- Username
- mktropeano
- Date posted
- 6y ago
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- Username
- Jen22Jen22
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I’m still trying to figure it out! But what has helped me is to not analyze the unwanted thoughts/feelings of attraction. I know they do not give me joy, and so I just try my best to not analyze them or ruminate over them. It’s obviously easier said than done, but I’ve noticed my HOCD not being as strong when I don’t practice any of my mental compulsions.
- Username
- loonaticloonatic
- Date posted
- 6y ago
this sounds easier said than done but just don’t give a f***. these thoughts have caused you suffering for so long that you shouldn’t continue it by allowing them to bother you. become more busy, social and active and you’ll notice how your mind starts to forget about it. i still have thoughts everyday, but I thank God for allowing them to not make me feel as awful as they used to. reach out to me if you need any help I wish you the best of luck.
- Username
- Mjs110160Mjs110160
- Date posted
- 6y ago
First, know you aren’t alone. The most common form of OCD is intrusive thoughts. Second, know there is help out there, although sometimes hard to find. As a community we can help you find that help. Beating intrusive thoughts is all about being able to accept uncertainty and prevent doing compulsions. Often, they will be asking others for reassurance, mentally checking past events/memories, and more. Third, stay positive. OCD sucks, but you don’t. It’s important to realize that.
- Username
- SerenaSerena
- Date posted
- 6y ago
@jen22 how can you identify mental compulsion? I mean, it’s not obvious as behavior compulsion.
- Username
- Jen22Jen22
- Date posted
- 6y ago
@serena I have struggled with mental compulsions more than physical compulsions throughout my life. For me, mental compulsions could be reassuring myself that these thoughts aren’t true, analyzing my unwanted thoughts/ feelings until I feel “okay” again, repeating phrases in my head a certain number of time, etc. It’s definitely not as obvious as physical compulsions, but I would say that it is anything that you mentally do whether rumination, repeating phrases in your head, etc in order to lower your anxiety or remove the intrusive thoughts and feelings
- Username
- SerenaSerena
- Date posted
- 6y ago
@Jen22 thank you for reply. I didn’t really think of self-assurance as a compulsion before. I thought it as self-encouragement or self-comforting. Now, I realize I do mental compulsion a lot. It did bring me some kind of relief when I tell myself that thoughts are not true. However, I get a bit confused. Lots of therapists say thoughts are just thoughts and tell us not to believe thoughts. So, our goal is to not believe thoughts and don’t care about thoughts. Then, why is telling ourselves thoughts are not true a compulsion, instead of rational thinking or trying to establish a correct belief? What do you find helpful to cut out mental compulsion?
- Username
- Jen22Jen22
- Date posted
- 6y ago
I think self-assurance is good! But only to a point. What I have found is that self-assurance becomes a mental compulsions when I do it constantly or in a repetitive way where I know “Okay I’ve told myself this before. Now I’m just arguing with my thoughts and giving them more power than I should.” I’m still working on cutting out mental compulsions but what has helped me is just letting the intrusive thoughts and feelings flow through me without giving them any attention. So for instance, I struggle with HOCD. This manifests itself a lot as unwanted intrusive feelings or body sensations that try to convince me that I’m attracted to the same sex. However, these feelings bring me no joy. In fact, one of my biggest dreams is to have a husband. Instead of analyzing the intrusive feelings and wondering why they are there, I try to just let them pass through me without analyzing them. It can be painful and create anxiety, but I try not to give them any attention. Please know I don’t have this all figured out. In fact, I’ve struggled with giving in to mental compulsions a lot today. But, it’s a journey and we are definitely going to have bad days and good days.
Related posts
- Username
- Anonymous
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Hi All, I (22F) have been suffering from HOCD for the past three months. I am engaged to the man I want to be with. However, I can't kick OCD. I was recently aroused when looking at a model in lingerie. The lingerie was objectively sexy and I briefly thought about how she was posing for a man with her breasts out. Likewise, I thought about how sexy it would be if I wore that. But, now I'm terrified. If I can get these responses from the female body-not the male body-that must surely mean something. Likewise, I have trouble orgasming during sex and I don't always love making out. But, I really don't think I'm a lesbian? Long story short, I need help getting over this. I'm in college and I can barely study. All I do is worry. I can't even enjoy my engagement at this rate because I'm convinced I'm in denial. This sexual arousal gives me incredible amounts of anxiety, especially considering I have been turned on by stuff like this in the past. If anyone has any helpful words, please let me know. I am not seeking reassurance, but I felt this backstory was necessary to explain why this fear has been so potent. There may be some real attraction here, which terrifies me. I don't know what to do. I want to enjoy life and improve sex with my fiance but I'm feeling hopeless. If anyone has any words of advice, it would be deeply appreciated.
- Username
- 🤎🤎
- Date posted
- 3y ago
Hey guys. i’m a 14 year old female and i think i may be struggling from HOCD. My reason for this is because i really struggle setting aside thoughts about my sexual orientation. Growing up i always wanted to marry a man and have kids but up untill now there’s something in my head telling me that i don’t want to do that and i’m making it up. i have all kinds of intrusive thoughts about s€xual intercourse with girls and even just being in a relationship with a girl and they have become that common it’s like in my head that i’ve accepted it and my head is tricking me into the fact i like it, when in reality i don’t! there’s so much more to this but all i want to know is is this HOCD and i’m not in denial? pls it’s causing me so much distress, i’d appreciate any help! <3
- Username
- hlm2
- Date posted
- 2y ago
Hocd
So my hocd started over 2 years ago (I’m 20 yrs old now), when I was having a conversation with one of my friends and the thought popped into the back of my head what if the reason I don’t have a crush on any guys at my high school is because I’m a lesbian. Since then my sexuality has been on my mind 24/7 I didn’t know this was ocd until about a year ago but i’m only seeking treatment now. The hocd ramped up when I felt super aroused watching a movie with topless women, something that had never happened when watching men. Thing is I genuinely think I’m gay now, I’ve had this for so long that at first the thoughts disgusted me and caused me anxiety but now they don’t anymore. I saw so many tiktok videos about “pipelines” of certain interests gay people have that triggered me and read the comphet masterdoc which made me cry when I read it because I related to so much of it. When I was a child I was never boy crazy, I never really crushed on boys in my class (to be fair there were only 7) however I do remember writing a love note to a boy in first grade and having an immense celebrity crush on a disney channel star. I remember to certain things I did as a child that lead me to think I am gay and they keep replaying over and over in my head. Thing is over the past year I’ve had crushes on 3 guys I’ve met through dating apps. The last one I actually hung out with and I had my first kiss/makeout session 2 months ago. After that my hocd calmed down I enjoyed kissing him it felt euphoric the whole drive home just replaying our dates in my head. But now I can’t get the thought out of my head what if I didn’t like it enough? I didn’t get butterflies when we kissed (i do when I think back about it though) and didnt feel super aroused like that time I watched that movie. I feel nothing when I look at pictures and videos of men but with women I started getting this warm feeling in my chest which stressed me out even more. Idk what I am anymore and it is driving me insane. Does anyone relate?
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