- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
i’m so happy for you <3 it really is encouraging to hear stories like this so thank you
- Date posted
- 3y
Absolutely! All the best❤️
- Date posted
- 3y
Comment deleted by user
- Date posted
- 3y
Absolutely! As a child, I also suffered from obsessions surrounding my health. When I was a young teen, I started having intrusive thoughts about harming the people and animals that I loved. I started on venlafaxine (very small dose which didn’t help) an am currently on 80mg of Prozac (Fluoxetine). Therapy and medication has truly transformed my life. I couldn’t be more grateful for my therapists and psychiatrist. Harm is definitely an excruciating theme. It’s a theme that attacks people like us’s morals and what we care about/value most. Of course I still get the occasional harm thought, but it doesn’t give me crippling anxiety anymore. I can finally live life not taking these stupid thoughts seriously and enjoying my family and friends. All the best- I know you’ll succeed!❤️
- Date posted
- 3y
@CatLove9 You are so welcome. I had the same concerns about medication. It definitely takes a little while to feel the positive effects (in my case and from what I’ve heard before). Ultimately, I believe and will always believe that people with Harm OCD are the LAST people who would ever harm someone! And I know reassurance fuels the cycle- but this is just my experience from hearing people’s stories and attending support groups. 5 weeks isn’t very long at all, I definitely recommend waiting a few months and seeing how you feel. Also, ERP is crucial!!! I know that they now that OCD specialists on this app that you can contact. They didn’t have that before, so take advantage if you can :)
- Date posted
- 3y
Now have *
Related posts
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 23w
Looking back, I realize I’ve had OCD since I was 7. though I wasn’t diagnosed until I was 30. As a kid, I was consumed by fears I couldn’t explain: "What if God isn’t real? What happens when we die? How do I know I’m real?" These existential thoughts terrified me, and while everyone has them from time to time, I felt like they were consuming my life. By 12, I was having daily panic attacks about death and war, feeling untethered from reality as depersonalization and derealization set in. At 15, I turned to drinking, spending the next 15 years drunk, trying to escape my mind. I hated myself, struggled with my body, and my intrusive thoughts. Sobriety forced me to face it all head-on. In May 2022, I finally learned I had OCD. I remember the exact date: May 10th. Reading about it, I thought, "Oh my God, this is it. This explains everything." My main themes were existential OCD and self-harm intrusive thoughts. The self-harm fears were the hardest: "What if I kill myself? What if I lose control?" These thoughts terrified me because I didn’t want to die. ERP changed everything. At first, I thought, "You want me to confront my worst fears? Are you kidding me?" But ERP is gradual and done at your pace. My therapist taught me to lean into uncertainty instead of fighting it. She’d say, "Maybe you’ll kill yourself—who knows?" At first, it felt scary, but for OCD, it was freeing. Slowly, I realized my thoughts were just thoughts. ERP gave me my life back. I’m working again, I’m sober, and for the first time, I can imagine a future. If you’re scared to try ERP, I get it. But if you’re already living in fear, why not try a set of tools that can give you hope?
- Date posted
- 22w
People who went from a really bad time with OCD to a better time now. Is it really possible? What was your theme? Did you take medication?
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 20w
Looking back, my introverted nature and struggles to find belonging in high school may have set the stage for how OCD would later impact my relationships. I had my first relationship in high school, but OCD wasn’t a major factor then. It wasn’t until my longest relationship—six years from age 18 to 24—that OCD really took hold. The relationship itself wasn’t the issue; it was what happened after. When it ended, I became obsessed with confessing past mistakes, convinced I had to be completely transparent. Even when my partner was willing to work past them, I couldn’t let go of the intrusive thoughts, and that obsession landed me in the hospital. From there, my struggle with ROCD (Relationship OCD) fully emerged. For years, every time I tried to move forward in dating, doubts consumed me. I would start seeing someone and feel fine, but then the questions would creep in: Do I really like her? Do I find her attractive? Is she getting on my nerves? What if I’m with the wrong person? I’d break things off, thinking I was following my true feelings. But then I’d question: Was that really how I felt, or was it just OCD? I tried again and again, each time hoping I could “withstand it this time,” only to fall back into the same cycle. The back and forth hurt both me and the person I was with. By the time I realized it was ROCD, the damage had been done, and I still hadn’t built the tools to manage it. Now, at 28, I know I need to approach dating differently. I recently talked to someone from a dating app, and my OCD still showed up—questioning my every move, making me doubt my own decisions. I haven’t yet done ERP specifically for ROCD, but I know that’s my next step. Just like I’ve learned tools for managing my other OCD subtypes, I need a set of strategies for when intrusive doubts hit in relationships. My goal this year is to stop letting uncertainty control me—to learn how to sit with doubt instead of trying to “figure it out.” I want to break the cycle and be able to build something healthy without my OCD sabotaging it. I know I’m not alone in this, and I know healing is possible. I’m hopeful that working with a therapist will help me develop exposures and thought loops to practice. I don’t expect to eliminate doubt entirely—after all, doubt is a part of every relationship—but I want to reach a place where it doesn’t paralyze me. Where I can move forward without constantly questioning whether I should. And where I can be in a relationship without feeling like OCD is pulling the strings. I would appreciate hearing about your experiences with ROCD. Please share your thoughts or any questions in the comments below. I’d love to connect and offer my perspective. Thanks!
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