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Is it normal to not feel like your self with all these harm thoughts , mine are so bad that I feel like I’m losing my old self the sweet person I just want to go back to normal but these thoughts feel so real and as if there going to happen am I the only one ?

Hello! I started NoCD three weeks ago but my therapist said I may benefit from IOP. Im in the process of being placed there. Has any one done IOP?

Has anyone experienced False memories with cheating ocd? I have this memory that I kissed a friend while I was super drunk but he said it didn’t happen and so did my other friend who was there. I’m terrified and feel awful and guilty and I don’t know what to do.

Hey everyone! Hope the new year is going well for everyone so far. I'm seeking some advice for managing anxiety spikes related to a menstrual cycle. I completed NOCD therapy a bit ago (whoop-whoop!) and feel like I'm fairly successful managing my OCD most of the time. But I've noticed a very distressing pattern lately. About a week before my period starts, my OCD becomes very hard to manage. I get terrified, frozen to do anything, and get triggered super easily by things I can normally brush off. This lasts until a couple days after my period starts, which is normally when the anxiety wave "breaks" and I feel back to my "normal self". In total, I can spend 10-12 days in this awful anxiety funk, which has been hard because I feel like I've made so much overall progress in my recovery. I really try to prepare for this each month and be extra strong, but I feel like I have to break down into tears at some time and can't get through my cycle without at least one big breakdown. I also feel extra isolated during this time, as my bf (who's been super supportive of my OCD experience and am truly grateful for him) does not have the most sympathy when it comes to my period. I don't think he understands how much this affects me. I would love any tips/strategies for how people manage this time, so it's not as disruptive. I know it won't be perfect, but I think I could be doing more to manage this time better. Thanks! :)

Hey all, I was wondering if any of you had any ROCD hacks revolving around nitpicking your partners flaws. This is something I struggle with and am looking for exercises to help reduce these hellish thoughts. I want to not be as judgeful and relaxed around my partner

Does lust take a strange form for you since Ur a OCD sufferer? Like, any normal person would not look and that would be just fine for them but for me it's like, my mind is so focused on that or trying to get me to believe I lusted or something. I'm not even looking at it but it's just in my view, my focus isn't onto the lustful thing but again, it's still in my view. I don't think about it in my mind, I do get that strange sexual feeling that I recon most OCD sufferers get when dealing with these kinds of things, like, Ur feelings are set off by Ur mind and it only kinda makes you feel even more like it's true. I don't know what to do, I know something is off, if this was lust and it was the same for every Christian then fr, we should gauge an eye out....I don't get it. I've been dealing with this for a long time and I tough it was just me having a lust problem that would just, after some time of fighting with it, dissaper, but it's not like that, I can't do school, watch movies do anything, it used to be triggered even when a family member would pass by me.

i want to apologize in advance because this is not specific to ocd and i would hate to feel as though im abusing this community but i just need a safe place to talk rn. basically any friend groups that ive had in the past have fallen apart and i feel like im left with very few friends. i have a loving bf, a bsf, and a great roommate but i go to college out of state so i dont get to see my bsf or my bf as often as id like. my roommate and i are close but she has other friends so shes not always available. i have a few other friends but they all either make loose plans, live far away, or we arent close enough to hang out. my bf and bsf see me as someone who is easy to get along with and funny and kind, all that good stuff so i wonder why my friend group at home and at college fell apart and why i cant bounce back from it. my bf has a friend group and my bsf even has some ppl she hangs out with often so why dont i? i didnt even know who to invite to my bday last year so i just spent the day with my bf which was amazing dont get me wrong, but at the start i was trying to plan a bigger gathering. its just rly hard sometimes and i just needed to vent a little. though i cant help but wonder if im the problem somehow. :(

Hi I have tired erp therapy not for long enough tho helped to a certain extent but has anyone tried any medications that actually work ? I have never tried any and just want to see if anyone’s notice good amount of difference with their ocd /rocd once taking medication ?

Hi, so I have never been diagnosed with ocd but it runs in my family. I hadn’t really struggled with intrusive thoughts as much until recently. (TW: discussion of triggering content) So on Xmas day, i was watching random YouTube videos and came across a true crime one and they had gone over his case and how he did bad things to kids and regarding kids (SA). They mentioned a website where the criminal had gotten certain content abt children and it triggered me for some reason. I’ve heard these kinds of things before and I’ve watched other crime videos and stuff but for some reason my little adhd brain attached to the website name and my brain went that’s an easy find. And then from there it spiraled and I started wondering why I cared if that stuff was there and that I must be awful bc obviously I want to see it but I didn’t and don’t. But my brain convinced me I did. And then when i went to work the next day (i work at a daycare) i found out that some random person had sent that kind of stuff to our work computer and someone described it to me and i couldn’t get the images out of my head. I started seeing these things around my kids and then my brain started to mess with me even more and I freaked out and then my brain supplied images of me doing stuff and i freaked out more and made myself sick and felt awful the rest of my shift. I would never hurt my kids and I have never had these thoughts before. But my brain latched onto these thoughts and it sucked and it tried to convince me that I’ve always wanted this stuff but i haven’t. I went home and continued to freak out internally. I never went onto that website but I did go to regular adult ones I knew and typed in words to report anything I saw and to make sure I’d never see anything but I found nothing. I felt like I had to type these things or id explode. And then I felt disgusting for needing to in the first place. And then recently I checked myself to see if I would react to any of those thoughts in /that/ way and I feel gross for checking and stuff. Im so scared. My whole career goals and life goals revolve around kids and helping them and now I have these awful images and intrusive thoughts. And I’m afraid of myself. I can’t eat or sleep that well, im always anxious, i can’t live anymore and I’m scared. I did research and found out about pocd and how ocd can do this to people after triggering situations and such. And then I found this app and it has shown me so much. Honestly Im afraid of what people will think of me, even on here. I just want everything to go away and to go back to being happy and somewhat care-free, at least in this aspect. If any of y’all have advice I’d love it. I promise im not seeking reassurance as I read abt the detriments of that too, i just don’t want to feel alone. Sorry for the long post, I hope you all are doing well.

24, UK. Feel so alone

My psychiatrist just called my intrusive thoughts ‘fantasies’…

Yesterday was the hardest session I have ever had with NOCD. Some of my compulsions include seeking assurance from others and assuring myself. So I’ve been working on getting better at not giving into those. Yesterday I was doing ERP with my therapist, and a response prevention message I told myself was that “God has my life in His hands, and I can sit with this uncertainty.” My therapist told me to be careful with how I use that statement. And I have never felt more misunderstood. I was hurt after this because as a Christian, God is my only true form of assurance. Yesterday I felt like I wasn’t allowed to run to God when I felt anxious and afraid, but that is communicated SO many times in the Bible. I spiraled yesterday, questioning my faith and just panicking. My takeaway from yesterday was that my assurance from God is not the same assurance that my broken mind tells me I need. I can ALWAYS run to the Lord when I’m anxious. I’m still so confused when seeking assurance is “okay”. I’m confused how to do ERP, but still be able to ground myself in my faith in God. I am trying to sit with this uncertainty today because that’s what I’ve been taught. I don’t need to know exactly why God allowed OCD into my life, and I don’t need to know how to navigate it perfectly yet. It is SO HARD to know when assurance seeking is a compulsion and when I just need the divine, sovereign assurance of my Father in heaven who cares for me and will never leave me. Praying for all who are asking where God is in the midst of OCD, You are loved. He is always with you. <3

Hello again, folks. I hope you're having a happy New Year so far! I'm still stuck in a loop and I am afraid to break it. My anxiety theme is being the one to contaminate things and spread germs/bacteria, especially from the bathroom. It's probably rooted in responsibility/moral scrupulosity. (Heck I even feel guilty posting here because I haven't been diagnosed and am just ASSUMING that I'm falling into this particular mental illness hole. I also want to help others but I don't know how...) (Possible TMI ahead. Tagging as a TW to be safe) I do not know how I am going to ever get out of this, because doing "exposures" such as not wiping down the soap pump or taps if any dirty part of my hands touches it before someone else can use it, or if my shirt brushes waste areas and I don't change it, or not washing if my arm touches the inside of my leg where the "dirtier" part of my underwear touch when I dress/undress for the washroom visits... well, to me that seems like deliberately spreading germs to others when I have no right to do that. I understand that the world isn't completely sanitary. I realize that human bodies aren't ever sterile. The issue I am having is that my AWARENESS of the things that I do feels like I would be doing harm/making things even more unclean/potentially dangerous for other people. I cannot take that guilt. YES, the risk of illness is small. YES there are some VERY unhygenic folks out there. YES there are always bacteria, and few of them are actually pathogenic. NO, this is not a worry most people have. HOWEVER.... I cannot tell what is excessive washing anymore. It all seems "logical" and "appropriate" to me, and if I try not to do it, it feels like I am only not doing it because I'm just selfish or irresponsible. Or doing harm on purpose just for the sake of my own convenience. Sure, some of my "old" habits could legitimately undergo improvement, but I just... want this out of my head. I want to go back on autopilot and not overthink something so simple and mundane as a trip to the washroom. Or even a shower. I don't want to have anxiety if I feel the urge to void. How is it that getting clean can involve so much getting dirty?

Thanks but no thanks, OCD. What does OCD latch onto for you?

I have recently come out as bisexual and I am married and have a child. I have been constantly measuring how I feel around my husband and others the same sex as me. Distressing thoughts of should I be with a woman instead? I go in and out of these stressful periods. For a few months I am content and happy and then an intrusive thought about being attracted to women can send me into a spiral for a few weeks. I also analyze past relationships and feelings of attraction I've had to men and women in the past. Does anyone experience anything similar to this? What are some things that have helped you in the past? I am in therapy and on ocd meds. Thank you in advance!

My younger brother (21) is intensely germaphobic (hand washing, wearing gloves to touch anything, making as little bodily contact as possible with surfaces), and it’s affecting his sleep and daily life as a whole. I need advice as the older brother (27) on how to help him through this. Please.

In 2023, I plan to put myself and my mental health first! Who's with me? ?? If you have been thinking about starting ERP therapy, this is a perfect time! When I was in the depths of intrusive thoughts and mental compulsions, I never thought my life could get better. And now here I am getting to speak with all of you about recovering from this awfully difficult condition. There is much opportunity if you can give ERP a try. If you've been thinking about getting started but have felt hesistant - please share your hesitancies here! I know I had many myself.

Struggling with OCD, I often find myself being my own worst critic: "I gave into that compulsion" or "I ruminated over this intrusive thought." It's easy to bring ourselves down, but we are all doing our best to fight back against the OCD and we deserve self-care! Personally, I love to pamper myself with a face mask and relaxing music. What about you? How can you be kind and compassionate to yourself today?

Does anyone have any tips on harm ocd? How to deal with it and how to stop thinking about it on purpose? Anything helps

For sperm ocd for me it invokes the fear of getting pregnant but you know how ocd is what you value and ect I can’t figure out how this theme is a value or why it’s like and ocd theme for me?