in need of some advice here! one of my biggest compulsions is checking whether or not i am attracted to everyone i come across. seeing as this is an immediate reaction, how can i use this to my advantage? how can i treat it as an exposure instead of a compulsion?

thank you! putting no meaning to thoughts is so hard, but i’m working on it

@bdk i totally get you!! one quote that i always tell myself is “your direction is more important than your speed” it may take time and it will be frustrating but we will all be ok

@ocdomi i love that quote!! never heard of it until now

I do the same thing as you but its evolved to checking emotional attraction, mental attraction, and sexual/physical attraction ... I feel the need to check all three and it latches on the specific people. It sucks but back to what you were saying how do you find the strength to say "so what if i do like them, doesnt matter"?

@HiOcd well i thought it was ridiculous. i was extremely hesitant cause i thought it would cause me to accept being gay. but i saw so many people recommending others to do it. i went out to the city and did it with all the women i saw. it helped neutralize the situation. i no longer felt tht distress that i was attracted to them but i was able to trick my mind. ocd hates uncertainty and whats keeping it alive in our minds is that we are constantly seeking for that certainty. these thoughts are intrusive. we all think they have a deeper meaning when they dont. so stop caring about them and it will get better

@ocdomi I admire you, you are brave and courages.

@HiOcd thank you for being so kind!! i went about 10 months not knowing what these thoughts were and about a month ago i found out about hocd. i am putting in a lot of work cause i just want this nightmare to end. i am nowhere near to being recovered but i am trying my hardest to get there and ik you can do the same. the key is a positive outlook!!

this is one of my biggest problems, learning that attraction does not equal wanting to be sexual with someone. thank you for the advice, i will definitely try this

@bdk No worries we are all trying to get through this. I personally find many kinds of people attractive all the time. People are just so beautiful haha. Doesn't mean I want to be sexual with everyone.

it sucks that their is such a lack of knowledge on ocd and everyone thinks of the stereotype. many people are suffering and think they are all alone all because they dont have the proper resources