- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 3y
I can relate
I’m sorry :/ I wish this wasn’t a thing and we could just be at peace.
@OCD33 I’m sorry for you as well, we deserve to feel satisfied with those we love
@PinkLotus I try to give myself hope that ocd attacks what we love and care about most
@OCD33 It sounds crazy, but I really hope that’s true because the alternative seems so ugly and cruel
@PinkLotus I just don’t get it- if my fiancé and I were to end things , I wouldn’t go pursue a girl, I’d be looking for a guy again and I’m sure this cycle would keep on going 😭 I’ve had this theme on and off for a while but it got debilitating when I met my fiancé because I was the happiest I had ever been.
@OCD33 I feel the exact same way, I’d rather have anxiety-riddled intimacy with another man than end up with a woman 😪this theme started for me last year and branched off of rocd. My rocd also began when I was the happiest I had ever been with my boyfriend. Ocd is truly a beast
@PinkLotus I’m so sorry :( I believe in us though. I started a new medication and am still in therapy. I don’t think I lean in hard enough though for therapy because I’m scared of this actually being true. I also have never been “turned on” just by looking at a man, which scares me :( I need connection, touch, humor, etc
@OCD33 Yeah I think sometimes I flat out ignore the possibility of it being ocd and would rather just try to “fix” the thought which is so obviously a compulsion. But I’m the same in the arousal aspect , I love seeing him naked but I need more than that to be aroused. It’s a slippery slppe
Hi OCD33, as you mentioned, OCD definitely does attack what we care about most because it knows it can cause us the most doubt and feed it the attention it craves. The fact that you said being with your fiancé is the happiest you’ve ever been, is most likely why your OCD bully has latched on so hard to this intrusive thought. Try to remember also, that you are not your intrusive thoughts, you know you love him, try not to let it make you doubt that. Does your fiancé know about your OCD and have you talked to him about intimacy being hard for you? There is nothing wrong with needing more than just good look to turn you on, a lot of people require an actual connection and actual deeper feelings for someone to be truly attractive and turn them on. It’s a difference between feeling lust and love sometimes. The medication you are on may also be causing some roadblocks or delays in intimacy, a lot of SSRIs can have that effect. As you mentioned you are tending to not lean hard into therapy about this because you don’t want it to be true. Have you brought this up at all with your therapist? Again, you are not your intrusive thoughts and your intrusive thoughts only gain weight if you let them. You know how you and your fiancé feel about each other, try not to let the OCD bully convince you otherwise. Also, if you haven’t done so please talk to your therapist and if you feel comfortable your fiancé about this as well. I am sorry that these thoughts are troubling you, but you can overcome this, especially with help from your therapist (possibly your fiancé as well) and ERP. Take care and best wishes.
Thank you so much for taking the time to reply to my post with so much thought and kindness. My fiancé does know all about it and he is very supportive. He went to therapy with me a couple of times to learn about ocd. My therapist is great but knows I do not sit with the uncertainty like I should. Sometimes I just don’t like talking to my fiancé about it because ocd is exhausting. When this theme got bad again 2 years ago I could not get out of bed, I was throwing up everyday. I am doing much better now but the thoughts are still there 24/7 for the most part. I think my biggest thing I struggle with is arousal and being “turned on” when I have seen women portrayed sexually. I also had my barbies and sims make out when I was a kid. All of this is “proof” to my ocd and I can’t seem to let go. My fiancé is the best thing to ever happen to me and we are in such a healthy relationship, it just breaks my heart. Thank you again for responding.
@OCD33 That’s great to hear that he is very supportive and understanding and has even gone to therapy to learn and understand more and I’m very glad that you have a very healthy relationship and no matter how much your ocd tries to make you doubt it, remember how much he loves you and how much you love him and how happy you make each other. Sitting with uncertainty is not an easy thing to do at all, I would never claim that it is not that I can 100% sit or live with uncertainty about all my thoughts and obsessions like I should eitherr, I don’t think anyone can. I wish I could make those thoughts magically leave your mind, but unfortunately the best I can do is encourage you to stick with ERP and your therapy and even though they may always be there, you may be able to turn the volume down on them low enough that they fade into the background and you dont’t even really notice whether they are there or not anymore. Not to delve into reassurance, but to me the “proof” your ocd is trying to latch onto seems perfectly normal and just means your were aware of intimacy and curious about it as a kid and I can’t count how many times that female friends and girlfriends have acknowledged being somewhat turned on or attracted to women portrayed sexually without it meaning they didn’t love their boyfriend or me, just recognizing and appreciating the beauty and sexuality and it sparking something in them. But back to sitting with the intrusive thought…so what if it takes more than just seeing him naked to get you aroused, doesn’t mean he loves you any less or you love him any less, it’s just something you are working to get thru and you will, especially with someone so supportive they have done to therapy with you, I believe in you.
@BK You are seriously so kind. You don’t even know me and you are taking the time to write so much to me with so much support. You have no idea how much that means to me. Thank you. OCD will try to make everything seem like a big deal. I also Google like difference between attraction and arousal, of course being turned on by females, the Google rabbit hole. I don’t Google as much anymore. Someone on this app told me I might be a lesbian because I have never been “turned on” looking @ a naked male but I have with female erotic. (Me typing that now my mind is thinking you think I’m a lesbian) Anyone who thank you so much. How is your ocd journey?
So pretty much I’ve been dealing with intrusive thoughts my entire life, I had no idea could’ve been symptom of OCD until maybe a year ago , I have this fear right now that I don’t actually love my fiancé and I’m not attracted to men. I am attracted to men. Let me be clear. I’m not attracted to females. I never have been and I never will be. But it’s one of the scariest thoughts I’ve ever had that I don’t actually care about the person that I would sacrifice anything for that I would do anything for. He’s pretty much the closest family that I have and I just wanna be with him for the rest of my life. A couple months ago was that I just didn’t care at all, and I didn’t have any feelings and everything that I felt was me being fake in that nothing was real. But I eventually got over that and the new thought is that I’m actually gay even though I know I’m not. And in the world we live in now where it’s be yourself be you if it comes across your mind. That’s the obvious truth. Be yourself… It’s kind of scary to think about. I just want it to leave me alone. I’m actually so scared that eventually I’ll believe it because some thoughts that I’ve learned were intrusive. I ended up starting to believe and it turned into a whole catastrophe for my life. I met this girl and she felt a certain way about her husband and then she told me that eventually I’ll feel that way and ever since then I just I haven’t gotten over this fear that I’m gonna end up feeling the same way she is. Also, I recently got over a few themes. I’m not ready to share, but I’m so proud that I got over those and I just I’m waiting for this one to leave me alone and it’s not and I’m starting to get really scared that it’s true and I don’t want it to be true. and just to be very clear I don’t care who you love what you love who you like what you identify as because you can in fact be yourself but this just doesn’t feel like me. I’m genuinely reaching out to try to get help for this because now it’s messing with our personal life. We’ve never argued so much in our entire relationship and now I realize that it’s mainly my fault because I’m detaching myself from all emotion just so that I can get over this thought I’m detaching myself from all intimacy and that’s even scarier because what if it’s not me detaching myself and it’s me just not being attracted that’s another thought I’ve hadI’ve gone all long enough so thanks.
I’m like 90% sure I’m just bi, more romantically inclined to men, mainly my bf who I wanna marry. But now my brain is like “if you lean into liking women or keep circling and circling for answers you’ll lose all attraction to men and your bf. You’re practically already a lesbian” I feel so tense and anxious I will admit I am talking to chat gpt out of desperation I’m scared of losing all attraction to him I don’t wanna be thinking about women. I don’t unless I’m really stressed cuz when I’m stressed my ocd can take advantage of that I can usually ground myself when I’m in the city with him but I’m back home for most of the summer and I can’t be physically close to him which usually reminds me that hey this is real this is what I really want in life. Him But then I panic and question I haven’t been here in a while tbh. I’m worried I don’t feel enough. I don’t like magic Mike all that much, I like softer guys. But now the fact I don’t like/get turned on by random men on tv but do women in lingerie really stresses me out and makes me worry I’m truly a lesbian but I’m not. Once I started getting to know my bf and my ex bf’s I really did truly genuinely like them and wanted to make out and everything. Idk can anyone relate to the not liking big buff men All my brain is repeating rn is “when he dies you’ll be able to date a woman, when you break up you’ll only wanna date women” and it’s stressing me out. It’s making me nauseous. I was doing well for about a couple days after I initially left but being at home has been so incredibly draining This might give you a vision of how stressful home is: I’ve been on nexplanon for 7 months ish? Only had very minimal spotting during a stressful school period. Today: fully bleeding, like a usual period. I haven’t had my period since having it put in. I wanna go back to my bf so badly rn. I’m so worried I’m faking or don’t feel enough. I’m learning what a healthy relationship looks like and I’m terrified I’m gonna up and leave him when we’re older cuz I’ll finally figure out that I’m a lesbian or smthn. Idk. Someone pls just help me out a tad
When I was single, I watched a lot of porn, specifically lesbian porn even though I’m straight. When I got into my current relationship I dwindled down and eventually stopped watching porn of any kind, around six or so months ago. I had a flare up recently that has caused me to question every part of myself including my sexuality and my identity, my relationship, and other things that are important and valued to me, and porn keeps popping up in all of these things. I feel like my porn usage was me cheating on my boyfriend, especially in the early parts of our relationship. I broke down to him last month about it and he said it was okay, that he forgives me, but I’m still hung up on it because I can’t shake the feeling that I’ve wronged him and that I’m a terrible person and that I need to leave him because of this. This is so excruciatingly painful. I don’t want to keep confessing over and over and over again, but I don’t want to be a dirty lying cheater, which I feel like I am.
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