- Username
- waterlady
- Date posted
- 5y ago
Hi, im 30, married for three years and have a lovely daughter. Like you, the thoughts came in waves. Once weak, then stronger and stronger. I felt like giving up at some point last year, and finally i couldnt take it and told my wife. I expected rejection, disgust, and repulsion; but what i got was understanding. She promises me that we would get through it no matter what. It was really helpful to be able to share it with my partner.
Sooo much better. We have hit a sweet spot in our marriage where we both now have names for our neuroatypicalities — my OCD and ADHD, and his Asperger’s. We can talk freely about it and all things. I never knew marriage could be so sweet. But it took a lot of rocky times to get here. And ultimately my ROCD had some truth to it — I was really bothered by things that we only recently found out were Asperger’s — but my carastrophizing (and nearly leaving on multiple occasions) was the OCD at play. So says my therapist. :)
Well, for starters, understanding that HOCD compresses these emotions in multiple ways helps. I'm not an expert, but one thing that may help is talking to others you may not know very well. HOCD makes you question a lot of things, but remember what you felt before HOCD. If that's what you felt before, try and understand HOCD makes you feel different ways, and push through it! Remember your strong, your loved, and that you always have people around you who care for you
Did the relationship break off because of ROCD? My marriage almost never made it to marriage because of ROCD but then by a stroke of divine grace I found Sheryl Paul’s work at Conscious Transitions. She says seriously half her clients experiencing relationship anxiety identify as having ROCD. She also writes about HOCD and other anxieties. My lifeline!!
I'm not sure haha. I feel like I didn't even experience the relationship with constant doubt. I'll check out that though - thank you!!! And I'm happy to hear that you made it through. How is everything now?
That's amazing. Congrats ?
Thank you! The journey is always a work in progress but having names and diagnoses and support is so helpful for us both. I went through 100% doubt about the relationship and like you said could barely enjoy it bc of the doubt. So it’s good to be in a different place now and usually now have what Sheryl Paul and my therapist call “clear eyes not fear eyes.” Sending prayers and support your way!
THANK YOUUUUU
Wow. Thanks for sharing and that's amazing. Congrats on such a great life partner from the sounds of it!
*catastrophizing
I’m so exhausted. Been having HOCD since May & had it once before when I was 15 - both times began as me genuinely thinking I was questioning my sexuality, then it became obsessive and that’s when I landed on HOCD. It was more like HOCD that actually questioning. But I will say I do find women attractive, and have always watched lesbian porn & in my mind I guess I do find women’s body’s somewhat sexually attractive. This being said - I have always had boyfriends, always fell for boys and not once have I ever been genuinely interested in a girl or fallen for one. I’m 20 too, so it’s not like i’m only 14. In very open about sexuality and accept everything and everyone, so the idea of being lesbian or bi isn’t alien to me. Some of my friends are gay and lesbian . Earlier this summer I even started coming out to people as maybe being bi, and i was almost pushing that label onto myself to try and accept myself - but it still didn’t feel right and I am still unsure and uncertain. Just want some advice - is this similar to other people’s stories ? Not looking for reassurance, just genuinely wondering wether it is HOCD or maybe I am just abit gay hahaha (which would be okay, just doesn’t really feel right)
I struggle with HOCD & ROCD. Growing up, I was crazy about guys! In fact, I always prioritized my crushes. Like I cared about my friends but I guess it’s the way movies portrayed love. I was crazy for my Prince Charming. Then... high school happened. First relationship & suddenly bam, HOCD hit me. It went away cuz I started getting busy but once I fell in love again, HOCD & ROCD came back. Anyway, part of growing I guess I am realizing value of different relationships but... now I feel like I don’t know different forms of love. Only understand romantic because that’s what I valued before so caring for someone else besides my boyfriend like friends of stranger feels weird... more like I don’t know love in other way I guess besides romantic. As if other relations were just there... now I feel like I am caring deeper for others and I am not used to it. Idk how to explain but I wanna see if someone else has gone through similar experience.
So my hocd started over 2 years ago (I’m 20 yrs old now), when I was having a conversation with one of my friends and the thought popped into the back of my head what if the reason I don’t have a crush on any guys at my high school is because I’m a lesbian. Since then my sexuality has been on my mind 24/7 I didn’t know this was ocd until about a year ago but i’m only seeking treatment now. The hocd ramped up when I felt super aroused watching a movie with topless women, something that had never happened when watching men. Thing is I genuinely think I’m gay now, I’ve had this for so long that at first the thoughts disgusted me and caused me anxiety but now they don’t anymore. I saw so many tiktok videos about “pipelines” of certain interests gay people have that triggered me and read the comphet masterdoc which made me cry when I read it because I related to so much of it. When I was a child I was never boy crazy, I never really crushed on boys in my class (to be fair there were only 7) however I do remember writing a love note to a boy in first grade and having an immense celebrity crush on a disney channel star. I remember to certain things I did as a child that lead me to think I am gay and they keep replaying over and over in my head. Thing is over the past year I’ve had crushes on 3 guys I’ve met through dating apps. The last one I actually hung out with and I had my first kiss/makeout session 2 months ago. After that my hocd calmed down I enjoyed kissing him it felt euphoric the whole drive home just replaying our dates in my head. But now I can’t get the thought out of my head what if I didn’t like it enough? I didn’t get butterflies when we kissed (i do when I think back about it though) and didnt feel super aroused like that time I watched that movie. I feel nothing when I look at pictures and videos of men but with women I started getting this warm feeling in my chest which stressed me out even more. Idk what I am anymore and it is driving me insane. Does anyone relate?
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