Intrusive thoughts about my sexuality disappeared in 2015 and returned during lockdown in July 2020. I have no idea why they went away for so long, but what I take from that is that it is possible to live life without them. I didn't realise in 2015 that I was experiencing intrusive thoughts or potentially SOOCD. I thought I was the only person on the planet experiencing this. In those 5 years completely free from those thoughts, I use to look back on it and laugh about it. I'd even confidently tell others about it and how silly it would make me feel looking back on it. It may seem dire right now and you're full of dread, but as long as there is possibility, you can get through this.

Everyone going through this - you're an incredibly strong person 💪

Trigger warning. I have experienced these types of thoughts at ages 14, 15, 18, 21, and now 26. The thoughts lasted for weeks, sometimes months. In this current bout, it's been about 6 months. The thoughts for me are usually "what if I'm gay", "what if I'm already gay and don't know it", and "what if one day I suddenly turn gay". For me personally, my thoughts would sometimes tell me that my sexuality had changed, but at the same time I'd know it hadn't. The one thing that remained the same was my attraction to women and my lack of attraction to men. I feel like if I were gay, I'd know by now, or I'd at least have had experiences where I was attracted to someone of the same sex. That doesn't mean my thoughts feels any less real though when I experienced them. Its odd. I think the point I'm trying to make is that when dealing with this, things don't make sense, reality is bent, and you doubt everything. Take a step back. And also remember that everyone's experience is different :)

I'd also like to add that because I felt I was the only person on the planet with this, I never sought help or support until now. I wish I'd spoke up sooner and taken action!

We are eerily identical about how lur intrusive thoughts went about. I was having thoughts in 2015 when I was in high school, was a nervous wreck all the time, then it went dormant until last year. Quarantine really took alot of jobs ands responsibilities away from me so I think it left me alone for my brain to come up with some intrusive thoughts to scare me.

Omg mine returned too...literally so angry about it

How old were you when you had them and when they went away ? And what kind of intrusive thoughts were they ? Just curious ....... did you ever feel like your sexuality had completely changed ??

Ok with my daughter she does a few things . This all started from watching a video on TikTok of two girls. Before this she was completely boy crazy . Now she looks at each and every girl and checks their body out and wonders if she is attracted to them . She made a list of pros and cons of both genders. She says she is giving off gay vibes to her friends and she feels she has same sex dreams and then gets stuck in them all day long and that stresses her out that it will make her gay. I want to help her but I don’t know how . Should I just tell her to ride the thoughrs out? I mean she is almost 13 in the next 6 months. I would think she would know if she was 100 percent gay . Any girl she sees she has sexual intrusive thoughts about.

I'm in no way in a position to dish out advice, but I'd say the best thing you can do is to support her by listening and do your best not to reassure her. Have faith that she'll figure this out. No matter her sexuality, she'll figure it all out. Professional help and guidance is also a massive benefit. Some things I do that help: - Headspace meditation (I responded really well to this) - Exercise (even just a walk) - Nutrition I basically do everything I can to help my mind deal with whats going on. I have days where I skip some of this stuff, but I don't beat myself up about, just pick it back up the next day.

My daughter does compulsions to prove to herself that she is straight

I had a really bad spike about 1.5 years ago and it kinda ebbed and flowed after that but it’s back! I thought I had it under control guess not lol