- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
Same here! I had OCD when I was little and I had to confess every bad thought I had in my head. I got over that, and then I got religious OCD as a teenager. That took a while to shake off, but it eventually went away. I have HOCD now and this is by far the one that has been the hardest to get rid of. I feel you bc it takes all of those insecurities that you have about relationships. It’s a weird theme of OCD and I never thought it could happen to me, but it has
- Date posted
- 5y
I FEEL BOTH of you guys so so much. I’m so so sorry you are dealing with this. This has been the hardest theme for me. My biggest one other than this is ROCD and it breaks my heart because I’m in a relationship with the man that makes me the happiest and once I said okay ROCD can be managed it is okay I started getting HOCD and it’s been about two months and I hate it because I haven’t been able to see something good about it. I just want to marry my boyfriend and not have to worry about my sexuality ever ahain
- Date posted
- 5y
Sounds very similar to my story, except the religious theme! I had to confess every bad thought to my parents when I was younger too and now deal with HOCD! (Among body symmetry obsessions that aren’t terrible). You’re sooooo right about how ocd latches onto all the normal insecurities we have in relationships. I mean I’m so nervous about it all (not even factoring ocd) that I’ve never been on an actual date! (I’m almost 21). I just ghost guys whenever it gets close to that because I start panicking. OCD loves that?
- Date posted
- 5y
@Leah?? So me! That’s been my biggest thing, and ocd exacerbates it and magnifies onto all those insecurities to the point where it’s like ‘that DEFINITELY means something’
- Date posted
- 5y
@Soph Ugh yes!!! And it’s so hard finding help for these two things cause it doesn’t necessarily have solely to do with ERP, but also my low self esteem and other stuff. So I don’t know what to work on first.
- Date posted
- 5y
Mine would be suicidal OCD, which is also what started my OCD. It hit me hard and fast and has remained here throughout the occasional popping up of other themes here and there. It stared for me back at the end of August so it will have been a little over 9 months (?) now. I didn’t get diagnosed and starting ERP until 3 months ago, so it’s still a work in progress. Doing ERP has helped with the certain triggers I’ve been working on, mostly physical objects, but I still have to tackle it just randomly popping into my head. It’s such a horrible theme because it literally feels like life and death for me, and it has shifted in its angle of attack throughout the months. At first it was more like I thought I would just lose control or become almost in a zombie state to kill myself, later on it would shift to what if I became depressed and got so down in it that I would actually want to die, and now it’s kind of the same thing, but I’ve been getting hit lately with these strong waves of negative emotions (pain/distress/guilt/shame) and I’m terrified it’ll be too much and I’ll want to die. There are some days where I’m actually doing good, haven’t really thought about it and if it does intrude it’s more in the back of my head, but in bad days it’s more in the forefront (mixed with existential OCD sometimes) and I’m such a mess I have to constantly try to calm down and I keep going back and forth of whether I should be put on medication (which I rather not) or admit myself to a psychiatric hospital or something. Very hard but I’m slowly working on it with my therapist
- Date posted
- 5y
That sounds really rough I’m so sorry. It’s great that you’re working with a therapist though, I think it’s so hard how up and down ocd can be, cause when it hits you, it really doesn’t pull punches :( I think persistence is probably the biggest factor in recovery though; sending love!
- Date posted
- 5y
@Soph Thank you! ?
- Date posted
- 5y
I had ocd since I was a child and I didn’t realize I had hocd since my twenties until it kicked my ass last year cuz I know exactly what triggered it. It teamed up with Tocd now and it sucks but yeah hocd was def the worst / longest which is why I am in therapy with a good therapist.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 18w
I’ve recovered from HOCD before and got my attraction and my usual actual identity back. I was recovered from end 2022- start 2025 until I got triggered UGHHH😭 My HOCD is REALLY trying to convince me and it’s SO annoying cause I genuinely don’t want these thoughts. I know I naturally like men and always have done so. I can’t wait for my first therapy session in two days Omg! I need your advice, not necessarily reassurance, but more advice? My HOCD is throwing random “proof” I did/ saw as a child in my face, which back then had no meaning in my life and I continued to live a perfectly heterosexual life. I’ve educated myself about arousal non concordance / child’s play, but it still doesn’t remove the HOCD. I’ve read therapists great explanations on how it’s not a sexuality issue, BUT ITS AN OCD BRAIN ISSUE. So basically I’ve been straight and i will die as straight. But my ocd is still continuing with the intrusive thoughts/flashbacks. I’ve had some moments where I haven’t done as many compulsions and had less anxiety but still had those damn thoughts and I DO NOT want those damn thoughts. I have so much proof and factual/logical explanations but HOCD is still continuing to thrive. I absolutely hate this and I feel so alone. I wish there was a reset button cause I don’t want these thoughts to happen. I want a man and I stand by that. How do y’all deal with these situations? Cause sitting with the thoughts is clearly not helping.
- Students with OCD
- Young adults with OCD
- Mid-life adults with OCD
- Sexual Orientation OCD
- Older adults with OCD
- Date posted
- 18w
I’ve been struggling with HOCD for years, and it started with an intrusive thought about being gay when I was younger. It came up at age 12 and ever since, I’ve been trapped in a cycle of doubt and anxiety. I obsess over whether or not I’m secretly gay, even though I don’t feel that way at all. What makes it worse is the fear that I might have internalized homophobia, and that’s why I’m having these obsessive thoughts. I worry that my anxiety is a sign that I’m repressing something or rejecting part of myself. It feels like my mind keeps repeating the same question—am I gay?—and no matter how much reassurance I get, the fear doesn’t go away. I used to pray for my family members, fearing that if I didn’t, something bad would happen to them, and now it feels like I have to control these thoughts, or something will go wrong. For a while, it was quieter, but a week ago, the thoughts spiraled up again, and now the anxiety feels overwhelming again. It’s exhausting, and I don’t know how to break free from this constant loop of doubt. Has anyone dealt with the fear of internalized homophobia alongside HOCD? How do you manage the anxiety that comes with it?
- Date posted
- 15w
Themes constantly switching. I’ve been suffering with real event ocd the last year and am currently in therapy treating it. it’s nowhere near as bad as it was last year and it’s felt like a nice break. there’s days where it gets bad but i can’t compare it to the stress of last year. However i’ve noticed every time i overcome a theme a new one hits me out of nowhere. i’ve suffered with ocd since i was 9, and ive had multiple themes. i’m in a 2 year relationship with my partner and it’s amazing. she’s probably my second proper relationship due to the fact my first relationship gave me so much fear to get into another one as i was cheated on, and needed a few years to get over that. i kind of guessed that ROCD would creep in at some point as it just felt inevitable. anyways, i know my partner is not cheating on me, she’s beyond loyal, we are so so in love but i think due to that first relationship i had, being cheated on really messed with my head. it’s like my brain is telling me my partner has someone else even though i know in my heart nothings going on, and i trust her with my life. i also think because im in the happiest relationship of my life, anything that would indicate loosing her makes me feel sick and riddled with anxiety. and i know that’s completely normal for everyone. i think the most frustrating thing is, is knowing that my OCD has finally crept into my relationship which is something i never wanted it to do. this is a brand new theme and i have no idea how to treat this. i will speak to my therapist but if anyone has been through this theme and any advice in the meantime i would really appreciate it :).
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond