- Date posted
- 4y
- Date posted
- 4y
You need to see him. If nothing else for the sake of being to function again, regardless of what you think or not about your sexuality. No one else can make you see him for you. It will be the first step to finding freedom, whatever the outcome may look like. You can do this!
- Date posted
- 4y
But I don’t want to function if it turns out I’m gay.
- Date posted
- 4y
@BradOCD I had these exact same fears. It’s what OCD does. It keeps us trapped by whatever means necessary based on our theme. The only way to recover is to face that fear that you could be gay or whatever your feared orientation is. Otherwise, you will waste years of your life wondering, something I’ve already done.
- Date posted
- 4y
@ChristineKJ But what is my fear was correct. Then surely the OCD was right all along.
- Date posted
- 4y
@BradOCD We live with what ifs all our lives. We can’t say 100% for sure that we won’t get struck by a flying rock and die. Same thing here. We’ll never be able to 100% prove that we’re straight or gay in terms of OCD. OCD is never satisfied. We can only challenge it when it has latched onto an obsession and teach our brains that what seemed so scary isn’t scary anymore.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
@ChristineKJ Hi Christine could you talk? How long have you been suffering from this?
- Date posted
- 4y
@ChristineKJ But isn’t that a bit paradoxical. Like if my brain is now saying “you’d be happy being gay” the only way I can know that is if I go and try that. But the whole point of therapy is I try and stay comfortable feeling uncomfortable
- Date posted
- 4y
@BradOCD "The only way I can know that is if I go an try it"....thats me! Right there! I'm going mad...
- Date posted
- 4y
@BradOCD Our brains say lots of things like that but those of us with OCD get stuck on those thoughts instead. I know it’s scary but the fact that you have such a fear response around therapy is a sign that that’s where you should be going and leaning into the discomfort. I was where you are and I promise, it’s worth it.
- Date posted
- 4y
@OCD33 2.5 years at this point but I’m now in recovery! It has definitely been a journey to get here.
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
@ChristineKJ I am hung up on the arousal aspect. I have never just been “turned on” seeing a man naked. I also have been turned on by women being portrayed sexually. This is enough proof for me :( im so happy you are in recovery. We’re these thoughts with you 24/7?
- Date posted
- 4y
Im just convinced however that Ive lost and im not actually straight as I previously thought. I want to so badly speak to a therapist but then again If im gay which I think i am I feel hopeless and dont wish for anything except death.
- Date posted
- 4y
@OCD33 I relate to that completely! I am the same way. Random naked men don’t arouse me much and when the OCD hit, I felt like I was being aroused exclusively by women. It was terrifying. The thoughts were so oppressive and crushing day in and day out, so definitely! I seriously wouldn’t still be here if it weren’t for ERP. My therapist sent me a great article about nonconcordence arousal and how our bodies are biologically hardwired for sex, regardless of whether or not it is something we’d actually want to partake in. I’ve experienced arousals during my exposures and at first, I was so panicky and miserable. But the more I continued my exposures, the better I became at brushing off the OCD when it wanted to attach to that and was able to get on with my days.
- Date posted
- 4y
@ChristineKJ Dammnnn you're on fire 😅! I wouldn't have said better although I've been struggling with OCD for 25 years! Good advice! Keep up the good work here 👌.
- Date posted
- 4y
@Morpheus 75 Thank you! It’s warriors like you that inspire me to help others! We’ve got this 👍
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 4y
@ChristineKJ You are an inspiration. Thank you for your honesty and taking the time to respond to me. I have had this fear since I was a kid. Can you relate to that? Did you ever think that this was “your truth” when you were in the depths of the thoughts?
- Date posted
- 4y
@OCD33 Mine came more out of the blue but since developing the theme? Absolutely. My OCD has tried to dig up anything possible from my past to relate to my theme and has tried to present “evidence” that this could somehow be my true self and I just never knew. It is so challenging some days. But what ERP teaches us is that we can learn to become ok with not knowing right now and once we go through that process, we can look back more clearly and put everything into perspective.
- Date posted
- 4y
@ChristineKJ But Ive the proof was too much and I accepted all of it and believed and now It feels like I jy ust cant go against it
- User type
- Staff
- Date posted
- 4y
Ugh this is such a hard place to be. I've seen so many people there and I want you to know that you're not alone! A therapist will be able to talk to you about *YOUR* specific goals. The content of the treatment doesn't have to center around your sexual orientation. In fact, the goal of therapy for this is not to figure out your sexual orientation. It's all about getting you to live a life that you value so that you can get back to the things that you want to do - including chores, sleeping, eating, and feeling better about yourself. A therapist will be able to help you get better at doing all of those things. I know it seems impossible right now but I challenge you to take it one step at a time. Taking the leap of faith on treatment can be challenging but try to take it just one step at a time and see how it goes. I believe in you!
- Date posted
- 4y
I feel this! I too think I'm just gay and in denial even though I'm gone my adult life never questioning my sexuality. Now, it's all I think about and it tears me apart. I'm to the point where I don't even get anxious at LGBT stuff, I find a sense of relief but it still isn't what I want and would rather be alone or not alive than follow through with being gay.
- Date posted
- 4y
Sorry you are going through it man, nothing has been the same since this mess started.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 23w
Hi,im a fourteen years old girl. I live in a homophobic country,and i dont have any experience. I grew up and became homophobic just like my family and my religion.but in 13 year old.i was questioning why lgptq is illegal?while they are just being them and can’t select what they are? So..i became an agnostic or atheist by secret.oh,by addition,before i became atheist i was making sure i don’t like women,like looking at women pics and imagine some romantic or sexual senarios just to find out,(and i wasnt feel anything and didnt like them),and i was happy and comfort for being straight (i was liking fictional men and some actors,within experience except an online male friend i liked but we didn’t date).but after being atheist,its like fire,i start developing HOCD,im not officially have that because I can’t have a therapist,but i have the Symptoms 100%. I didnt know whats hocd ,i find out whats it before a month.when i was struggling with it like 7 months,so,i think it started when i was in very close friendship with a girl in school,i was confused.if i liked her or not,i was imagining,questioning,making scenarios,but i couldnt have an answer,but then i was comfort to keep it just friendship.when the questions about her go,i can see her normally as a friend and i dont think of her or text her every day and it sometimes reaches months in summer holidays and its normally to me,no romantic acts about her,but then i had a new friend to the group and i had the same thoughts and questions to her.and now my brain questioning if i like them both😢.ok.this gone.this is before year,before being atheist.after being.i was questioning “do i like women?” Or when i see a fictional woman,i start to look at her and questioning myself and try to catch any feeling,i swear i would accept myself to be gay or bisexual,but i just can’t feel or accept that..i feel like burn.i cried and cried.it somedays turns so hard that I can’t even study or live normally.i also started to lose my attraction to men.i feel like its gone,I can’t now imagine being a man without getting uncomfortable,i miss the days when i was enjoying imagining kissing and sexing with a man.but,hocd,always reminds me i have no experience,and its all imaginary,so I don’t have a real clue from beginning that im straight.and i also read an girl experience with hocd and she became a lesbian at the end,i get so scary.it feels so real.i just wanna cry forever.im afraid that i will like a girl in the future,it chock me and burns.i hate this feeling.to thr god i dont know or believe in,please,if i like women,just let me feel it normally without this fear and hurting.i dont want to be gay.i dont want to like women.i dont want to be bisexual or lesbian.but if being any of those but comfort without this feeling that makes me wanna suicide.i would accept,please.just please,i even can’t get a therapist,even online,i just want help.please.i dont want to be like those girls that find out they liked women all the time,im scared,i miss my old feelings and trusting.i hate this.i just want to die if its mean hocd to go.i feel like its so real and i will love a girl no way in hell future.i even feel its not wrong to like women,like its much better and more soft that men,but i just can’t.I can’t.i dont know,i did everything.i gave myself permission to find out or explore my attraction to the both genders but it hurts me more.i dont want to get hurts again anymore.just remembering i have no experience or clue i like men even if in past felt like i would like and date a man and liven with him,i keep reminding its all was Based on imagination…even if i was wishing to love a man,hocd ruined this peaceful feeling,i was really find peaceful of loving a man.but now,i don’t feel like before,and this scares me,i don’t know what to do.I can’t have a therapist,and dont even know how to get better,,,
- Date posted
- 20w
I feel like I'm lying to myself, like I just don't accept that I'm gay, I don't want to be gay, I don't want to feel any kind of attraction anymore, I want to go to a psychologist to find out if I really have hocd or if it's just an excuse, because it feels like I really am gay, but nothing was authentic, it all started with thoughts that made me panic extremely hard and I felt like crying and I had delusions, I don't understand why this is happening to me, I didn't like any boys before the thoughts appeared, but exactly one day after they appeared, all the boys were attractive, of all ages, I want to recover :( I'm only 17 years old, for about 2 months I've been having thoughts, I don't know what to do, I can't go to a psychologist, I need help :(
- Date posted
- 18w
Hey everyone, I’m reaching out because I’ve been going through one of the hardest mental spirals of my life, and I’m hoping someone can relate or shed light on what’s happening to me. About 4 months ago, I accidentally came across a trans porn scene. It didn’t do much at the time, but later it triggered this overwhelming intrusive thought: “What if I’m gay?” Since then, it’s been absolute hell. I’ve always been into women—emotionally, sexually, everything. I’ve been in a long-term relationship with a girl I love deeply. But after that moment, my brain started spiraling into nonstop analysis. I began checking how I felt around men, whether I felt attraction, whether I was in denial, whether I was lying to myself. Literally everything became a test. I got stuck in this loop: • A thought pops in → panic • Try to solve it → brief relief • Another thought → worse panic • Repeat. At times, it got so bad I couldn’t feel anything at all—toward my girlfriend, toward women, toward myself. I started doubting everything. Some days, I feel emotionally flat, like I’ve lost my personality. Other days, I wake up with a full-body jolt of “truth” like “I’m definitely gay”—only for it to fade into numbness again. I’ve also noticed that I get short bursts of peace when I stop reacting, but then the fear comes back louder, like “See? Now you’re accepting it. That means it’s true.” Therapy hasn’t helped much so far—it felt more like general counseling. They told me to sit with the thoughts, but didn’t clarify if this was OCD, identity questioning, or trauma. That just made it worse because now I’m back to thinking “What if I’m just rejecting my truth?” I’m exhausted. I’ve lost connection to everything I used to love. • I want to love my girl again the way I used to • I want to feel desire without overthinking • I want to trust myself again I’m not looking for reassurance—I just want to know if anyone else has gone through something like this, and if this sounds like HOCD or identity OCD. Thanks for reading.
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