- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
I have a close friend at work who is black. He's genuinely one of my closest confidants. He has helped me get to know the place I work in, and the area I now live in (I moved 3 years ago). He watches out for me, and takes care of me. I have gotten to know him and to understand the background he came from, and I am honored to be his friend. I would trust him with my life. Unfortunately, I also have intrusive thoughts of intentionally or unintentionally saying horrible things to him, including racial slurs. Its extremely distressing.
These thoughts always seem to attach onto the ones who hold near and dear to our hearts. OCD is evil.
This is pretty cut and dry OCD right here from my experience. Also from my experience, the best we can do is ERP with these like any other thoughts.
Yeah it just feels really convincing. I even researched one thought I had and turns out it’s a valid thought and I’m probably blowing it wayyyy out of proportion, but it still is distressing Bc I absolutely don’t wanna think these things.
And also remembering that having the thought doesn't define who you are, just like having a harm thought doesn't make you a harmful person.
I struggle with that. “What if I say something racist” etc
i have in the past
How in the world did you differentiate the real thoughts you believe from ocd being a straight bitch?
perhaps! would you be comfortable with elaborating? :) if not, no worries! i'd imagine what i've experienced might be similar, so yes.
It’s just racist thoughts that come into my head and send me into panic. I then delve into if I actually believe these thoughts or not, then I end up convincing myself I do of course. And then I confess and confess and confess.
@Lovepurple And I genuinely cannot tell if I think these thoughts. And sometimes I catch myself trying to justify the thought in case I do really think that. And that sends me into a further panic.
@Lovepurple 100% right there with you in that case. it's so stressful to not know which part of you that's coming from! especially if you're informed and somewhat educated on racism/racial injustices, the guilt and confusion and panic can be overwhelming. i feel ya, friend. you're certainly not alone here! 🖤
@theoprue Ugh ir sucks! And I am a full supporter of BLM and equality. So these thoughts stress me out to the max, especially when I think theyre coming from my own mind and I go and try to justify them. Like I need this to stop.
@Lovepurple in my book, as long as you're not projecting these wack-ass thoughts on the world around you, if you can separate yourself from the thoughts enough to not let them bleed into your actions, then you're on the right track, you're doing the right thing. just keep trying to better yourself, whatever that looks like, and be kind to yourself while you work on it :)
i have issues with this and it i hate it. whenever i go out and see a non white person my mind screams at me that I'm going to say a slur or something insensitive. I feel so bad because i think so much about I'm worried that because i think so much about it I'm gonna end up actually saying it and really hurting someone
I freaked out once thinking I was gonna be damn to hell because I didn’t like my mixed ex boyfriend when I was with him
Not sure this is really OCD related, but does anyone else struggle with erythrophobia (the fear of blushing)? I struggle with it really bad and I feel like it’s kind of OCD related because the more you try not to think about something, the worse it gets. The more I try not to blush, the more I do. Anyway, today, I was at church which for some reason always gives me the most anxiety. I struggle with never knowing where to look which I know sounds stupid and I feel like I tend to avoid other people’s gazes. I’m always worried too that people can sense my anxiety. I accidentally made eye contact with the priest and a few other people and immediately started turning red. I looked down so as to hide it but I think people still noticed. I know that people aren’t really looking at me but I’ve always had the spotlight effect where I feel like they are always looking at me and judging me. After I blushed, I noticed 2 of the altar servers were whispering and laughing and they seemed to be looking at me. I felt so self-conscious the rest of the service. I hate erythrophobia and social anxiety and I know blushing might not seem like a big deal to those who don’t constantly struggle with it but it is to me and has ruined my life. Does anyone else struggle with this?
I've been having a really tough time lately with a recent workplace interaction that occurrd today, and my mind just keeps replaying the events over and over. It feels like an endless loop, and I'm finding it incredibly hard to let go. I'm trying to figure out if this intense replaying is more about my OCD, or if it's a typical reaction to a stressful situation that's being amplified by my OCD tendencies. The specific details of the incident involve a colleague engaging in a racially insensitive discussion that I tried to disengage from. Despite my attempts to steer the conversation away and remove myself, the situation escalated with direct confrontation and accusations. This led to significant emotional distress for me. Later in the day, the same colleague misunderstood another conversation, making baseless accusations and publicly confronting me in a very aggressive way. I kept quiet throughout, just a bit of muttering. The emotional toll of these interactions has been immense. Now, my mind is stuck. I can't seem to stop dwelling on every word, every gesture, and every imagined alternative outcome. Hoping I'm not viewed as the "angry black woman" which is such an affair narrative why can't I state grievances of racism, without this narrative. * how do you manage the relentless replaying of stressful workplace interactions? What are your go-to coping mechanisms when your mind gets "stuck" on these loops? * Have you found any specific strategies helpful for navigating interpersonal conflicts at work when your OCD makes it difficult to process and move past them? * When you're feeling emotionally vulnerable due to work stress, what helps you prevent these situations from turning into prolonged rumination cycles? Any advice or shared experiences would be incredibly helpful. I'll be so grateful for any assistance. I just feel like I'm not good at life.
I know confessing is not necessarily positive all the time but it’s important for me to say this anonymously so that I can say it one day to my therapist. I have become terrified to look at Asian people. My ROCD attached to my boyfriend’s racist past in his early teens, and despite his genuine effort towards change and the fact he’s been an incredible partner to me as a POC We’ve had some amazing conversations and he had made so many choices (dropping friends, reporting racism in institutions, standing up for me, advocating for minorities online, boycotting) that prove he has truly changed over the years. However my OCD’s attachment to his past has become the main theme of my life and was the reason I first sought therapy- I felt like I was going insane, like there was a physical, staticky, black wall between us. I’d have images of people of colour and things I knew he had said flash in my mind. I feared and imagined the judgement of all around me, while being genuinely happy to be with him. Last summer while in conversation he almost said a racial slur regarding Asian people (while reading it and referencing it). He stopped himself before he finished the word and apologised profusely. But it spiralled me into a depression- for a while I almost couldn’t even get out of bed. I felt debilitated. It made me realise there was something wrong. Since then (over a year) I feel genuinely fear, sometimes edging on terror when I see, talk to or interact with Asian people. On social media I can’t watch them in videos, in person I find myself between staring and being unable to look. It makes me feel disgusting. I’ve convinced myself it means I must be truly, deeply racist, even though I’m a POC. I’m getting better, over time, but also I’m so afraid still. I want to watch their content, I want to form authentic friendships, but my brain tells me I have betrayed them, that they wouldn’t want to be my friend, that they would hate me, that I don’t deserve to be in their spaces, that I’m racist and so is he. I’m not yet ready to tell my therapist. But u am grateful to have told all of you.
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