Hey this isn’t really ocd related I don’t think, I’m just hoping for a piece of advice from some of you guys out there. This Friday I went to a party with some of my friends, to another friend of mines dorm room. The friend who’s dorm room we were in, me and her had became close last year other than that we haven’t really spoken much over the last semester. I’ve never thought of her as anything besides friends. I have a girlfriend I love very much and everything and I would never ever want to hurt her at all. Friday I was very intoxicated, and was talking to one of my other friends about the friend who’s dorm room it is about how I thought she was attractive. But with my guy friends we’ve always been very open about talking about females indirectly. I don’t think I said anything to her directly about it and I am really hoping I didn’t seem flirtatious because I feel absolutely full of anxiety and guilt that I was disloyal to my girlfriend in sort of way and idk what to do. Physically I’m positive for sure I didn’t do anything and my other friend says I didn’t say anything to her while he was around. I’m just really scared because I love my girlfriend and I don’t want to sit w the guilt that I did something to hurt her. Vowed to myself I wouldn’t drink again or put myself in a situation where I may be vulnerable to doing something like that. Someone please give me some advice to feel less guilty

This sounds like OCD to me :) You’re feeling uncertain and guilty, and you’re having trouble sitting with that feeling. It’s normal to still find other people attractive when you’re in a monogamous relationship, and every relationship has different boundaries. This is not a black-and-white situation. Practice some response prevention: “I didn’t intend to hurt my girlfriend, but it’s possible that I did. If it turns out that I hurt anyone’s feelings in this situation, I’ll have to figure out what to do, but for now I just have to accept that I don’t know.” The guilt is uncomfortable, but if you let it be there, it will get easier to tolerate over time; pushing it away will just make it worse. If you genuinely prefer being sober, I’m not going to tell you to drink, but it sounds like you might be choosing to avoid alcohol as a compulsion to avoid uncertainty in the future. If it’s within your values to have a drink once in a while, continue to do so as a challenge to the OCD.

Hey friend! This completely describes my OCD experience. I have actually said things to another person letting them know I was attracted to them but that I had a boyfriend, felt guilt, and told my boyfriend. The problem is that I kept remembering different things I said, and he told me I should just learn from it and move on and that we both have different concepts of right and wrong, but I kept ruminating and seeking reassurance and it because this out of control spiral. What you need to accept is “maybe I told her she’s attractive.” Some people think this is perfectly fine do in relationships. Would that really be so horrible? And it’s not fair to beat yourself up over something that you don’t even know is true. The more you are able to stop ruminating about it the more clarity you will have about it over time. Any of us could have cheated on our partners while drunk and not remember.

This is absolutely OCD related, friend. Resist the compulsions!