- Date posted
- 3y
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
I’m sorry the torture you’re feeling right now. I know how hard it is to be in the thick of it. Here’s the thing: you are at this moment your worst enemy. OCD is an asshole, but by the way you are describing what’s going on, I can see that you are making your ocd much worse. One of the main reasons is because you are really trying to control your anxiety and thoughts right now, and this is a really big trap with OCD. You will push and push, and it will get worse and worse. What you need to do right now, is get your foot off the gas break, ans stop trying to do anything. Just sit with the feeling. Stop creating narratives, or stories, or identifications with what’s going on. Accept the thoughts. Accept the feelings. Just because we accept it doesn’t mean it’s real. We are just allowing things to happen, meaning: thoughts and feelings arise and naturally leave. But at the moment you are clinging for dear life, because you want everything to be how it was at that time when it felt great. The more you want to feel great, the worse you feel. It’s what Alan Watts calls “the pretzel effect.” You try to be happy, you’ll be more miserable. But if you let go of expectations and how you’re supposed to feel, you can let your body naturally reset, and paradoxically you will have what you were looking for: Peace of mind, and ultimately happiness and love with your partner again.
- Date posted
- 3y
This is completely true and im so glad you said it. I was just spiraling down in my own ocd as i was reading his post. I feel a lot the ways he does. Our strong desire can make us impatient and we try to, like you said, control the anxiety and thoughts this instant. Thank you for sharing that.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@kevint Glad it could be of service to you. Wishing you healing.
- Date posted
- 3y
@Sasha Is there a chance that these feelings I’m having will move away again? Because I had never had them before. I feel I just got to a breaking point of feeling like I’ve actually backed myself into a corner where I can’t enjoy the one thing I didn’t want to loose. Part of me has almost given up on it.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@BradOCD In a strange way, it’s better that you give up on it. What I mean is: give up on your attachment to the feeling. Give up your expectation of what’s supposed to happen. Will the feeling go away? Will the other feeling come back ? Maybe.. maybe not. The reality you have to accept, is that getting the feeling back is not what full recovery from OCD is. That’s just a temporary fix. You get the feeling back, and then it goes away again after another trigger. You see what’s going on here? So what do you do? In order for full recovery, you need full acceptance. When you start to accept that you don’t have control over these feelings, triggers, or thoughts, you will start to live life without resistance. What happens when we don’t resist? OCD weakens, anxiety disappears, and our natural state of peace and contentment start to awaken. Eventually we might even get to where we wanted to feel in the first place.
- Date posted
- 3y
@Sasha I completely understand what you’re saying. My issue is if I accept my HOCD thoughts, then surely I have to end my relationship? And I don’t want to do that?
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@BradOCD Accepting does not mean agreeing. It means accepting that right now in this given moment your body feels these sensations and your mind is creating these thoughts. Like I said before: you can cling to how things should be, or you can just allow things to be. So now you can be in a relationship that doesn’t feel comfortable right now. That’s okay. Just keep accepting that, and your on your path to recovery. Running away from your relationship because of your thoughts only reinforces ocd.
- Date posted
- 3y
@Sasha Okay I think I understand… thank you for all your help
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@BradOCD My pleasure. I’m not speaking from just a knowledgeable place. This is all through experience as well. I have gone through ocd themes like yours, and I have seen the immense recovery when I have learned to accept the feelings and thoughts and let go of my desire to control them.
- Date posted
- 3y
@Sasha I get OCD can be very powerful and make us question/feel things that in the past wouldn’t have bothered us. It’s as if everything little emotion, feeling, insecurity has now been blown up into this huge issue when in essence I guess it hasn’t got any bigger I’m just taking a much closer look and almost need to just step back again?
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
@BradOCD Right. Rumination causes thoughts to stick more, which makes it feels like there’s greater importance to the thoughts and feelings , especially if it’s making you anxious
- Date posted
- 3y
I'm in the same boat as you brother. You're making your OCD much worse by getting reassurance by checking things constantly. It may help you in the short run, but the thoughts and your desire for certainty will come back. You really need to start getting educated about OCD by watching yt videos. By understanding the OCD mechanics you'll probably understand why you want certainty so bad. I advise you to watch videos of Chrissie Hodges. When the thoughts haunt me, I always turn to her videos and feel alot better afterward :) I know it's tough, but you have to keep going. Hang in there brother💪
Related posts
- Date posted
- 21w
I keep having this weird feeling none stop that it’s most likely not HOCD and most my feelings. Like I’ve suffered none stop distress and unwanted thoughts the past few days. But those thoughts after a bit just feel weird not the kind of discomfort but are just their and stale. When I look at a guy I don’t feel anything but my thoughts sometimes compliment his looks or personality which makes me doubt my sexuality. I’ve never felt this weirded out. Because I’ve always been straight and still believe I am but I’ve never even had an emotional connection to someone of the opposite gender in fact. My view of the female body has been ruined with none stop pornography addictions. I don’t believe I’m gay but I feel like it may just be denial instead of HOCD but all my symptoms are literally HOCD. I don’t hate the idea of gay people but I can’t imagine or see my heart going off to like someone of the same sex. I haven’t really had any meaningful real life friends besides online but that also ended a few months ago. My only friend ever online that was my friend for the longest of time was a queer but I never really cared about what he liked. Like yes at some point I did try to challenge him with his own feelings but that didn’t last long I just accepted what he liked and moved on. I’ve never even touched let alone held a long conversation with a female. I’ve always been timid and shy around them but I can just say that towards male as well. The gay feelings feel so real. The thoughts feel a bit natural to me but I don’t want this. But I hate how I can’t just move on and be myself and love women when those thoughts demand attention and an answer. It won’t quit it. If I try to do a compulsion it calms down but it quickly becomes a problem again. I’m lonely I don’t have any friends or past relationships I can even think of helping me with the emotions. I still believe I’m straight and I just can’t see myself with a guy. It just doesn’t feel right for me despite my lack of experiences. I just wanna go back to how I was happy and loving girls and not having to question if it was a real feeling or just my natural timid nature. Everytime I think these distressing thoughts I always just wanna sit down and close my eyes and sleep. Because that’s where I can have peace of self. It sucks but I’m so exhausted of having to deal with emotional distress and I can’t even focus on my job as much. I want to meet new people discover my love for women again but I’m scared in the process I may discover I may be gay. Because deep down I know I wouldn’t ever be happy with myself if my greatest fears where confirmed. My dream of always being a father with a loving women and kids would be torn away by something I never asked for. Yes I’m religious, yes I come from a place that homosexuals are usually seen in a bad light. I just hate feeling this emotion that I may not be what I thought and having my dreams torn apart maybe true. I’ve read MUTIPLE articles about HOCD and seen MUTIPLE videos. I’ve come to the realization that I most likely have it. But it’s still hard when the feelings of maybe being gay maybe true you know? I hope I get better I hope I don’t suffer. I just wanna be happy with myself and loving females and I don’t wanna hate myself for feeling an emotion that never occurred to me more then a few times.
- Date posted
- 20w
I think I may have SO-OCD and OCD in general. At a young age fear of death. I use to tap my heart 8 times (lucky number) for each person I loved. Then I think I suffered with ROCD and HOCD when I was 18 after 2 bad relationships who they ran off with a ‘close’ friend at the time. I’ve struggled with OCD and these HOCD/ SO-OCD about 12 years ago but the HOCD went and the ROCD came back and forth. I did previously last year have a Fear of death of my children with alligators going on holiday after reading a bad article in Florida which lasted few months. Briefly Started with ‘R-OCD’ again but went pretty quickly. Am I good enough for my partner? Is she going to leave me? What if she finds someone else? Though I saw a picture of a good looking male on a social media which my Brian instantly questioned if I was gay, panic and anxiety which lead to which I think is SO-OCD and HOCD. An obsession is an unwanted and unpleasant thought, image or urge that repeatedly enters my mind, causing feelings of anxiety, disgust or unease. A compulsion is a repetitive behaviour or mental act that you feel you need to do to temporarily relieve the unpleasant feelings brought on by the obsessive thought. I’m stuck in obsessive doubt around my sexual identity, even though I say that deep down i know what my sexual identity is but even this is being questioned at the minute and I want to cry. I have always, always been interested in women. That much I would say I had a sex addiction. My attraction to the opposite sex has pretty much disappeared. I have a fleeting thought of attraction which will set off a cascade of doubt and terror which some thoughts/ feelings make me physically sick. I’m scared of going out in public or even looking at people especially men for the fear of false attraction. I try to do ERP when I do have moments but it makes me want to be sick. My brain feels like it’s in a clamp and I can’t stop the constant thoughts. It feels like something is my head has stopped or not working correctly. Even at night. Every time I wake my chest seems to feel strange and the thoughts are suddenly there. I’ve tried ERP but it makes me want to be sick even when it subsides. I am still continuing this but I feel so drained. I just want to be myself again who I was 3 months ago. I hate that this has happened and I feel that I can’t cope, can’t be the husband I want to be, can’t be the father I want and was. These are my main issues at the moment; false attraction to pretty much any male even voices, decrease attraction in opposite gender, severe anxiety, I can’t sleep or eat, constant thoughts 24/7 and scenarios, groinal responses, seavere recriminatory thinking, I hate myself, I even have false attraction to myself in the mirror. What is wrong with me? I just want to be the husband and father I was a few months ago!
- Date posted
- 20w
I’ve completely lost myself. I can’t focus on my studies, I can’t go to the gym. Dang it I can’t even be around my male friends normally anymore. I got no idea why or how this happened but the only thing I know for sure is that I never questioned my sexuality neither doubted it. I never cared in general. I just liked girls. I keep testing and keep testing and keep testing my arousal but no matter how many times I see but I don’t feel the same way for guys that I do with girls my mind will always try to make me believe that I am gay. It’s like it’s forcing me into an identity I never asked for. But at the end of the day like my psychologist told me. Sexuality doesn’t change. So since I never felt anything for guys in my life it’s ocd. I’ve been up and down for 5 months now and while the last week I was feeling way better. Monday now and I’m back to zero. I just want to go back when everything was normal. I can’t keep living with this.
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