- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
It could be helpful to not look at it like how you SHOULD be reacting. React how you are going to react, adding the should aspect into it applies the pressure! With ocd and trauma, derealization/depersonalization are very common responses to such high levels of constant anxiety. So it makes sense that your senses would be dulled if you're constantly over thinking (I get this ALL the time). For example, yesterday I watched a horror movie. I've always been terrified of horror movies and I get paranoid. I was able to watch the entire thing without flinching and it was actually kind of boring to me. Its because I had a rough dp/dr day. Please look at the positive in the situation. You saw your boyfriend and everything was fantastic emotionally and y'all have a great connection, its just the intrusive thoughts standing in the way :)
- Date posted
- 4y
You’re right. I definitely go into intimacy expecting some kind of performance/spontaneous spark where everything goes just like a movie and I’m honestly struggling to unlearn that because my partner gets so into it and I just wish I was able to lose myself in it like he does. I think I’ve been like this even before my ocd came into play which makes me worry but I definitely have trauma from a past relationship and just this overall fear of giving my body and being used or something happening to the relationship when I’ve already given so much of myself plus things like low self esteem. It’s probably louder now with the trauma of rocd and soocd. I just feel so horrible because when I’m getting off by myself it’s only to thoughts of him but the second he’s in front of me it’s like I don’t know what I’m doing anymore and I expect myself to feel fully aroused every second and when it doesn’t happen I become more and more uninterested and just start overthinking. Intimacy is just so scary, I feel so scared during it and I don’t want that because I love my partner and I want to make him feel loved and be close to him. It’s like my body reacts, I say and do what I think I should be doing but my mind is just not there and it hurts me a lot. Then I start to think of it as “boring, awkward, scary” and the cycle of feeling guilty just starts up all over again. Honestly when I saw him it was as though no time had passed that I was like what that’s it ? But I couldn’t stop reaching out to hold his hand or kiss him or just being close to him and I fell asleep smelling like him which is something I hadn’t done in a long time and it felt so good. I really missed him. Thank you for listening , I’m sorry for the rant I just really don’t have anyone to talk to about it <3
- Date posted
- 4y
@PinkLotus It sounds to me that you might have some trauma regarding sexual abuse? You don't have to talk about it, just know that I can empathize with you because I have been through a lot in that aspect. I can TOTALLY relate to the performance anxiety. When i was with my now exes, sorry for the tmi but when i was away from them and thinking about them i got 🌌horny af🌌 LOL, but the pressure came when i went into intimacy and expected everything to be perfect and to feel like some sort of movie character. It is OKAY to not have everything to perfect! Like you said, your body responded but you ocd said "no! let's not do this!" You know what you desire deep down, its there. You just have to peel back the ocd layers. The sleeping together situation that you described fits exactly what I loved about my relationships. The feel of smelling like him and waking up in his arms and kissing him, hearing his morning voice mmph. The best feeling in the world when its with someone you LOVE 😊. I miss that. But you know with the low self esteem it is hard to believe that you actually deserve it, at least it is for me. And that your partner is actually interested in you and wants you for your entirety. No need to apologize!:)
- Date posted
- 4y
@alexisrae1999 I’m not so sure honestly, maybe not sexual abuse but just letting myself be used by the wrong people ? There was also one instance as a child *Trigger warning* where I was spending the night at my friends house and her stepdad walked into the room reeking of alcohol and possibly in his birthday suit. I’m not sure if that affects me now though, I don’t correlate them but it’s possible I am and just don’t realize it. Haha no it’s okay I’m the same, I love dirty texts and hearing what he wants to do to me but then it’s person it’s like uhhhh hey there.. haha. I really am trying my best tho, yesterday I tried being a little more sensual by kissing him in different places and even though I couldn’t fully be into it I enjoyed the smoothness of his skin and his reaction and I wish I could fully appreciate it one day. That’s true about the low self esteem, I feel kind of like I don’t deserve to be touching my partner because I can’t enjoy it as much as he does. Thank you so much for listening and giving me another perspective to consider !
- Date posted
- 4y
@PinkLotus Feeling used can also show up in the form of trauma, I am still getting over that as well :). My childhood best friends dad used to walk around in his underwear all the time 😂 it probably made ya uncomfortable eh? Completely normal! Yes! I wished my boyfriends would've sent more stuff like that tbh 😂 they never did! Made me feel rejected and confused but I am working on moving forward :). That sounds great, definitely live in the moment and focus on the sensations of his skin. The reactions are always hot af tbh my favorite 😍🤣. Try leaning into the feelings of guilt and not deserving of things. It sounds terrible, but I have been doing that, and locating where I feel them. Its kinda like ERP but for the negative sensations that we as ocders hate. You're welcome! If you need to talk at all I'm here just tag me 😊💗
Related posts
- Date posted
- 20w
I really need help. My brain is torturing me right now. Basically me and my boyfriend went through a really rough patch and he wasn’t communicating what was wrong and I started to just lose feelings and not feel how I used to which was the most upsetting thing because I swear we are soulmates. Anyway so we broke up for like a day before he realized he’s really sad without me and he is finally willing to work on communication and our issues and this is the most I’ve really ever felt he notices it this time. I am supposed to go see him and he is so excited and I’m freaking out. I want to see him but I keep thinking how it’s triggering for me cause I don’t want to go back to that rough patch cause it lasted a long time. I want to try again but I also feel like it’s easier to just run away from everything. It feels like I got to know his personality but that isn’t fair to say because now he’s aware and wants to change. I’m scared because I know feelings can come back and I hope mine can cause right now I just keep replaying the past and the bad stuff. He seems really willing to work on it this time which should make me so happy but I’m also so scared things will go back to how they were and I’m worried if I’m this anxious my body is telling me he isn’t right for me and that it’s not ocd which would really upset me because I’ve had such hope. I know my feelings started to go away but that’s cause of how we were to each other and now we are aware of the problem. Does it mean I shouldn’t be with him if the thought of trying again makes me so anxious or is that just the fear? I wish this wanting to work through things happened before I felt like this and now I’m scared I won’t get it back. I’m also scared that there is someone out there better for me and by being with him I’m blocking that. But the thought of being without him makes me so sad. I want to try to see him differently and maybe see it’s different but I’m scared it’s not. I’m afraid of a million things. What if it’s too late and I can’t get my feelings back? What if I’m forever anxious around him? What if being with him prevents me from meeting other people? I haven’t seen him in a while cause he was away and people say I won’t know how I feel till I see him. It feels like once I get there I already know though that I’ll have the same thoughts and won’t be able to get back to how I felt because it became uncomfortable but I’ve heard I’m anticipating it. I’m scared it’s gut and not ocd
- Date posted
- 12w
This is going to be long and all over the place. To give some context I’ve dealt with SOOCD for a long time now and it had very bad effects on my past relationship. I had a hard time being intimate with my past partner because I was always subconsciously checking if I was getting aroused enough, if I was attracted to him, if I truly liked him, or if I was lying to myself (yk the whole deal). I literally felt nothing but anxiety when we did things which made everything worse. I was also extremely depressed which made my libido and attraction towards men completely vanish (still have low libido and my attraction is kinda the same). Me and the guy broke up and a couple years ago we reconnected. When I saw him again I was extremely attracted to him, romantically and sexually. This made me so happy because I finally felt some confirmation that I knew who I was and my thoughts weren’t real after years of being tortured by them. We didn’t end up lasting because my feelings started to shift but I truly blame that on the fact that it was just a dumb old high school relationship, he was a terrible boyfriend in the past, and we had nothing in common. However while we were together, I had dealt with really bad relationship anxiety. I found other people attractive which gave me reassurance, but also made spiral because I thought it meant I didn’t like him anymore, I was lying to myself about my feelings, and I questioned everything about the relationship. Fast forward to now, I am now in a new relationship and I’ve known this guy for a long time. I developed a crush on him which again made me really happy bc I haven’t had a crush in a VERY long time. I made a couple of posts on here about how I started to overthink everything (pls read those to get more context I don’t want to make this even longer). I started to get really anxious and had more intrusive thoughts about lying to myself about my feelings/and sexuality, not really liking him, not being attracted to him, yk all that. I was able to manage it by watching a video about rumination where the guy basically just said “stop thinking about it.” He said to just let it float there, don’t engage with it, don’t try to solve or understand, don’t try to replace it, don’t say a mantra, don’t be mindful, just let it be there and move on. I also went on reddit and this guy said to stop hyper focusing on the attraction/ the “right” feelings bc the more you try to look for them the less you will feel it. Anyways, I took the advice and the next time we hung out I felt comfortable and just so much better. It was the sweetest date and I truly had a fun time. However, when we kissed I immediately started over analyzing and questioning everything. I had bad experiences with my ex because I kept trying to analyze my feelings like do I really like this kiss? Am I actually attracted to him? Why am I not feeling super excited right now? Why did all these good feelings just go away? It was so annoying and heartbreaking for me because I just want to be normal, I want to truly enjoy this relationship. I want to stop automatically checking and over thinking everything. We’ve discussed sexual things and it automatically made me hyper analyze everything making me feel more anxious and unsure about the relationship and my sexuality. There have been times where we talked about them and I’ve thought about it with no worry, and I even got turned on by it (tmi i’m sorry). But I’m worried that I’ll have the same bad experiences I did with my ex and it’ll ruin how I view the everything. I was so excited for this but now I feel so scared and anxious again. I really want to enjoy this, he’s truly an amazing person and I want to be with him without being bombarded by this shit 😭. Sorry if none of this made sense. Please give me advice if you have any!!!!
- Date posted
- 9w
So my bf and I did the do tonight (it’s been a while I couldn’t keep my hands off him) but for some reason when we went to actually have sex I was not super wet like I used to be/it hurt when there was penetration. But I wanted it so bad. Like I know I do. I think maybe I’m in my head worrying it’ll hurt so it ends up hurting lol. Idk how to let my body relax it’s been kinda wonky since OCD started and also I’m on birth control (nexplanon, since last October, idk if that changes much tbh.) How do I let myself relax?? We use lube usually but didn’t today cuz it was a quickie Also how do I know if I’m actually enjoying sex with my partner and not just tolerating it? I feel like I’m thinking that instead of actually being there having sex with him. It’s kinda the crux of my ROCD and soocd “if you don’t enjoy it/don’t feel butterflies, you’re gay and don’t love him” sums it up. But it feels great, I feel good. I feel loved and save and turned on when I’m with him and afterwards (when he’s not rushing to leave like today lol) we stay and cuddle and I just feel.. good. Not cuz I did smthn for him but cuz it felt good for me cuz I am with someone who genuinely loves me and cares if I enjoy things yknow? I do love doing things for him but he also makes sure I get my fun too lol. I want to touch him. I want to initiate. Very clearly. Not gay. I’m worried my lack of butterflies during sex means smthn idk why. Help🥲✌️
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