Do you guys ever feel like you'll never be able to find love because of all the obsessions and intrusive thoughts you have? Especially if you have have real events it's based on? It's definitely something that comes up for me frequently. I feel undeserving of love and that no one would understand me.

Feels a little weird to talk about this here, but here goes. I'm 22 and I've never been in a relationship and I feel a lot of pressure to just get into one already, but i'm afraid to bc i don't think anyone would want me since i have ocd and the stigma against mental illness is so freaking terrible. I do catch feelings more often than I'd like to admit, but i usually let any oppurtunity to date someone slip by bc i feel like a nonentity and like they wouldn't /really/ be interested in me if they found out i have ocd.

I saw someone on here talking about how they don’t think people with severe ocd can be in a relationship because they’re too much of a burden and it really really freaked me out. I know it’s not reasonable and they were probably just in a bad place but all I want is to grow up and have a husband and kids and it already hurts when my ocd is attacking that and making me feel undeserving but thinking that I’m completely unlovable makes me want to crawl in a hole. I just want to be happy and I’m afraid I’ll never be able to have a good life because of my stupid brain that latches into everything. I’ve already wasted so much time freaking out over random stupid stuff I just want to be normal and happy. I’m not sure if asking for help and advice around this is reassurance because it’s not really a part of my ocd it feels more like general anxiety. But I would like to hear other people’s experiences with dating or just generally living with ocd.

Does anybody else feel like they’re unloveable because of their OCD? Like, in every sense. Romantically, platonically, etc . Because I do. Sometimes I look at someone I find attractive and try to see if they find me attractive as well, but then I think, “I’m way too neurotic and I don’t want to ruin anybody’s life.” I’ve been told I’m beautiful so I don’t want to be a shallow, cold-hearted woman because of my neuroticism. I think that makes physical beauty meaningless. I grew up with an abusive crazy mom and an absent alcoholic father. And I was bullied and mistreated by my peers. To this day, my heart feels so empty when it comes to the topic of love. I feel so useless and unlovable. Who cares if you think I’m beautiful? Am I even worth being loved?