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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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- 5y
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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- 5y
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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- 5y
@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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- 5y
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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- 5y
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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- 5y
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
- Date posted
- 19w
I need too know that I'm not insane, really. I am 16 and for the past two weeks, this has been completely ruining my health and happiness. I only recently came out as a lesbian like 3 months ago after a lot of confusion about my attraction since I used to think I liked men. At first, I felt so sure that I liked women, but lately, I've been having these unwanted thoughts about the possibility of liking men. I never used to feel this way, but now, every time I look at a man, my brain obsessively fixates on it. It forces me to imagine kissing him, loving him, things I don’t want, and then tries to convince me that I do. It’s painful. The thought of this fills me with fear and anxiety, leading to panic attacks and breakdowns. I don’t want these thoughts. I hate them with every fiber of my being, but I’m terrified that one day I’ll act on them and somehow like it. I used to think I liked men, but back then, I was in a very unhealthy space in a time of escapism and something deeply parasocial. I’ve only ever liked the attention and validation a man could give me, but these experiences are somehow treated as further proof that I’m "bisexual." I’ve never been in a real relationship with anyone, which makes my brain constantly challenge me—telling me, “You don’t even know what love feels like.” It won’t shut up. It keeps obsessively trying to make me prove that I’m a lesbian, testing my reactions and questioning my certainty. Is this normal?
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- 17w
I was looking up stuff about kinks, because my friend is trying to help me "get out there", and I took the bdsm test to see where I land on it. I got 100% vanilla, and I was a little embarassed so I decided to Google things like "is it normal to not have a lot of kinks" or "what % of the population is into kink" and when I scrolled down a bit, I clicked on one of the little suggestion things with the arrow that said "are men more prone to enjoying kink than women" and it revealed a blurb from the website that said that men are in fact more inclined to kink, but also mentioned that it also means they're more inclined to p*dophellia, which sort of set off all these questions in my head of like "Wait so if p*dophellia is just a kink, does that make it more likely that I have it? Because scientenists still don't know what causes it so what if events in my childhood led up to me having it to some extent" and I started kind of going down this internal rabbit hole of trying to figure out how likely it is that I have it or some form of it bc if it's just a kink and not a mental illness than it feels more feasible? Idk I'm a woman so ik it's not AS common in us but it's still possible. I'm doing a little better with redirecting my attention and cooling my anxiety but I had an onslaught of intrusive images before falling asleep like I used to have when I first started experiencing this fear. It's been really catapulting me back to the beginning and I find that I'm ruminating on when it started and if it really means I'm a p or not. I know it's classic ocd but it's hard when it doesn't feel that way ;-; anyway, I'm too scared to Google bc i know it'll be a form of reassurance but also I'm just scared of having anything related to that in my search history so I just thought I'd post here. Anyone else have conflicting thoughts like this?
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- 16w
I’ve tried accepting the uncertainty, I’ve accepted I may be gay, bi or still straight. I’ve tried doing ERP myself to the best I can. When I accept that I’m gay or bi why doesn’t my head agree and move on? Why does it still question it? I know I don’t want to be at all. I love my family. But I just want this to move on. I want to enjoy life. Why can’t I find women attractive again? (Brief moments I do). I seriously don’t understand the false attraction? I’ve tried agreeing with it but it won’t let this drop. Why am I attracted to the same sex? Why am I attracted to people I would never thought of looking at? Why does it give me such grief about this? I know I shouldn’t look at adult content but why can I only feel good watching either lesbian or females? I tried to agree with the gay but it makes me sick and horrendous I even considered this? I just want my life back.
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