How do I know if I actually need help? I don’t know if how I feel is serious enough to the point where I need to talk to someone. I’ve had obsessive thoughts over HOCD for over a week now and they cause me such a sick feeling in my stomach to the point where it boils over and I start hyperventilating and cry and self harm but sometimes it feels like I’m faking it for attention or exaggerating how I feel even though no one literally knows I’m like this or sees me like that. I feel like deleting all my social media so I don’t see triggers. I feel nauseous and sick 24/7 and seeing anything having to do with a relationship makes me want to cry. In the past I’ve had obsessive thoughts over what I was going to eat. I kept going in and out of calorie counting and always obsessing over whether or not I should skip a meal or whether I’d be able to hold out or how many calories I may have eaten/burned. I felt like I had no control over whether or not I’d binge. Now I stopped doing that because I just started binge eating instead but I really want to lose weight still. Could these types of obsessive thoughts be OCD too? I would literally think about food 24/7 and not even homework could distract me from it but when I actually binged I’d get so angry at myself and frustrated it was like a never ending cycle. I don’t even know if I actually have OCD I don’t know if I should seek help and I definitely am NOT telling my parents about my HOCD thoughts there’s no way. What should I do??

I dont know what to tell you other than I had the same thing. If you don't feel you can talk to anyone in your life about it, the best I could offer is find a way to educate yourself. OCD Stories podcast is a good way to start, and books. Maybe a guidance counselor at your school could be a good ally? They have some education in stuff like this. Everything you've said about your thoughts seem to be OCD, so if you can't talk about the sexuality stuff, you might be able to talk in general terms in a way that still let's the counselor know what you are dealing with. Like I said, it all sounds like ocd to me. I have a friend with OCD who had the obsessive thoughts about her eating. She is better and happy now :)

It's always worth it to talk to someone. You don't have to be suffering or crippled to talk to someone. Talking to someone can make a good life a great life instead. Imo you sound like you need help, if your own thoughts are causing you to cry and hyperventilate, then you need help. I find that regular people typically only cry over external sad situations. For example: -they get broken up with -their parent dies -someone calls them a mean name -they get fired -money problems -loss of a friendship -maternity issues -they fail a test -a super exhausting day and their body is overwhelmed and releases the pressure through crying

Please do not self harm. It is ridiculous to put a foreign object to your own body and harm yourself. Your body wants to keep you alive, don't damage it. I've been there and done that. It's literally crazy to put a knife to yourself and slice and make yourself bleed. Not okay. Do not starve either. Good diet isn't starving. Being healthy isn't supposed to be painful.

Mental illness has a way of making people feeling like they're faking it or exaggerating because it's hard to convey in words and this is a society of gaslighting. Your pain is good enough. It is valid. Now please find a therapist. A talk therapist to vent and be understood and then a ocd therapist to practice erp when you're ready.

You don't have to tell your parents you have hocd. Say you're depressed (bc you are feeling depressed). Say you're having heavy anxiety or trouble sleeping. All of those are valid reasons to talk to a therapist and if they ask more questions tell them you will talk to them about how you feel when you're ready but want to speak to a 3rd party ( therapist) first.