One of the intrusive thoughts that I always get is that my friends don't want me around or don't want to talk to me. If a friend of mine hasn't responded to me in some time, I have thoughts that they are trying to avoid talking to me. I know logically that it isn't true, but I get an urge to send them more messages. Most of the time the new messages are just things I wanted to tell them anyway, but I think they might also be almost like a compulsion to test if they will respond. I don't know if any of you have any ideas about this, but how would I do ERP with this? I mean I want to talk to them but I also don't know if I should message them as I have been.

Hi - just for some context, I have OCD and ADHD. I hate bringing this up, but with these diagnoses, when intertwined, there is ALWAYS a thought. I never stop thinking. This is really hard, especially because I feel like I always need to be talking to someone. Whether it’s my friends or family, talking to people brings me down to earth from certain kinds of thought spirals. However, when I’m alone it is the hardest. When my friends don’t reply I have this compulsion to text again or I need to constantly check my notifications so that I have none left to check. But then to them or new people I talk to, this behavior probably comes across as overwhelming or too much. I’m trying to control it and use erp, but also, I have my moments where I’m just vunerable and give into the compulsion. It’s genuinely so embarassing and maybe not as big a deal as I’m making it out to be but, how do I manage? And how do I relax?

I have lots of intrusive thoughts about “what if I did something wrong” or “what if I hurt someone without realizing it” in the past and have an overwhelming urge to reach out to everyone I’ve dated and ask if they are okay with me (even though doing so would be super weird and random to them probably). Is this a common experience? My thoughts feel so convincing that it has progressed from a much more mild state to full out believing what my thoughts say about me although no one has ever said anything bad about me (to my knowledge) and I’ve always been a loving and respectful partner. Three of my past girlfriends have told me that I was the best to them and they are forever grateful for the time they spent with me yet I still have thoughts about them and others! Any guidance is appreciated, I feel as if I’m alone with these worries! I need help to stop seeking reassurance.

For the last year or so (10 months) I have had an obsession with developing schizophrenia after learning about prodrome from a Twitter comment section. I have a history of health OCD going back seven years with everything from balding, Lyme, MS, stroke, and rabies being themes. This obsession with schizophrenia has led me to have intrusive thoughts and compulsions around checking to see if I'm hallucinating, checking to see if I believe conspiracy theories, checking to see if I'm paranoid or mistrustful, and checking to see if I have memory issues/dissociation. Steadily with ERP many of these have been chipped away but I had to move recently and cease treatment for the time being until I can find a new therapist in my area. I'm now stuck in a loop trying to find out if I'm paranoid, checking in with my mind constantly to see if I'm afraid of being watched/tracked/etc.; I frequently get these intrusive thoughts now and I'm really scared that they mean I'm developing psychosis and I don't know what to do to deal with them. I've been able to do exposures for memory/dissociation/hallucinations and I don't really worry about those anymore, but this paranoia thing is so sticky I'm not sure what kind of exposures would work. I'm already on Zoloft 100mg and am not sure how to get this feeling to go away with ERP. Has anyone had experience with treating this theme? Thank you so much for your support