Hi everyone ✨ Having a particularly rough time today dealing with my ROCD & related compulsions… this is a long post, so I’ll cut to the point early on: Writing all this out here feels like I may be seeking validation, or doing a rumination/reassurance type of compulsion, but if I don’t do my compulsions, I just lay in bed, crying. I feel as though I’d rather do the compulsions than cry all day, bc then at least I’m not sobbing and in pain (pain from anxiety pit in stomach…feels like consistent gut punches) but I know that doing these compulsions is only making my situation worse in the long run…. If anyone could give me any advice on how to practice some ERP around this, or something like that, I would GREATLY appreciate it. Thank you ❤️‍🩹✨ So, I recently went through a break up (we had a good rapport and always had fun together, despite us both being pretty toxic… it was in subtle ways, you know, like going over each other’s texts, jealousy, repressed anger issues, my own ROCD causing me to question our validity as a couple— not a good mix with his own intense insecurities…etc) and now, I can’t stop obsessing over what he is thinking and feeling these days. We ended things pretty gruffly…he blocked me out of anger, but I tried to make amends by emailing him an apology and a whole thing to remind him that emotions, while valid, are usually fleeting, and in the end, we both loved each other to the best of our ability, it just didn’t work because we are both toxic people right now… He unblocked me over text, then, but kept me blocked on all other social media and has yet to respond to anything I wrote to him over email or text. I tried my best to write objectively in the email, and ended everything with peace/love/forgiveness… but now, I just can’t control the obsessing. Thoughts like this keep bombarding me at a constant rate— Why did we break up? Did we even actually break up? Do I miss him? I definitely miss him. Was he good for me? No. Maybe? How am I supposed to know? Maybe he’s angry with me and ignoring me… Maybe he’s just too busy with work to write back. Maybe he’s already moved on…oh god, maybe he never even loved me to begin with and now he’s moving on… No way! He most certainly loved me, we’ve cried together! I remember his loving actions toward me! …BUT… He WAS kind of all about him during the relationship…… I just need to talk to him again and we can figure it all out. Together. I must go on this journey of self-healing, alone. Maybe he never wants to talk to me again…. Etc…etc….ETC!!! I am going insane!! 😫😫😫😫 Its been about 3 days since our split, and we still have some of each other’s possessions. I just can’t stop crying. Even though I want to focus on myself, and live a normal life, I feel like I’m being controlled by my emotions and these obsessive thoughts 24/7…. I compulsively check my phone to see if he answered or called, even when my notifs are turned on…I feel so crazy, alone, and I feel like I just wanna disappear from everything, even though I’m not suicidal (truly), and I know I’m not alone (have pretty good support from fam & friends) and I know I’m definitely NOT crazy (though my OCD might make me feel that way sometimes, 😅) There is this GIANT pit in the middle of my stomach 24/7 whenever I think about him and all that happened between us, the good and the bad. I called him this morning, and he didn’t pick up. I don’t want to become a harasser, or a stalker, and that’s actually a little bit of a fear of mine, bc one of my compulsions involves texting and calling, and I’m not always strong enough to resist it. I’m so very confused and dejected right now. I don’t know what the right move is. I don’t know what to say to him, if anything at all, or even what to say to my own self. Again, any ERP related advice helps. Thank you ❤️‍🩹✨

First off - I’m sorry, I post here a lot. My thoughts are going to be scattered because I have the adhd/ocd/executive dysfunction wombo combo. Im so embarrassed I am THIS neurodivergent. I swear my brain couldn’t pick one struggle and settle with it. I’m not making these diagnoses quirky personality traits by any means, in fact, in this post im venting about how exhausting and embarassed I am living with a brain like this on the daily. I need to hear someone’s advice please. I love hearing everyone’s advice on posts because it’s so useful, and brings me back down to reality. Everyone on here gives advice so tastefully in a way where it doesn’t feed into the self reassurance compulsion, but it’s also been thorough and constructive enough where it’s reminded me to ground myself in a healthy way. I love seeing others helping others, it soothes me. This community has been so kind, and I’m so happy I found it. I wish I could ask more, but I have so many questions I think it’d drive everyone here crazy lol. I am doing erp therapy now, and it’s been teaching me so many amazing techniques. I’ve been making progress. However, I sometimes have my moments of vunerablity. I’ve been experiencing this especially now more than ever because I am going through a breakup. He did it through text after nearly 9 months together. I’d do anything for him and love him through anything, and he broke my heart when I least expected it. I’d make his bed for him multiple times, but I haven’t done that for myself in years. I’d sit with him for hours to watch and do anything he likes, but he’d never do the same and I’d never do the same for me. I’m also at fault because I was too scared to speak up so I let a lot of disrespect slide. Why did my ocd do that? Why does ocd make me people please even when I don’t want to? Why does OCD make me care so much about things that will never effect me (like wanting validation from a random person on the street and hoping they’ll think I’m pretty enough to look at), but then when it comes to my future or positive wellbeing (like focusing on college/doing well in classes/personal hygiene/health), forces me to not care/neglect myself and those needs? I don’t understand it. Ocd makes me think everything’s a setup or a trap. I can never believe that I am fine right where I want to be. Why am I so hard on myself? Why do I even think this much? I care and feel so deeply but it becomes unhealthy so fast because ocd makes me fixate and I stay there for a while. For some reason I let this breakup define my self worth. I let it topple into the ocd fear that I will never make it in life - that I won’t be successful, I’ll never get the career I want, the love I want, or the life I want. My OCD’s version of “logic” isn’t even logical. Yes, I understand how the breakup means feelings of low self worth which will then topple into feeling bad about other things. But why has my brain been wired to think this way? Why does it seem so easy for everyone else to function normally with life but not me? Honestly this is the first time in my life where I’m dedicated to focusing on myself and learning more about myself instead of others in my life and it’s a very odd and bizarre feeling. I’m excited of course, but I’m also scared. My ocd makes me ruminate like “what if I will never make the most of this life I’ve been given”, “what if I truly have no worth and the most I will ever be in other people’s lives is a background character”, “why do I care if I’m a background character or not? I should feel guilty and ignorant for assuming everyone will automatically like me”, “are people lying to me when they call me pretty, smart or kind?”, “I need to look and sound perfect in both pictures, videos and in real life. I will never be satisfied for accepting who I am now”, and a bunch of other annoying questions. But sometimes it’s like I just can’t take the reality for what it is but at the same time, but I also acknowledge that I know this is ocd talking. This is so, so difficult. Do I make any sense with what I’m saying? Can anyone help?

Hi - I’ve made a series of posts about my situation over the past few weeks. My bf asked to take a break from our relationship through text the first week of April. We haven’t spoken since. There’s a lot of outward details to this but I’ll try to keep it as simple as possible. My ocd is telling me the worst of the worst. He left me with full uncertainty because he didn’t give me a reason, and his decision felt like it happened overnight and I’m still so confused. He’s never been in a relationship as serious as this before. I’m incredibly hurt and angry, and my emotions get worse on Saturday and Friday nights because that’s when his frat parties happen. I do ERP phrases but my stomach hurts and it’s churning so bad. I deactivated/deleted social media apps for now because it’s too much. I just wish this physical feeling would stop. Does anyone have tips?

Hi everyone — just reaching out for a bit of support, perspective, and maybe some guidance. I was in a relationship with someone who had untreated ROCD, and I’m trying to process it all now that we’re apart. I’ve written my experience below, not to vent, but to better understand what happened and how to handle it with compassion (for both of us). I was in a relationship with someone who struggled deeply with OCD and ROCD, though they weren’t in treatment at the time. From the outside, things looked fine. But behind closed doors, I witnessed spirals, dissociation, identity shifts, panic, and emotional instability that few people ever saw. We both knew about the disorder. It wasn’t hidden. They even spoke about ROCD through awareness posts online. We knew what it was — we named it together — but knowing wasn’t enough to stop it. And unfortunately, the people around them didn’t fully understand OCD, ROCD, or just how powerful and persuasive this disorder can be. There was real love between us. Deep, honest, complicated love. And a connection that existed long before we ever became a couple — a connection I still believe in. But fear and doubt — the kind only OCD can generate — made everything feel unsafe. The anxiety got so loud that eventually, breaking up felt like the only option. Despite OCD or not, I’ve respected their decision and given them the space I know they needed and were entitled to. They shared a lot with me — things I won’t repeat here, because they’re theirs. But they were raw. Honest. Human. I was the one who sat through the “I don’t know” spirals. The doubts over feelings, attraction, and more. I was their rock — the one who understood. And they told me that, more than once. Now I’m sitting in the quiet. I’m seeing the avoidance play out: the nights out, the thriving energy, maybe even someone new. It’s hard — hard to witness such a visible shift in someone I was once so close to. But I’ve also seen the cracks. The internal conflict starting to show again. I know how this pattern works. I’ve lived it, too. The relief never lasts forever. Eventually, when it fades, the absence lingers longer. And when it does, OCD doesn’t stay silent for long — it latches onto the very things you tried to run from and reshapes itself. I know that if I reach out too soon — or say the wrong thing at the wrong time — I might push them even deeper into avoidance. Deeper into the version of themselves for now. So I’m careful. That’s why even this post is written with thought. Because I care. I really care. And in the meantime, I’m working on myself — even if part of me still wants to fight for something that felt real. But I also know I can’t fight alone. I’m not shutting the door — just stepping into another room for now. A room where I can grow and heal. But the door is still open. I’d appreciate any guidance or advice on how to approach this in the kindest, most thoughtful way — with as little hurt for either of us as possible. Thank you all so much and I wish all of you are keeping well. Lots of love ❤️