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- 5y
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- 5y
Dr. McGrath says: If you receive reassurance to alleviate the discomfort caused by the obsession, then you never learn that you can handle the obsession without getting the reassurance, and the OCD is maintained and even strengthened.
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- 5y
OCD will have you “test” yourself to see if your “possibly” bisexual. Your running that storyline and ocd is the organ grinder playing the tune.
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I know. And I know someone else can’t possibly really know. But that one poster saying i might be terrifies me and even worse, I feel such intense guilt and hatred toward myself about my husband. Have I led him on? Am I awful? You know? Ocd can take anything and make it a nightmare. I have previously recovered from ROCD and HOCD, but it’s come back so badly this time that I feel like my old coping skills can’t help me and I fall back on the hell and agony that is constant reassurance
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I mean this based on historical arousal that I’ve had before ocd, but I’ve never ever felt aroused by a woman in person or like checked one out. So I just don’t know if I’m even bisexual
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@wellwellwell also thank you for your response
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@soup Yeah, it’s just confusing you know, based on my preferences in sexual images/erotica
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@wellwellwell Can I suggest an article for you to read that discusses HOCD and attraction? It’s a five part series found here: https://ocdla.com/sexual-orientation-hocd-gay-ocd-treatment-1969 This was really helpful for me.
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- 5y
Focus on managing the ocd. Don’t focus on the contents of the ocd intrusive thoughts. You have experience dealing with other themes and this process is no different. OCD is like a chameleon that changes colors. 🦎🦎🦎
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I love that analogy!
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No..No..No... you keep asking this question. You are assurance seeking and asking “what if’s”. (ie. What if this is all insane denial).
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I understand but I’m not even stew if this is ocd if people think I could be bi
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Dr. Feusner says: You have to understand the ocd illness. It’s not so much about the content of your thoughts, even though it feels like it’s about the contents, the problem with ocd is the process. It’s the process of having obsessive thoughts or having a feeling that’s intrusive and doing some type of behavior to feel better.
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You have ocd you cannot seek assurance from someone else who has a different viewpoint or preference and it as a basis for your ocd obsessions/compulsions.
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You’re not wrong. It’s all a mess honestly and I know deep down all this does is make me even qoraw
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@wellwellwell **worse. Thanks for your kindness and paruencev
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@wellwellwell Patience oh my god
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I am so sorry you are going through this right now. I was in a similar place a few years ago. At that time, I was spending literally hours on google and Reddit every day looking for answers. Those are compulsions and will not give you any long term relief. One thing that helped me in the beginning was to take breaks from all the online forums and researching. I took that time to read some of my favorite books and walk my dog which helped give my mind a bit of a break, though it still felt like my brain/thoughts were so loud. I hope you are planning on talking to a therapist about this. I also hope you talk to your doctor about whether medication would help. I needed meds at the beginning because I could not function - I was not getting enough food or sleep to continue on much longer.
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I do see a therapist but I haven’t in a bit and I really should be more. I just feel so much pressure to know for sure to save my husband from pain
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@wellwellwell One thing that helped me in the beginning was to think more short term instead of long term. Each day I would assess - do I want to leave my husband today, even if I am a lesbian? No matter what my thoughts are telling me, this is my decision and I’m sticking to it. That’s the conversation I would have with myself.
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@Anonymous That is very helpful, thank you
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Ocd will run tests and template matches to try to prove or disprove the thoughts.
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It’s definitely gotten to the point that I don’t even try to manage it, and I know that’s 100% on me
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Sexuality isn’t so black and white. It’s more of a grey area. And that’s ok!
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Yeah, I hope that I can embrace uncertainty AND be okay loving my husband
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True but sexuality isn’t related to intrusive thoughts.
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True. But it may help you feel a little less stressed to not have to label everything. You can be attracted to a female naked body and still be happy with your husband.
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I mean just because you have an intrusive thought about your sexuality doesn’t make it so.
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Yeah but her question was can she be turned on by women but still be okay with her husband.
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Women are very visually appealing beings.
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I think she is asking those questions because of the physical sensations of arousal while viewing erotica before she had ocd. She states that she is not physically aroused or attracted by other women.
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I go back to my original statement: “sexuality isn’t related to intrusive thoughts”.
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In ocd it’s called “avoidance” behaviors.
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Does this mean I have to be bi? I really don’t feel attracted to women outside of erotica, get crushes or anything. Being bi doesn’t feel right but what if this is all insane denial
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@wellwellwell I literally know exactly how you feel to a tee
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@Bliss Does this bother the shit out of you too
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@wellwellwell heck to the yes!!! i feel the same way you do and Im not attracted to women any other way just like u! ive actually never ever shared this with anyone ever so this is great. when I see gay women on tv I get triggered and my ocd likes to tell me “ur bi ur bi ur bi” like it is a bad thing. I am an advocate for lgbtq so I completely love and support them!!! on the outside I see myself as straight. I wouldnt want to date a woman. It is so confusing !!!!
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@Bliss Agreed. And this plus OCD is a fucking mess. Do you have a SO?
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@wellwellwell HOCD can bring on false feelings you know that right?
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@Joshua I do know that. But I’ve been historically more aroused by naked women than naked men in erotica
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@wellwellwell So before hocd
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@wellwellwell I do not have a sig. other
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*use
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I don’t see her mention anything about intrusive thoughts in her original post
Related posts
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- 20w
Hi everyone, I’ve been really anxious lately, and I just need to get this out of my head. Someone recently told me that maybe I’m bisexual — that I might be more sexually attracted to women, but more romantically attracted to men. That bisexuality is not 50/50. And ever since I heard that, I’ve been spiraling. The thing is: I don’t want this to be true. It scares me. I don’t feel romantic attraction to women, I’ve never wanted to be in a relationship with one. But yes, I get aroused by fantasies involving women — and that makes me feel broken or like I’ve been lying to myself. I love my boyfriend deeply, I don’t want to lose him. I want to feel fully connected to him, physically and emotionally. But now I’m stuck in this obsessive loop of questioning: “What if I’m just in denial?” “What if I’m not really straight?” “What if this is why my libido is low?” It’s exhausting, and I don’t know if this is OCD, anxiety, or if something is fundamentally wrong. Has anyone else felt this split — romantic feelings for one gender, sexual feelings for another? I feel so alone and scared. Thanks for listening.
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- 17w
Hey everyone, I’m reaching out because I’ve been going through one of the hardest mental spirals of my life, and I’m hoping someone can relate or shed light on what’s happening to me. About 4 months ago, I accidentally came across a trans porn scene. It didn’t do much at the time, but later it triggered this overwhelming intrusive thought: “What if I’m gay?” Since then, it’s been absolute hell. I’ve always been into women—emotionally, sexually, everything. I’ve been in a long-term relationship with a girl I love deeply. But after that moment, my brain started spiraling into nonstop analysis. I began checking how I felt around men, whether I felt attraction, whether I was in denial, whether I was lying to myself. Literally everything became a test. I got stuck in this loop: • A thought pops in → panic • Try to solve it → brief relief • Another thought → worse panic • Repeat. At times, it got so bad I couldn’t feel anything at all—toward my girlfriend, toward women, toward myself. I started doubting everything. Some days, I feel emotionally flat, like I’ve lost my personality. Other days, I wake up with a full-body jolt of “truth” like “I’m definitely gay”—only for it to fade into numbness again. I’ve also noticed that I get short bursts of peace when I stop reacting, but then the fear comes back louder, like “See? Now you’re accepting it. That means it’s true.” Therapy hasn’t helped much so far—it felt more like general counseling. They told me to sit with the thoughts, but didn’t clarify if this was OCD, identity questioning, or trauma. That just made it worse because now I’m back to thinking “What if I’m just rejecting my truth?” I’m exhausted. I’ve lost connection to everything I used to love. • I want to love my girl again the way I used to • I want to feel desire without overthinking • I want to trust myself again I’m not looking for reassurance—I just want to know if anyone else has gone through something like this, and if this sounds like HOCD or identity OCD. Thanks for reading.
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- 16w
So I’ve been recovering from my obsession from my sexuality bc I am attracted to men 100% but when I was a child, a cousin I was really close to had me do things to her and ever since then my perspective on things have changed. After that experience I would sit in corners and watch girls kissing and when i got older and learned what pornography was, I would watch girls to learn how to pleasure myself and I would hide and watch women on women in the same room where I was sa’d in. When I became a teen I started learning about wattpad and teen stories and i got so into men and dating in the books and I ended up forgetting about all of those things that changed me. I never thought about any of the girl things till a old friend brought it up and said I should explore but it really makes me uncomfortable to do something like that because it doesn’t feel right and it makes me feel sick to my stomach to be with women or even talk to one that way bc I’ve never perceived women in that way. I’ve always fangirled over men and male celebrities and I have my favorite singers like Sabrina carpenter but I’ve never thought about her in that light nor have I done any other women. I even read this document called am I a lesbian and it’s very good and it helped me realize that I am straight and it definitely took a bit of weight off my shoulders but then I saw a video of a therapist saying how being sa’d doesn’t change your sexuality and so I looked up how did people know or what clues did they have to know if they were bi and a lot of people usually know from a young age as young as elementary and having crushes on women and men but i never thought about women in general even tho I watched porn on it. I simply did it because it was really all I knew and I guess it was familiar to me?? now my new obsession is what does this mean for me ? And how do I know if im attracted to a women? I’ve never had a crush on one before. I never even thought about any of this until my friend tried to convince me to explore and it all just sparked from there. Ever since that day I’ve been avoidant of women and giving them genuine compliments like I used to. Everything all of a sudden seems inappropriate or gay to do. I get anxious and my lower body part starts to ache (groin) and it keeps making me wonder if that is attraction or fear or am I uncomfortable? But when im around a man I clearly find attractive or a male celebrity I find hot, or if I have a crush/relationship with a guy, I start smiling and trying to act all pretty and squealing like a kid who just got the best Christmas gift and I know that I clearly want to bone him. And my biggest dream is to be a mother. I want to get married to a man who will be the love of my life and have a happy family and I just personally never seen myself doing that with a woman and i can’t even imagine myself doing so. I know that probably seems cliche and I know this probably is a lot but what does it mean ? Am I just in denial or is it something more ?
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