- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
Try to avoid mental checks and rumination no matter how hard it is to. If your anxiety shows up out of nowhere just at the thought of him and gives a false signal that something might not be right, don't go looking for a reason or checking that everything is fine or so, just try to let it be there and move on. Once your brain gets used to registering the anxiety as a false alarm, it'll stop showing up.
- Date posted
- 4y
That’s a good reminder, thank you!!
- Date posted
- 3y
Have you noticed that big events, (such as getting married) seem to make your doubts and feelings considerably more intense and painful?
- Date posted
- 3y
Yep, literally what’s happening lol
- Date posted
- 3y
I’m actually functioning now but I have a lot of confusion around that because I was put on Lexapro so I don’t know if the medication is pulling a lot of the weight or not. My thoughts had me agoraphobic and I couldn’t even leave my house without panicking. This is NOT like me at all. I was actually extremely excited to get married! I got engaged October 2020 and I was thrilled and full of nothing but love for MONTHS! I had a thought sneak in after inviting a dr I worked for at the time to my wedding that threw me into a panic. My brain told me that if that man came to my wedding, I would be more worried about how he saw me than the man I was actually marrying. I was DEVASTATED and instantly was thrown into the OCD cycle. I did a lot of research and realized what I had and am now trying to fix it but the wedding definitely made thoughts worse. There was suddenly so much guilt that I may be leading him on. It’s just so mind boggling to me that one thought at the drop of a hat could derail me so bad. I’m still struggling with this. The hardest thing I have ever experienced. I have had other subtypes in the past that showed up during big changes in my life but I didn’t know it was OCD and it just went away on its own after about a month. I’m going on 3 months with ROCD.
- Date posted
- 3y
I've been living with ROCD for 3 years now. The first year was with my kids mom who left and the last 2 years has been with my wife. I have had the exact same thought patterns and feelings through out both relationships and I had terrible anxiety and dread months before the wedding to my wife. I was anxious and unsure the entire ceremony too but after all was said and done I actually enjoyed the reception quite a bit. I still go through this shit every day but I have grown so much through it and believe it or not I feel it has brought us closer and humbled me more then anything I've ever been through in my life. I have to believe there's a reason for this more then just a struggle. I believe struggle is the bedrock of growth so I can't see this being any different
- Date posted
- 4y
I don’t do anything differently. Avoidance is the worst thing you can do.
- Date posted
- 4y
She's right. It's also the hardest thing not to do.
- Date posted
- 4y
@JLG323 It gets easier the more you do it.
- Date posted
- 3y
This is my biggest issue. I don’t know how to shut off the mental compulsions. I genuinely don’t know how to ever look at him and NOT have mental checking or see a text on my phone from him and not ruminate. Even though I know I can. I’ve done it before but that was before I knew what OCD was and I dolt remember why or how it went away on its own. A few years ago I had harm OCD towards him and almost broke up with him. Now we’re married and I fear I don’t love him. It’s so painful
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 3y
This happens a lot! You could work with a therapist to do some exposures that are "challenging but manageble". It might be an exposure for you to simply think about this person while resisting rituals. if you are in a situation where you need to interact with this person, it might be helpful for you to try to reduce rituals or postpone them. for instance, instead of reassurance seeking immediately you could try to postpone this for 10-15 minutes and see how that goes.
- Date posted
- 3y
I actually have started working with a therapist here at NOCD. I appreciate your feedback.
- Date posted
- 3y
I've gotten pretty good at not doing physical compulsions. My main thing is mental analysis. Basically rocd, intuition, rocd??? Nah... Intuition.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 22w
I’m really anxious because I know my ocd is really bad right now so I shouldn’t try to figure it out cause my thinking is a mess but I’ve been having feelings of like I’m not sure if I love him anymore or worrying that I haven’t felt a lot like numb (a lot because ocd has been getting worse and worse) and thinking of like how I’ve been focusing on the negatives and only been looking at him through that lens and analyzing and also feeling like I don’t want this anymore. Basically just like negative thinking in feeling like I’m really scared it’s that it’s I don’t love him cause I don’t want it to be over and the thought of having someone replace him makes me ill. But like it feels like I’m not seeing him how I used to and it makes me upset. Today I was near someone I was like oh this person is cute and then I was thinking that the possibility of meeting someone new sounds exciting and now I’m freaking out because this in combination with feeling like maybe I don’t love him anymore is bad. Also my thoughts keep changing. and like sometimes it feels like I don’t care at all and this has happened but like worst it’s ever been and then other times I’m like I do care I do still feel. I’m just really anxious has anyone else felt this before and it was still ocd? 😭😭
- Date posted
- 21w
Do you ever feel like you wonder if your ocd would be less if you were with someone else? Or would it be better if you were with someone else? I’m really upset because I used to be able to enjoy myself even with the anxiety and now it’s like i am just analyzing and I don’t have feelings and I’m irritated because there’s things that frustrate me about him that I don’t like and my brain says if I was with someone else I would be able to deal with those things better and that we just aren’t right for each other. And the thoughts that used to make me anxious about breaking up don’t like it’s really me that feels it. I know no relationship is perfect but it’s like my brain keeps saying with someone else I wouldn’t feel like this or I would but I’d be able to handle it better. It feels like I have to just start fresh with someone new cause the ocd got too into this to the point where I don’t feel or even know what’s real. It feels like fear and anxiety and just being so into this has just made me feel not into this anymore but idk if I’m thinking right. It’s also just warped the way I see him like I only see the negatives and my brain keeps saying you don’t feel this cause it’s wrong. And it’s depressing bc of how happy and safe I used to feel. I’m supposed to see him soon and it’s like I want to but also don’t because I feel like things have changed unless that’s just something I made in my head and cause I don’t feel the feelings I used to. But then I think I will just be this way with someone else but then my brain says otherwise and it’s so confusing. People keep telling me not to make decisions because I’m fogged but it feels like I’m not. Like my brain is manipulating me. And also like all the things I used to like I’ve somehow turned into like distaste which is so upsetting. I would like to think this is just ocd taking control and confusing me and distorting my perspective but I’m scared it’s not and that my feelings are gone. Has anyone experienced this but it was still ocd?
- Date posted
- 10w
Hey, I really need your opinion – I think I might be struggling with Relationship OCD, and these thoughts are driving me crazy. I’ve been officially diagnosed with OCD, and I believe I also have ROCD. My obsessive thoughts often focus on one specific girl from my boyfriend’s past. She had messaged him a few times, and I think she liked him – but he never liked her back. He barely knew her, never found her attractive, and never wanted anything with her. She’s just a good friend of his best friend – not an ex or anything like that. He told me that he happened to be in the same group as her a couple of times – once at a birthday party and once at a fair – just because his best friend brought her along. He made it clear several times that she’s not his type at all, neither in looks nor in personality. He described her as someone who likes to go out and party a lot, and said that’s just not what he’s into. He also said he didn’t ask about her – these things were mentioned to him before our relationship. Almost all of this happened before we met – except for one thing: the fair. That was just one day before our second date, back when we had just started getting to know each other. She was with his friend group that night. He said he only said hi and bye to her, nothing more. The next day, when we met again, we were talking about his friends’ heights. He casually mentioned that his friend was the same height as that girl – 1.70 m. Ever since, I keep wondering: If she meant nothing to him, why did he even talk about her? Or did he actually talk to her that night, even though he said he didn’t? I know he said they barely exchanged a word, but somehow he still knew that detail. I just find that strange. Another example: He once said she was “kind of slutty.” Then, one or two months later, when I brought it up again, he said he didn’t know if she was or not, and that he didn’t care at all. That really confused me. I keep wondering: Why did he say something like that in the first place if he supposedly doesn’t care about her? I also notice this really frustrating cycle: When I talk to him about something that doesn’t make sense to me, I feel brief relief. But then, almost immediately, another thought or detail pops up that feels “off” again – and I feel like I have to bring that up, too. I can’t tolerate the uncertainty. It’s like an endless loop. These little “inconsistencies” – or what I perceive as inconsistencies – make me spiral, even though I do believe he’s being honest with me. I want to trust him. But I have this constant urge to bring up every little thing that doesn’t feel logically right. Every detail stays in my head for days, and it’s really hard not to talk about it. Does this sound like Relationship OCD to you? Do any of you go through this constant analyzing and doubt? I’d really appreciate your thoughts. I’m slowly ruining my own relationship.. Today, for the first time, my partner cried because of it .. I didn’t know how to deal with my thoughts, and seeing him like that made me realize that I really need to change something. Anything that doesn’t make sense to me feels unbearable. And as soon as I talk about one thing, the next thought comes into my head, something else that doesn’t make sense and leaves me feeling uncertain again. I honestly feel extremely helpless right now.. Just as a side note: I was officially diagnosed with ROCD in a previous relationship, not with my current partner, but in a past one.
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