- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
if this is causing you emotional pain and pushing your ocd/anxiety further, maybe it’s time to put yourself first. although you probably love her it might not be the best choice for your mental state. i hope this will work out for you but if it doesn’t then you will find someone lovely who doesn’t test your limits and makes you feel safe. i hope and pray you find help in everything you’re looking for. xoxo
- Date posted
- 6y
That's a hard situation to be in, but I think you did the right thing in setting boundaries, especially when it comes to drugs and / or alcohol. You put your foot down and told her what you expect out of a relationship, and if she can't respect that it's not fair to you!
- Date posted
- 6y
I'm sorry about that. It sounds stressful. But it sins like it used to happen more, and now not as much, so that is good. I understand more now, that you aren't trying to control her, just stressed out and wanting to feel more important to her. ?❤ I don't know what she's going through, or her side, but it sounds like you care a lot about her! I hope things continue to get better.
- Date posted
- 6y
She’s not doing drugs anymore*^
- Date posted
- 6y
Or so I choose to believe
- Date posted
- 6y
Dating someone with alcohol or drug problems is really difficult. AlAnon helped me make some space for myself and realize I was trying to control something I couldn't control. Trying to control another person will give you anxiety!! Period. Set boundaries for yourself, what is healthy for you. Trying to change your girlfriend and make her feel wrong all the time is going to continue to make you and her miserable. Do what you need to do to take care of yourself. Accept her as she is and offer what support you are willing and able to give. I really don't know enough about the OCD side to comment about that. But I really get the sense you need to stop trying to control her behavior and focus instead on your own well being. One option could be lifting the limits on when she has to come home. Then no more lies or broken promises. Let her be free. If that doesn't work with your lifestyle, another option could be living separately but still dating. Maybe you two can find something that works for both of you and also creates a happy relationship. Creating more space in a relationship can feel threatening and scary because change might mean things are ending? Or? What? The fear of the unknown is definitely a hindrance to change, though. I recently realized I need to sleep in a separate room than my partner, as it was creating more stress than the benefits it provided. We still can visit each other and sleep over in each other's rooms sometimes, but knowing I have my own space has helped my psyche immensely, and really decreased the amount of stress in our relationship, as we had some incompatibilities with our needs in the evenings. I have in the past, been in a situation of trying to control a boyfriend who was doing drugs and lying. It was so stressful. I was crying all the time, scared to the point of terror, angry to the point of rage, and felt like I was going crazy, because he would flip from completely normal, to lying to my face with a needle in his hand. I didn't get the support I needed and tried to figure out everything on my own. Looking back, I definitely wish I had talked to more people about it, including his family and friends who cared about him, and my own personal help or therapy. I ended up moving out very quickly and taking years to recover from the trauma, and still get triggered in current relationship, because of that time period. I'm glad you are reaching out. I'm no expert, so take what you want from what I say, and dismiss the rest. What I truly wish for you is peaceful, joyful life and relationships. Lots and lots of support, and whatever learning and growth that nurtures you.
- Date posted
- 6y
Thank you all. The thing is, she’s not currently working and I’m currently supporting us. I come home at 5. She’s gone all day at her sisters when this happens but it hurts when she doesn’t make an effort to see me before bed or have dinner together. This has happened 5 or 6 times in the last 6 months. Before that it was 3-4 times a week. I don’t believe she’s using drugs anymore but I’d like to see her make better choices and have more respect for me and my time. I don’t feel like this is controlling behavior from my end. I feel like it’s a matter of what I deserve. I believe if I were a priority to her she would show that by sticking to her word. “I tell her just let me know when you’re coming home” and she texts me the estimate. Then as it gets closer “well I’m going to stay for dinner now” then after a while “sorry I played a game of pool” and then later “ok I may have had too much to drink i don’t think I can drive home sorry please don’t be mad” And I’m not mad that she chose to not drive drunk- I’m happy about that. I’m just mad that she couldn’t stick to what she told me. Plans changing is really hard on my ocd. Even harder when it’s someone i love who knows that. And harder than that when they don’t seem to want to spend the same time with me when I’ve been so accommodating.
- Date posted
- 6y
Idk if my beliefs are unrealistic so it’s hard to know what to do
- Date posted
- 6y
Oh and yesterday night was important to me because I had a doctors appt that was stressful with x rays and I told her all I want to do is come home and have a wine with you after. Which never happened.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 24w
I've been in this relationship for 1.5 yrs on and off and what I like about her is She's smart, beautiful, cleans, she says she loves me, she cooks for me. But what I noticed about this person from the beginning is that she is negative about her past, such as getting her things stolen, going to mental hospitals back to back and people did her wrong. And I was there to be there for her such as when she is in pain, I take her to doctors, or whatever I can do to make her feel better. But I've noticed throughout the relationship that she checks on my phone and checks if im talking to someone. And always mixes up with her memory thinking I cheating on her on the relationship.. honestly her memory is not clear. Most of the time she would ask me am I talking to a girl or when I do uber do I casual talk to them, and the conversation I have is just about, How's the neighborhood here? The food around here. About God.. Nothing flirtatious what's so ever. But she always give me a conversation about other women. 2x I spoke to her about my ocd. (1st time I broke up with her because she was angry at me, and I can understand and so I broke it off) One was sexual thoughts during sex 2nd time (is an ex theme) Because I know she hates these subjects so I avoid it. This is why I tell myself don't have these thoughts, the more I don't want them, it appears in my awareness and it causes me emotional distress. I've told her about it (it could be a compulsion) she wasn't happy and seemed mad about it. So I just feel like just call it quits... because I've tried my very best to get rid of these thoughts and don't want to give her pain. I can understand why she is angry and that she loves me ( she reaches out and wants to work things out ) But what I truly do not like is when she gets mad when there are no problems such as that uber issue, she would say ok if you do that I'll talk to guys then, (in my head, what do you mean? In what way? I wasn't flirtatious or anything) What I believe is how we grew up and raised different. Throughout the relationship, when we argue (mostly about women, about her issues like who are you texting is it a girl? She would vent all the time about how she hates her workplace and jumps from job to job) My beliefs if we love each other, we should encourage each other to grow. there is no reason to opposing us from growing - to be angry, jealous, arguments etc. I do believe in God. That is why most of the time I feel like she is always talking about the past mistakes - she talked down on me about being with a prostitute - 7 yrs ago (way before this relationship started). She curses alot.. And for all these reasons I should quit the relationship. But she has the nerve to say I am unstable and that she is tired of hearing I keep kicking her out the house (it didn't happen, but she doesn't realize my needs - as in why aren't we growing from this area? - as in why are you always mad at people from work? Or why do you get annoyed all the time? I give her advice in these areas but she knows im tired of hearing about this. So she talks to her family about it. But i realized she wanted me to care for her... i do but i also do tough love... we cant just vent 24/7.) And when I told her about my ocd and broken up due to the fact of having sexual images ( I can't control it) She moved to TX and I visited her a couple times. She said she is suffering without me. And so i took her back. She don't like to talk about exes so the theme ex stuck in my head and I wanted to get rid of it. That's what cause the second breakup. I confessed to her about my problems of why the breakup happened and it seemed like she couldn't accept it , she does not understand ocd and she said she don't care. I blocked her and she was going to send me a message saying she will be there for me and love me alot and wants to grow together. But I am still resentful for what happened. Til this day I'm still afraid of her and my thoughts whenever I'm around her. -- Now she wants to marry me.. but I'm unsure because it seems forceful and that she doesn't understand what I'm going through. Even when we communicate I feel she will judge me for my ocd (even when i look for help) and I feel resentful because I feel like I did nothing wrong. There is no other woman involved, no cheating. It's just my ocd and she keeps saying I think of my ex all the time. I am not trying to hold on to flaws but thinking back of her patterns haunts me. I love her. We have seperated for months and she said she is having problems with the landlord.. So it tells me something why is she having problems with other people alot?? Whenever she's around my ocd flares up, when she's not around I feel ease but in a week, I would feel like I miss her and want to be back with her again... it's really confusing -- Today, I did ERP and the thought appeared less but she wants to be back with me and move in with me. And also marry me. But today I've been thinking of her flaws (angry, suspect me alot if there is another woman, use petty things when there arent any real issue.. the real issue is she is annoyed all the time). We say we love each other. I do love her. Sometimes I want to quit permanently, sometimes I don't. I'm confused, is this OCD? I don't know if I should stay with her. Thanks for reading my post. Any advice is appreciated. I'll also message this to my therapist. I dont feel distressed about breaking up, but can these thoughts lead you to breaking up? ( I think I answered my own question but need to know)
- Date posted
- 22w
Every morning I wake up im always fixating on something and texting chat gpt, whether thats my relationship or my sexuality. I try so hard to resist it but I just can’t handle the uncertainty or the idea of hurting him or leading him on. We aren’t even official because in the past my rocd caused an issue between us where it led to him breaking up with me so now I have a fear of his intentions being ingenuine, especially because friends and family have called him a love bomber, saying he used me for attention, and narcissistic. This takes over me because I feel like I will never be able to be happy with him or trust myself or the relationship because of what other people say. I am very content on my own and single, this is the first relationship where i have experienced debilitating anxiety and doubt about the legitimacy of both of our feelings to the point where I cannot function. I’m trying so hard to not feed into it and not give it energy but I just hate the idea of leading him on or being inauthentic to what I truly want. My current therapist who I only see a couple times a month doesn’t think I have ocd, which makes me spiral and think I should end it with him, especially because I always hear things like “The right relationship will add to your life” and I feel the opposite is happening not directly because of him but because my brain takes over and paralyzes me with indecision about if i should be with him or not. I know that his intentions are genuine, but I hate that everyone is so cynical and assumes they’re not just because my rocd and his emotional baggage created a messy situation. From the moment i met him I convinced myself it was too good to be true and my therapist even said I was self-sabatoging. But i hate not knowing if it is rocd and my insurance doesn’t cover NOCD. He is so patient with me and supportive but I keep hearing things like “the honeymoon stage is supposed to last 3 months” and “it shouldn’t be this hard with the right person” “you’re not good for each other” and my friends tell me i didnt do anything wrong etc bc he did at first say my ocd didnt affect him when in reality that led to him ending it initially. But he has been more upfront with his emotions but then my mom and people will say “more to come” “there’s so much more out there” and its just so isolating not having that support and wondering if im too young to settle and if I’m just an idiot convincing myself I have rocd when really i just don’t want to be with him/it is a toxic relationship. When in reality the only reason it is toxic is because i am so sporadic about whether or not I want him in my life because of my distrust in myself and my decisions. I love him but I know love isn’t always enough and I get existential fixating on what’s “meant to be” and what’s “supposed to happen” its like this debilitating urge to control everything and make everything go perfectly how it is supposed to go. Please help i just want to make the right decision and stop paralyzing myself with doubt
- Date posted
- 18w
TLDR my long distance partner broke my trust a year and a half ago, hasn’t built it back, the trust building things have become compulsions for me and my partner tells me all of it is not based in any reality and is now continuing to break my trust even more because of being burnt out from my rOCD compulsions related to that lack of trust. My long distance partner (they/them) has poor boundaries with women and over the past 2+ years consistently prioritizes connections with them over my comfort. They never flirt but they spend time with and become emotionally close with women who are clearly interested and will talk with women online who flirt with them (they don’t flirt back they just engage them in conversation). But because nothing is ever sexually explicit they’ve always gaslit me about this and told me there’s no flirting going on on the women’s end (there definitely is I’ve checked with other people who confirm it’s definitely flirtatious). They’re very into attention generally and have a pretty big following on tiktok and are in a locally very popular band and go to a lot of shows and it all makes me very uncomfortable. This started in late 2023 when we had a big rupture of trust related to them spending time with a specific woman. At that time I told them you can help me rebuild this trust by giving me information and reassurance when you’re out or with people. They struggled a lot to remember to do this (they have several mental health disorders that affect cognition and memory but this stuff is really simple I never ask for anything elaborate just a few sentences). To this day a year and a half later they still haven’t really started doing it (but they tell me that they have (they haven’t) and that I just choose not to trust them) but the struggle of me trying to get them to give me this information and reassurance has very intensely snowballed from a trust building thing into a massive rOCD compulsion and my entire life has been completely turned upside-down to where I’m constantly ruminating about what they’re doing and who they’re talking to. This has understandably affected them too because it’s difficult being constantly hounded about what they’re doing, to the point for them where they’ve now started no longer asking if I’m ok with them spending time in person with certain women they just do it- not only that but they’re now lying about it and hiding it from me (I find out because I’m good at being able to tell when somethings going on). They tell me that the entirety of this issue is just my rOCD, constantly, because they’re not cheating or having sex with these women so that makes it ok. I’m now in a constant state of panic, I can barely sleep and I can’t function. I don’t know what to do has anyone else experienced anything like this? I’m just at the start of exposures with my therapist but it’s really hard when the triggers are real things that are really happening and my partner makes me feel crazy for having the feelings I have about this. I also have to fight to have any sexually intimate time with them (all over the phone since we only meet up a few times a year) and I’m the main one who initiates the vast majority of the time. I feel completely unwanted and like not a priority and my therapist and I have identified that most of my compulsions are trying to prove to myself that I don’t deserve to be treated poorly, because if I let things go and accept being treated this way it means I deserve it. I’m just generally heartbroken and I don’t know what to do.
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