Has anyone had a breakup or a major life change that triggered an OCD episode? How did you cope?

I was broken up with 3 weeks ago and things are just getting worse. I feel like I’m wasting away and like nothing will get better. What’s worse is knowing that if I get out of this episode my ocd will strike back and I’m scared I won’t be able to deal with it. It’s like every part of me can’t accept this break up. I’ve reached out to people but I really would love to hear stories from anyone who thought they wouldn’t make it out

I’m a teacher, and for the last two school breaks, my harm OCD spikes regarding my girlfriend. The first one was winter break (It came back after three years), and when I was recovering, it came back in the beginning of June. Just out of nowhere. Even though I know it’s OCD, it still scares the hell out of me and I spiral for weeks and weeks. Does anyone else have spikes and relapses when there are breaks in your routine?

I met my current boyfriend after ending things with my ex a month earlier. By coincidence, my current boyfriend and I had a class together, we became friends, and of course I started liking him. By May 2021, two months later, my feelings for him grew stronger and stronger. At that time, I wasn’t really going through a depression over my ex. In fact, little by little, we had stopped talking since January 2021, and by the end of March I told him I needed my personal space because I was dealing with another type of OCD. Looking back, during all that time I was open to getting to know this new guy (my current boyfriend). Finally, in July everything was going well between us, and we decided to stop giving each other space. Meanwhile, my ex was stalking me on social media. I was very happy to be getting to know my boyfriend at that time. In August, we had our first kiss and then, as I mentioned earlier, we stopped dating for a while. In September, we ended things, which hurt me a lot, but in November we tried again. During all that time, I didn’t have OCD. Later, in January, when my boyfriend and I made our relationship official, the doubts started: “Am I still in love with my ex?” “Am I using my boyfriend to forget my ex?” “Am I really over my ex?” The memories, physical sensations, all of that. So, my question is: does OCD with thoughts about an ex only happen to people who just broke up and are still grieving, or can it also show up later on, even if you’re already in a new relationship? I ask this because I’m afraid I might not have gotten over my ex and that these intrusive thoughts mean something else, since I’ve read that some people develop OCD right after a breakup and get stuck there. But in my case, I just moved on, and then the intrusive thoughts showed up later.