Hey guys! I used to be a frequent poster in this app and I understand the frustration, worry and exhaustion you all are facing. I have suffered Trans OCD, HOCD and ROCD. Currently, my ROCD and HOCD are about 75% cured (Trans OCD is obselete but will pop up randomly sometimes) and I am more than happy to to answer any questions you guys have about this unforgivable mental disturbance. :)

I have been there. It gets better, I promise. ❤️

Oh and congratulations on recovering and learning how to cope girl! Gives me hope :)

So what really helped me in the beginning was getting to know how OCD works inside and out and it's purpose for humans. OCD is litterally just out amygdala sending our false alarms and whenever we satisfy those false alarms with compulsions, our brain releases serotonin(the happy chemical) and then our brain basically gets addicted to that cycle because there's a positive payoff (the happy chemical). Knowing that, and looking at your thoughts as false alarms makes it easier to accept uncertainty with each thought. So how I did it was "this may be a false alarm, so I'm going to accept the uncertainty and carry on". Another thing that helped me was going to a therapist. I didn't see an OCD specialist but I saw someone who specializes in anxiety disorders and we used a combination of ACT, CBT and ERP with the help of compassion based techniques. I would suggest seeing an OCD specialist first but if that's unavailable, try the anxiety disorder specialists. If you are unable to see either of them, I highly suggest watching Awaken Into Love on YouTube. She's amazing and helped me alot with ROCD as well(her techniques can also be used for other themes). The best advice I can give you is understanding your ocd, become familiar with how it works: know your triggers, know the exact feelings associated with being triggered, are you in an anxious part of your life right now? Did something life changing happen? Does your anxiety prevent you from doing anything related to the theme?. Figuring out the patterns of OCD helped me tremendously and also exposing myself to the situations I feared the most. You will recover, and it might not be a linear line to success but you will make it and be so proud of yourself for the fight! Goodluck and if you have anymore questions, I'm here :)

@Tragic. Yeah I came across her videos as well as Chrissie Hodges! They both have helped me understand that I’m not crazy and I’m definitely not alone! Thank you so much for the advice!! :)

Yes, I went through the whole motion of scanning my past(which did involve same sex interaction as a child) and trying to find proof of my homosexuality, I'd wake up in a panic every night and toss and turn. It was rough. But overcoming it was not easy and it takes dedication and hard work. I overcame it with the help of therapy(not an OCD specialist, she was an Anxiety Disorder Specialist) , heavy research on how OCD works and ERP. It can be very scary not knowing who you are but know that your old self is hiding underneath all this ocd bullshit and it will get better with time :) to begin , do things that your brain tells you not to do. What I mean by that is this: if your brain tells you not to go to a changeroom, you go into that damn changeroom. If your brain tells you, don't sit beside that woman on a bus, you sit your ass beside that woman! (this doesn't mean to go expirement with women or kiss them) it just means to shoe your ocd who's boss and not let fear control your actions. Behavior can be changed through changing your actions and then your brain will register that "this isn't a threat, no need to cause the anxious response". Spark conversations with other women on the street (my anxiety would tell me I would fall in love if I did that, but I did it anyway and it was all bullshit). Overcoming ocd is all about taking multiple leaps of faith and accepting uncertainty. It's only then will you recover :) I have faith in you, you got this! I'm here if you need to talk

Hi,I’m really glad you’ve conquered some of your OCD themes? how did you overcome HOCD?

Yes, trans ocd was the most difficult for me to figure out ERP techniques. I had a mix of Trans OCD and HOCD so the themes would switch up, I was more so focused on HOCD than Trans OCD most of the time. But what helped me is expose myself to trans YouTubers honestly, and litterally accepting that "maybe I am" and then carrying on with my day. Because once I whole heartedly believed that I might be, the thoughts settle down for a couple of hours and I'm able to function properly. It's a scary feeling to take those leaps of faith but the short term anxiety is worth the longterm reward! I've tried multiple different techniques with overcoming OCD and the only one that seriously works is accepting uncertainty whole heartedly. I don't want to reassure you, but trans people will usually know from a really young age, and there's also people who thought they were trans, transitioned, and then regretted it because they were suffering from other childhood traumas. I hope this helped. You can also try wearing male clothes as an exposure :) but I tell anyone suffering OCD to do as much research on the disorder as possible, understand how it works and really get to know OCD personally. It will also separate you from the disorder and look at it for what it really is. I wish you all the best and I believe in you! I'm here to talk whenever :)

@amyyyy Amyyy, I overcame HOCD with lots of ERP and lots of research on what OCD is. I did the opposite of what my brain told me in a regular basis. For example, if I was in a city bus and my OCD told me not to sit beside a woman because that must mean X, Y and Z... I would sit my ass down beside a woman. And no, I never experimented with a woman ? I have a therapist(female, so that was exposure as it was) and I would take leaps of faith almost everyday with my fears. I would accept wholeheartedly that I am gay and that would settle my thoughts for a few hours and then when the thought came up about sexual things with females, I would say, yeah that'd be hot, why not? And then it slowly became easier to disregard those thoughts honestly. I can now say that I'm definitely not gay, but I can appreciate a womans sexiness and beauty comfortablly without my thoughts getting out of control. The road to recovery is not an easy one and sometimes you'll even fall right back down to where you were, but that's just the path of recovery. There's alot of up's and downs but once you reach the point where you can look back at the mess, it's all worth it :) goodluck! I'm here if you need to talk

@Tragic. Thank you so much! I will try these tips. Have a great day!?

@amyyyy Hi Amy! I had hocd when i was 15 i didn't know what ocd was and that was terrifying. I went toca therapist that help me. But i think what helped me the most was doing Things i was afraid of. I had Social anxiety as well. So i went on Exchange to the Netherlands (im from Argentina) and everything was a challenge, meeting new people learning a language. And i felt really proud of myself, and the thoughts were there sometimes but i just said so what? Im having a good time i wont let this bother me. And trying to accept the uncertainty. I think maybe im bi, ive never been with a woman tho, but maybe one day i will and that's okay. Im in a 3 years relationship with my boyfriend and im happy. So what comes in the future no one knows. Just try to be in the moment and enjoy. I hope you feel better soon ?

@Tragic. Thank you so much ? I’m just so scared right now and don’t know what to do. are you certain now that you’re straight?x

@amyyyy Well that's the thing. I have comfortablly accepted that I may not be entirely straight and if I wasn't, then that would be something I'll deal with when the time comes. But for now, I'm living my best life with my boyfriend that I love dearly :)

Sorry u don't understand the question. This theme is pretty common in the OCD community though

No. OCD can convince people they are those things, but they are not