- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
i so badly miss the times before all this ocd. i want nothing more then to go back to how things used to be, regardless of what i was obsessing over back then. pocd sucks, man. it sucks. it’s such a loss of identity. but knowing that i’m not alone in this is helping me more than anything. vent of my own!
- Date posted
- 4y
A fellow Liam struggling with POCD. Yeah it really does suck. I wanted children before this. I thought of having my own little guitar friends and taking care of them. When I was 8 I took care of babies and had younger friends that I treated fatherly and friendly. A few months ago I even talked to them one was 10 and 12 and had no anxiety at all. But at that time I had ROCD.
- Date posted
- 4y
@urbread yeah i’ve always been completely fine with children. always a little annoyed by them, but always fine, no bad reactions or anything. it was like a switch got flipped. thinking a teenager is attractive turning into ‘well i thought a teen was attractive so that must mean i find little kids attractive too.’ sometimes i convince myself i am, then i remember myself… it’s hard to do that sometimes but i’m staying strong. we will be able to live healthy lives and have kids of our own one day. it will just take time.
- Date posted
- 4y
@LiamC1 Dude I get worried about being attracted to my girlfriend, when we're both 15. It's really weird. I hope the best for you. If you still want to talk I'm game for that. Have you been diagnosed with ocd?
- Date posted
- 4y
i was diagnosed when i was 11 or so, 9 years ago now for me. i’ve struggled with different obsessions for my entire life but none as debilitating as pocd. i can’t even sleep at night knowing i MIGHT be a pedo. i go through moods where i panic and freak out and feel genuinely like i am a pedo. but then i’ll have moments where i’m aware of what sort of person i really am. i can differentiate intrusive thoughts from my own. but i can’t always do that, and that’s when it really gets the better of me. i can’t even sleep at night recently. i’m so exhausted and i think that’s a large reason dealing with this is too hard. sometimes i’m just too tired to fight it.
- Date posted
- 4y
I'm not diagnosed but I exhibit the behaviors and symptoms and my mom and grandpa has it. I'm not too debilitated because I'm well aware of how this works. I still doubt if I have it. HOCD was worse for me. Not saying pocd is nothing. But I've learned techniques to better myself. It hit when my girlfriend had mutual feelings for me and asked, you're not gonna let the feeling die are you? And I just couldn't figure out why I couldn't feel right. I was worried I didn't truly like her and it was lust or something, and then I worried I liked other girls. Then I got an intrusive thought and a groinals that spiraled me into hocd. Rocd and hocd go hand in hand. I used to think all the time. "I'm not worth her. She's way better than me. How can I even be in this relationship and have these thoughts?" And for the sleep thing. I sleep to escape and I wake up nauseous and anxious. And I understand that limbo of doubt and knowing very well.
- Date posted
- 4y
@urbread yeah, the doubting is the worst part. the what if’s, the maybes. i just want some normalcy and i want some guarantees. i want to be normal.
- Date posted
- 4y
@LiamC1 Did you ever tackle ROCD or HOCD? What kind of signs of ocd did you have at a young age?
- Date posted
- 4y
it was mainly random obsessions and not specific to much. i had harm ocd for a very small amount of time, for several years i washed my hands obsessively to the point they’d crack and bleed. before pocd i’d have obsessions about my weight or just hair or just the way i looked. none of them being very fun, but none of them being as awful as the one i’m experiencing now. i wish i was caught up about my hair, not whether or not i’m attracted to little kids… it’s so shameful
- Date posted
- 4y
I agree. I'm lucky I'm not near children. I hold my breath around them in public and avoid them a lot. I'm not sure how ocd this is but when I was in second grade I had terrible fears of vomiting and any discomfort to my stomach would result in utter panic. I'd have to be picked up at school because of it. I think something clicked with the isolation from the pandemic and me being 15 that did this to me. Sometimes I think about my life before and am just astonished with all I've went through. If you would have told myself a few years ago that this would happen I would scratch my head in absolute confusion. Even writing this I'm doubting OCD. I wanted to be a perfect child, I didn't want to exhibit depression or anxiety. Because I wasn't like that. Even getting yelled at for small things would make me feel shitty. And I used to confess in detail what was happening to my parents and they look at me like I'm crazy and tell me that I'm irrational when I feel 100% rational. I don't feel like that always though. I have moments of clarity usually after self reassurance (which is bad). The doubt returns quickly. I Google pocd symptoms and do multiple ocd tests on my bad days. Also any site of a women's cleavage on the internet I use as checking material. I had cheating ocd for a short period of time. Wondering if my compulsions were an act of cheating. I love my girlfriend too the moon and back. And I think ocd knows that.
- Date posted
- 4y
@urbread Oh and sorry for the long talk. You don't need to respond to this one. I don't want to take up your time.
- Date posted
- 4y
Hey. I just want to let you know that I am in a similar boat with those compulsions and thoughts. I know how terrifying and uncomfortable it feels. This may not be any consolation, but somebody told me, if you feel “guilty” about something, that means you don’t actually want to act on it. It is somewhat shitty advice because the thoughts are so real and intense, but there is slight comfort in knowing that maybe I am not a bad person… I don’t have the words but I want you to know that I hear you and I’m so sorry you have to face this pain… I am here to support you.
- Date posted
- 4y
And I'm here for you. I don't wish this pain upon anybody. People suffer for way longer than I have (only this summer)I have an appointment the 3rd, maybe a diagnosis will make me feel better, even though I know it won't. And that idea does help. I am guilty thinking I have acted on it though. Which is terrible. I have my best wishes for you. Fuck OCD.
- Date posted
- 4y
@urbread I am sending all of the positive vibes your way. You are not a bad person and none of this is your fault. I just want you to know that everyone here understands and it is wonderful that you’re opening up about it. I wish I had sooner, but recovery is a process that will take time but in the end it is going to be better. Sometimes a diagnosis can be really validating. I have been in and out of facilities and was recently hospitalized for a little over 6 months, and I don’t wish that pain upon anyone as well. Fuck OCD. But I want to reassure you that things do in fact get better. I had been in a dark place and not treating my body or livelihood well, but I am now functioning in a group home and working on my coping skills. You WILL get through this and it is wonderful to know that you are going to have an appt. Never be scared to be honest, either. Honesty is so effective in treatment. Sorry for all of that but I have been in your shoes and still am in some ways but please don’t lose hope.
- Date posted
- 4y
@blueberrysunshine Your words mean so much to me. Thank you.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w
Never feels like I can fully put my mind to rest. The problem with OCD for me is once I'm over one worry there's another buried deep into my mind that I'm not fully over. The two events I'm not completely over is when I tried to help a 17 year old with POCD when I was 19 and the topics unfortunately were detailed and even then I explained to them I wasn't comfortable with talking to them. I guess I just had a hard time saying no to someone needing help but it eventually made me so uncomfortable that I stopped talking with them altogether at some point. Then the other thing is being so worried that I committed a crime because my elbow touched someone's behind when I didn't want that to happen at all. I didn't want to listen to my OCD by saying move my arm or something horrible is going to happen so I didn't and then something bad actually did happen. I thought it would just be a light touch while zipping a bag up but then it was worse than I ever wanted it to be and it was so awkward and I hated it. I feel like I just won't be able to get back to the way I was before OCD started all of this. Aside from that I've just had extreme health anxiety but am too afraid to reach out to a PCP even though I need to. Something deep down is telling me I should do this but I'm just so anxious and embarrassed about sharing things to them. I can't even enjoy the things I used to do because this is constantly just messing up my life. I'm hoping I get a start of positivity next time I see my therapist. This just sucks. Feels like others around me are doing so much better than I am and I'm just kind of stuck on these same problems and feeling absolute shame and guilt from the past over and over again. I'm just so sick of dealing with this every single day so I just use escape whenever I can. Even that doesn't really work. I just wish I could go back in time.
- Date posted
- 9w
So I recently met this girl and honestly she is amazing. She’s beautiful and her personality is perfect. She lives only 15 min away from me and I feel blessed to have a chance to get to know her, we both feel the same. But here comes OCD to ruin it. My OCD has latched onto a friend of mine. He’s a pretty close friend and we talk often. He’s never really one to let out a laugh so I always like to hear him laugh and just be able to have a good time. Partially it’s because I just don’t want to think I’m annoying and unfunny, I’m pretty self concious about myself. OCD is turning this into some sort of scary what if I like him question. I don’t have romantic feelings for my friend and I don’t actually want to be with a man. I am a straight male and getting to know this girl has been a blessing. OCD makes me feel in denial and as if I’m lying to myself. I hate this. It feels awful, when I haven’t felt this way about a girl in a long time
- Date posted
- 8w
Hi. I'm just sort of feeling kind of shitty and in moments like these I tend to swing to one extreme or the other, like methodicially and intensely trying to pull apart every piece of what I am feeling and why, determine what is a "real" problem and what is just a bad mood, and take action to "fix" myself, the problem, or ensure that future me will fix it by setting reminders, planning, or just generally freaking out lol. That can all be a bit compulsive, but I don't want to do my other thing, which is just aggressively ignore or try to deny my feelings because they are "not real" or I just need to "let them go". But I'm feeling a little frozen in my fears so I am hoping de-tangling it a bit in words here will be a good middle ground. I'm about to be a senior in college, and I live in the city where my school is. I haven't seen my family for a bit and I am currently spending a weekend with them at the beach. Today was just kind of rough and has made the past, present, and future collide in my head, fanning fears of both external problems and the fear of fear itself, the fear of OCD spirals. I want to more specically describe the problems I have been having since starting college, but I guess for getting through today that isn't really the point. I guess just....I've been trying to create a life for myself and become someone who is strong enough to live it. I have ADHD and OCD and sometimes it just feels like half my energy goes to functioning through that, and the other half goes to resisting the OCD-urge to spiral about the future, to fear I'll let my life fall apart or won't be able to fix the normal, big and small problems life brings. Today has just felt.....hard. I ate something that made me really sick last night, and I didn't take my normal dose of Adderall today or yesterday which can just make me sort of sleepy. On both phsyical counts, I think I'm fine and don't really feel bad anymore, it just sort of triggered some overthinking. I feel scared that feeling kind of tired has/will effect my ability to enjoy what is supposed to be a relaxing time, or that I won't' have as much energy as I should to do things with my family and will disspoint them. I'm scared that the journey back to the city tomorrow will be chaotic and awful, and that when I return I will continue to make mistakes that put me in negative cycles. Strangely, I'm kind of aware that all of these concerns are either possibly not going to happen, or are just things I definetely cannot do anything about right now. I'm just sort of...frustrated that I can't easily shove away worries I know to be "illogical" and deeply afraid of spiraling deeper. All of these different things overlapping right now just sort of make me feel like I've failed. Failed to.....I don't know, resist compulsions and get over them faster, accomplish things in life and school faster/more, be less socially anxious. Failed to get on the right track, to make any kind of progress. Strangely, a lot of the discomfort I'm feeling in this moment indirectly sort of comes from things I am doing "right", to break cycles. I didn't bring my meds because I want to work on the discomfort I feel with spending time without the goal of productivity, I don't have an exact plan for everything I need to do and I have not psyched myself up to tackled my most urgent goals when I get home because I've also been working on finding ways of doing uncomfortable things that don't involve motivating myself through terror when I can't do anything about it. I'm letting myself take time to cry about all these feelings and write this out here because I don't want to deny myself what I need to get better because I feel like I shouldn't need it. I'm hoping, in a way, even the shitty day I've had today is a sign of progress, my OCD desperately seeking a host in fear of fear because I am beating other compulsions. I think there's also something to be said for the unserious but still powerful issue of just fucking being on vacation with your extended family. Like....its hard to take a moment to cry it out or calm yourself down when you're sharing a bedroom with your mom and sister. I'm feeling glad I'm going home tomorrow, scared of how I might feel when I do, and I guess....fearful of what it means that I wasn't "able" to enjoy myself for the whole time I was here. But those feelings do feel much more distant, after writing this. The time will pass and I will go home regardless. When I get home, maybe I will make "better" choices or be "stronger", maybe I will dig a deep hole for myself. Either way, that's not my burden right now or today. I've tried that method and it didn't get me what I want.
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