what exactly is pocd

what are all the compulsions?

@Sizmix I don't know all of them, I don't struggle with this one. But from what I've seen on here and have looked into, people with POCD check for things such as attraction and arousal when looking at or being around children.

@Sizmix - avoidance: avoiding children; going outside at times or places where they won’t be around children, quitting child related jobs, not watching tv shows with children or not watching tv at all just in case, not seeing child relatives or friends/family with children, scrolling quickly past pictures involving children on social media checking: checking to see whether you’re attracted to this or that child, constantly checking for arousal around children or when looking at pictures of them, scanning your thoughts to make sure you don’t think about children, checking how you’re behaving around children googling: googling pedophiles, googling what makes someone a pedophile, browsing quora questions about pedophilia, browsing unsavoury forums for answers and sometimes even asking actual pedophiles whether they think the sufferer is a pedophile too, googling diagnosis criteria, googling articles about pedophilic criminal cases, researching virped reassurance: reading other stories about people with pocd, constantly reading the diagnostic criteria for pocd, talking with others with pocd purely to seek reassurance, asking therapists what they think, asking friends/family whether they think you’re a pedophile to hear that you’re not

No, the thoughts are instrusive and no different than any other intrusive thought. By accepting, it means accepting the thoughts as what they are: intrusive thoughts. People with POCD are not pedophiles in the same way people with Harm OCD are not serial killers.

HOCD affects people with different sexualities as well. So for straight people they have obsessions and intrusive thoughts of being gay, and for gay people it's the same but obsessions and intrusive thoughts of being straight. This doesn't mean people with HOCD are homophobic though, they just know at heart it's not who they are but the intrusive thoughts persist.

I can't tell you what you are or aren't, you should see a specialist if it concerns you.

Because people with POCD and Harm OCD are not going around actually doing those things. You just said you're kissing men. How am I supposed to know what you are. I don't know you, am I'm not a specialist. I told you what HOCD and POCD are, but I can't tell you whether or not you have Sexual Orientation OCD.

Uh what

try to stop seeking reassurance from people here and see a therapist. it’s possible you kissing men is just a checking compulsion, albeit an extreme one.

@🌙 oh i thought u were talking to me for a sec lol

i think the other commenter was confused because you said you kissed men. i spot many compulsions in your post which makes me lean towards ocd, but i’m not a specialist, i can’t tell you for sure you have ocd. while you’re waiting to see a professional try to take a leap of faith and go ahead as though you have ocd even if you’re not sure and see if you see improvement in your symptoms.

No hocd is a fear that you are gay when youre straight. The allaround term is Sexual orientation OCD, because gay people will sometime be scared they are straight.

going out and doing it would be checking - a compulsion, big no-no in ocd treatment!