I’m being pleasured and he’s being pleasured we’re good. That’s what sex is about. I think the loss of butterflies is normal cuz the excitement of like (sorry tmi) fingering and oral eventually wears off right? But still feels good. I don’t feel as excited about intimacy anymore cuz we have done it so often but it still feels nice. But my brain perceives that as me not liking sex with men and therefore I’m gay. No I just don’t feel the need to jump his bones every single time I see him?? Idk the friend thing is bothering me. Idk if I feel any joy behind it. The groinal response really really throws my perception off
- Students with OCD
- Sexual Orientation OCD
- OCD newbies
- LGBTQ+ with OCD
- Relationship OCD
- Young adults with OCD
- Date posted
- 15w ago
Trying not to seek reassurance, but rather connect the dots on my OCD and possible reasons as to why I am the way I am. I have severe OCD (or at least I hope I do) mainly surrounding POCD. I've had symptoms of OCD the majority of my life but this theme has come up more recently. When I was a kid, and i'm talking 6-7, I was first exposed to some really gross adult content online. It was introduced to me by a friend of mine around the same age of me. I saw some really disgusting things that a 6-7 year old should definitely not see. This was not a one time occurrence, as I had been exposed to taboo topics online years to come after that, such as the same friend introducing me to Omegle... And i'm sure you can imagine how that went, theres a lot of genuinely disgusting human beings on there. Coming back to the reason for making this post; is it possible to early exposure to this content could be one of the reasons I struggle with POCD? It genuinely scares me to death because you hear that real p*dos dealt with simular situations when they were kids, so thats kind of making me feel that this could be more than OCD, and I could be a genuinely bad person. My POCD feels so real, that at times i'm fully convinced its not OCD. Sometimes I can't even distinguish the feelings of attraction between a younger person and an older person, except for the feeling of anxiety and fear. Its really hard to explain without going into detail, but it just feels so real. Some feedback on this would be great, thank you all.
- Young adults with OCD
- Students with OCD
- False Memory OCD
- Mid-life adults with OCD
- "Pure" OCD
- POCD
- LGBTQ+ with OCD
- Date posted
- 13w ago
I’m 25 and never ever thought this before my soocd relapse. I have a bf of 5 years. Never been a high libido kinda girl. Don’t get me wrong I do get turned on by my bf but not like every day you know? - That had always been in the back of my head, is this normal and ok? But my ocd has latched onto the most scariest what if EVER. My brain is now saying How do you know you won’t prefer to sleep and kiss girls if you haven’t tried it: and it’s that unknown that is scaring the shit out of me. I DONT AND NEVER HAVE wanted to sleep / kiss a girl. But now my intrusive thoughts is all I think about!!! I don’t want I don’t want I don’t want??? So why does my brain think BUT WHAT IF??? I know ocd thrives off uncertainty which is why I think this is happening? But I don’t wanna find out or work it out because all I want is to be with my bf and marry him!! Is this just the epitome of OCD?
- Mid-life adults with OCD
- "Pure" OCD
- OCD newbies
- Students with OCD
- Relationship OCD
- Sexual Orientation OCD
- Young adults with OCD
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