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I am taking care of my father. I have harm OCD. My obsessions are about him. Is anyone in a similar situation?

for context,, theres a 10 yr age gap between me n my sister and an 18 yr age gap w me and my newb brother. the birth of my sister was the first trigger to my pocd. it was severe and sent me into terrible depression that i didnt know how to ever talk about bc of how disgusting i felt, and only got worse as time went on. i "coped" (my rituals) w avoidance, ruminating, research, etc. the past few years have been easier as ive been parentified n havent rlly had a choice, but its still there n ive never really been able to get thru rlly bad moments without either shuttting down or performing the rituals. i was doing better though recently. then boom. a new baby in the house. half of me avoids him because i dont want to develop a bond before leaving the state in like 3 months. i don't want to be parentified and i dont need that added separation anxiety. the other half is the pocd n harm ocd. everytime i see him, hear him, hold him, even think of him, the intrusive thoughts get so so so bad that i depersonalize and even after performing rituals, im in distress. ive been trying to mask by playful teasing, joking that the dog is my favorite brother, isolating, etc. but my parents keep trying to insist i spend more and more time with him. i feel like im going to snap. i dont feel safe with myself or him. i js wanna yell "i dont love him", partly bc its true, and not that i hate him, i js don't feel anything beyond neutrality towards him and distress around him (which i obv do not blame him for). ive had multiple meltdowns already because knowing all of this makes me feel like an absolutely terrible sibling, to him and my sister, and i dont know what to do other than finding excuses because i know if i outright tell them all of this, they will see me differently for the worst. but idk how long i can keep it to myself anymore. its too much and i dont feel like i have anyone to go to. i dont want reassurance for the kind of person or sibling i am or the pocd or harm ocd, i js want to know what the hell i should do because if my parents press me one more time im going to say smth i regret.

Someone please help. My TOCD started a month ago and I’ve been so miserable and unable to find an answer since. My amazing fucking boyfriend has been there through every step of the way. I even went to get help when I realised how badly it was affecting him. Our relationship has always been everything I could ever fucking ask for. I imagined me marrying him, us being parents, etc. But ever since this TOCD started I’m so on edge with him all the time. He’s so caring and instead of admiring him like I used to I’m so convinced I’m jealous and that I want his body. I can’t even think of my own body because his just seems suddenly preferable to me. In the 2.5 years we’ve been together I don’t recall EVER wishing I was him or being jealous. But I just cannot feel attracted to him or admire him anymore because my mind either asks me too many questions and keeps checking, or I just straight up feel jealous. Yes I did want a more androgynous body ideally but I was accepting of it. With him while we cuddle I just feel so unfulfilled and sad. I can’t do anything with him anymore and I feel like I’m putting in a girlfriend act. During s3x it’s especially hard because I am in a very feminine role which I enjoyed and never questioned before but now I feel disconnected and like I’d rather be in his place - I don’t really think that and never have thought of that before but I now just see it as “better”. I need help. I just want to love him again but I feel like that’s not “me”. The worst part is I have always had awful ROCD and terrifying of losing him. And with my best girl friends I feel fine and even can forget about my intrusive thoughts but they get stronger with my boyfriend.

Today is Father's Day as you know and my baby daddy, 2 babies and I are going to another city right near us to celebrate with another family that we know. My anexity is thru the roof and I'm just so scared to go. My ocd takes over me 24/7 but especially when I'm in public, around people or in a different place. I just don't want my ocd to take over me and prevent me from being present and I don't want my compulsions to get so serve that I'm just living in my head. It's so hard for me to enjoy life and doing normal things that normal people are able to do and enjoy. I just needed to get that off my chest. I know today isn't about me but it's so difficult to put my mental issues aside and be there for someone else if that makes any sense. I feel like a have a 30 pound weight on my chest. I also just got in a fight with some girl at Starbucks cuz she wouldn't make my drink how I asked (I work at Starbucks too) and I know my drink can be made the way I ask for it to be made. I let my emotions come over me and I started yelling and cursing at her with my kids in the car. Now I just feel so down and so so guilty that I acted that way and let something so small effect me, my mood, and my feelings so much. Ughhhh I just keep praying over and over but god is also part of my ocd so praying just enables my ocd to take over me even more. I really hope someone can relate to me or has advice for me. #help

Boyfriend initiated. Idk why I was not connected while it was happening though. Now I’m thinking a lot. Am I meant to be attracted to just the sight of his body? Is it okay if my arousal is only contextual or based on how they make me feel? I felt almost dissociated a tiny bit while it was happening and idk why, that hasn’t always happened. Ik this sounds like reassurance seeking but what part of this is unfair beliefs around how sexuality is vs what part of this is OCD overthinking. I dont get all that much out of making the other person feel good, i do it because I care about them but it doesnt arouse me directly. Ik that sounds selfish but thats why i feel insecure about this

When I was growing up in my early twenties and involved in drugs and a criminal lifestyle, I ended up in prison for something I didn't do. The first nights in jail made me reflect on my family and the mistakes I had made, feeling disappointed and ashamed. I found solace in a newspaper which I used for sexual gratification, and after three nights, I was transferred to a detention center where I spent a month. Feeling disappointed and overthinking, I started to regain sobriety and realize the gravity of my actions. Anxiety started to consume me, and I continued the sexual behavior as a coping mechanism. Everything felt new to me; I had never been away from my family for such a long time. I overthought and felt uncertain about my future. A few days into detention, around one week in, an intrusive thought about my mother entered my mind. It was a sexual thought/image, saying that I desired to have sex with my mother. I couldn't comprehend where this thought came from and became frightened, desperately wanting to get rid of it. I overthought and engaged in mental rituals, pretending as if the thought didn't exist, but it persisted and plagued my mind. This led to more intrusive thoughts. This is when HOCD (Homosexual Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder) began, and I started having homosexual thoughts and images. Incestuous thoughts emerged, and even pedophilic thoughts. I couldn't understand these thoughts because I had never had them before, but I tried to minimize and suppress them as if they didn't exist. However, they were constantly present, causing more insecurity and confusion. I started saying "I love my mother" and similar phrases to reassure myself that I hadn't become a terrible, evil person. I also believed that once I got out of prison, all of this would vanish. It was just the result of the prison environment and wouldn't carry over to the outside world. I was wrong because as soon as I was released from prison, the thoughts remained. This made me even more anxious and distressed. I genuinely believed that this was shameful and it affected me tremendously. I lived with shame and guilt. The thoughts multiplied and became more shameful and immoral. It began to revolve around pedophilic thoughts, homosexual thoughts, and incestuous thoughts, all of which I strongly opposed. I thought that I had become evil and burdened, and that I needed to live with this burden and endure it. My anxiety became increasingly extreme, leading to moments of isolation. I avoided certain social situations, and even when I was social, the feeling of shame was almost always there. I didn't even consider talking about this for two years. How would people understand these thoughts? What would people think of me? I began to think that I was a terrible person. How could I truly be a Muslim and have these thoughts? Where is my dignity and honor? What kind of man have I become? I cried and prayed to Allah, seeking refuge in Him. I started performing my prayers, believing that Allah was my only hope, as I had no one else to turn to. During these years, there were only a few days where I experienced immense and positive energy, usually in the evenings. I became super active and social and wanted to utilize it by interacting with girls, among other things. During this time, I met some girls, and on the days when I was extremely anxious, I ended up at Thai massage parlors where I sought sexual release. It provided temporary relief, as it confirmed that I wasn't homosexual. However, the thoughts and uncertainty returned immediately afterward, sometimes even during the act itself. I wanted to find a solution to this problem but didn't know where to turn. I tried to improve my daily life and live in a healthier and more favorable way, but it was challenging for me as anxiety took the better part of me. I took action and reflected on how I felt shame and anxiety. Deep down, I always knew that this wasn't me. This was something that had recently emerged, so how could it define me? There was a strength within me that fought against these thoughts every day, knowing that it would eventually pass, even though the feeling of hope wasn't always present when the thoughts and anxiety attacked. I began to understand that my last hope in this situation lay with my imams (religious leaders). I received a revelation from Allah, and I knew that I would soon travel to Iraq. I wasn't extremely excited since I would be traveling with these thoughts, but I had hope that I would return healed. After my pilgrimage, a few months later, I found an OCD program that I purchased. I listened to it, and the speaker explained all my symptoms, and I could relate to the entire program. It was such a relief to understand that this was a psychological illness and not something that defined who I truly am. Knowing that others suffer from this was the best feeling. Since then, I have decided to recover and become completely free from it. I have stuck to my daily exposure exercises, and recently, I have started meditating for about a week or two. Since my recovery journey began, I have been feeling much better, although some days can still be tough. However, I now know how to counter the thoughts and emotions. I see the light at the end of the tunnel, and I know that I'm on the right path. This experience has influenced my life by driving me to seek more knowledge about my religion and faith. I'm trying to get closer to God through knowledge because I know that the closer I get to God, the healthier I become. I have been regularly exercising and haven't given up on it since I don't want to risk feeling even worse. Recently, during my recovery journey, I haven't been meeting girls because I don't feel the same need for it right now. I haven't been intimate with any girls, but I have been meeting them, although not as frequently. I still have some uncertainty about whether I still like girls and desire men. This has resulted in a reduced sense of attraction and desire for the opposite sex. Furthermore, during my exposure exercises, I have experienced erections several times, which has caused extreme anxiety and unease. I have become insecure and sought answers. I understood that it was part of HOCD, and it reassured me. However, I still experience uncertainties about it and whether my HOCD is trying to figure out its true meaning regularly. Nevertheless, I now know how to counter these thoughts through acceptance and ignoring them, letting them exist without giving them power. Now, 2 months into my rehab, I feel like I've come a long way from where I was, and I almost feel completely healed. By that, I don't mean that thoughts and feelings never arise anymore, but rather that I know how to control myself and how little power they have now. It's almost as if they don't exist at all. I want to conclude on a positive note by saying that if I could overcome this, so can you. I lived for 2 years without even understanding what it was, and yet here I am today, feeling a hundred times better. Keep fighting, soldiers!

I’m having a horrible time today with my OCD. I worked a 7 hour shift in which the checkout line was consistent. There was many children in the line as well as all type of people, ranging from clean to smelly to outright dirty. All day I’ve been feeling as if there are piojos (lice) in my hair and even imagined the feeling of them falling onto my neck. I know I do not have them, but I have been picking at my scalp until it bleeds for the past hour because I feel as if there are piojos in my hair or bugs under my scalp. I keep having thoughts to take a knife and dig into my scalp to create an opening to pull the bugs out even tho I know there isn’t any and that I would only be harming myself. How do I combat my bug-related OCD??? And what is a healthy alternative for skin picking when I feel as if I have bugs under my skin??

I have dealt with this theme for a long time. Some days are better than others. I have dealt with many many intrusive thoughts, false attraction, groinal response, fear, etc. I have been dealing with real event ocd and it’s been terrible. I have noticed lately it’s kind of loosened it’s grip a little and now I’m dealing with intrusive thoughts, false attraction and a lot of fear all over again and I’m so tired of it. You’d think after dealing with it for so long that I would get used to it and for a long time I thought it was going away since it wasn’t the main theme that was causing so much pain. Unfortunately this theme attacks my family members especially my little niece who is now 12. She’s growing up so fast and unfortunately this theme attacks the people you love most and would literally take a bullet for. She’s the only thing I have left of my brother who passed away. It saddens me that I can’t spend time with her or whatever because of this terrible theme. I wish it would just go away. I’m so tired. I would do anything to make it stop. I’ve tried ERP and maybe at this time I just need to hit the erp harder like my therapist would help me through but I don’t have a therapist anymore due to financial reasons. She is growing up and I don’t know what’s normal anymore because people will call her “beautiful” and “pretty” on Facebook and when I think about it or say it, it just feels wrong. She takes weird selfies though for her age. She acts like she’s 16 and she’s only 12 about to turn 13. I don’t understand why this theme comes back stronger from time to time. I also pretty much stopped talking my medicine too (Sertraline) which I shouldn’t have done but I felt like I didn’t need it for the longest time plus it upsets my stomach. I just want my life back. I want to be around my family and my niece without the bs intrusive thoughts and weird emotions that literary don’t make sense and I would never want to be real. My family and I are going on vacation in a couple weeks for 10 days and she’s going with us. I just know the ocd won’t let me have peace. I could do erp and say “maybe, maybe not” but I just want it to end. I’m so upset it hurts 💔

I don’t know what’s real anymore, every time i see a women on my screen or on a tv show I “feel” something down there making me think that I wanna do something with a women or that I’m bi or lesbian. I even sometimes look up and down at a women’s body and I get the same responses which adds on more to the uncertainty and makes me feel anxious. I also sometimes feel pressured to come out as bi even though I know that isn’t who I am and my whole life I’ve only loved men and even wanna marry a man and have a kid. I’m also in a relationship with my boyfriend and I’ve been having a hard time enjoying my time with him because of the anxiety and stress I’ve been dealing with as well as the pressure or acting on these thoughts. The thoughts are making me second guess myself every time and idk if it is HOCD or just in denial anymore. Everything feels so real and it’s making me stress. I just wanna go back to how I was, enjoying my relationship with my boyfriend and just looking at women as just women and nothing else. Does anyone have any recommendations on how to calm these thoughts, like what do I say to myself?

I think the most frustrating thing about this disorder is…. WHEN you have been very well off and then when you get hit with more intrusive thoughts more frequently you start to believe them. I’m by no means back where i use to be, but it certainly sucks when you’re getting hit with a bunch of thoughts when prior uiu were fine 🤣 How is everyone doing?

I'm pretty new to NOCD and only recently discovered I have OCD. I've never really heard of anyone else have this kind of OCD that I have but it's basically obsessing over being an incel. I am 21 years old and still a kissless virgin and I've been rejected a lot on dating apps which caused me to internalize this fear that my personality is inherently undesirable to women. This unfortunately causes me to think about killing myself almost everyday out of a fear that I will be alone for the rest of my youth and be a virgin well into my late 20s and maybe even 30s. It got so bad that I seriously considered buying a shotgun one weekend and I told my counselor about this plan and got sent to a psych ward for a few days. I was never really a misogynist before I developed this obsession and I am good friends with women like my sister and my friends gfs but I still feel like there is something wrong with me that will cause me to never get into a relationship. I was wondering if there's anyone else dealing with thoughts like this. I really hope that my therapist can help me get through this terrible obsession because I want to be free and go back to being a normal and happy person.

Reassurance is a bit of a taboo subject in most OCD communities. The seeking of reassurance is considered the most pervasive and commonplace compulsion there is. Apps like this one are flooded with individuals actively seeking to be reassured of their fears because it's the only way they know how to handle the stresses of uncertainty. What I'm proposing is a wild and perhaps dangerous idea. I don't think asking for reassurance is wrong within itself. Don't get me wrong, asking for reassurance compulsively is detrimental to recovery, but I think we tend to perhaps demonize it too much. You wouldn't tell someone with contamination themes to stop washing their hands forever, so why do we tell people to never seek reassurance? Even non-OCD people need reassurance from time to time, are we going to tell them they shouldn't? Take it from someone with sexual orientation themes, it is tough not to ask for reassurance at times. I don't do it all the time, but occasionally, when I've lost all sense of who I am and what I'm doing, I need to be reassured as to who I am, to remind me about what I value. The only way to truly overcome OCD is to do the things that matter to you regardless of your thoughts and behaviors. I still struggle with this. I want nothing more than to date girls and find someone I can love forever, but I still let my fear get in the way. But by reminding myself that my thoughts can't change who I really am, I can pursue my dreams, and in doing so, I can let go of my fear and uncertainty. You can't escape uncertainty through tests and ruminations. The only way to escape uncertainty is to make your own certainty by determining your actions and following through with them regardless of what you may feel or think. OCD will become powerless to stop you, and without your attention to leech off of, it will fade away. So do whatever it takes to build up the courage to do what matters to you, and if that means asking for reassurance, do it. Don't do it just to alleviate your fear, do it so that you can have the courage to act on your values. I like to compare it to a knight on a quest. Once your mission has begun, let nothing keep you from completing the task you swore an oath to fulfill. Godwilling, nothing will be able to stop you, let alone a few neuron misfires and extra adrenaline. The power is in you, the ball is in your court, the choice is yours, as it has always been. Face your fears and show the world you will not be chained. You will be free.

I have a ocd obsession that I know no one else has and it’s seriously terrifying. The “you’re not alone” is a bunch of bs and I know that now Bc of this. Anyone else have one that not many others have?😭

Im curious about others experience, am aware this might be a compulsion, but i still think to recover from ocd you need to understand ocd. I recovered from other types of ocd cause i realized whats the pattern. So how bad yall suicidal ocd become? Mine was like i couldnt sleep, i had the thoughts in my mind all night, it was like i desperately wanted it, to escape from pain but the same time i felt so much guilt for it and i was afraid asf... i had that "theres something wrong with me, im in danger, i need help asp(thats why i dont like if people ask us do you feel like you are in danger...like i have ocd ofcourse i do...) But i cant move on from that, that it comes up when i stress out myself, i want to escape from the thoughts and i think "i want to die" this sounds like a real one. I even got there that it gave me a intrusive happiness or calmness feeling which made me afraid then that im in danger. So i cant tell it, i have guilt,.my mind constantly tell me im avoiding cause my therapist said im not in danger but i do want to escape from the pain(doesnt that makes me suicidal?) and i dont want to believe that cause it makes me feel bad about myself but my mind says i deny it thats why...I had this "escape from the thoughts" situation too when i had a "whats the point if we just suffer" thought, and these felt so real...

So this is the scenario: Yesterday at work I passed by a customer that was wearing shorts, he had what looked like a scab/other sort of "wound" on his knee/calf area. Of course, my anxiety spikes at just SEEING this and brain immediately goes, "did we touch that/him". I fire back, "no brain, we do not make a habit of touching people PERIOD, much less their legs/knees/wounds. Plus I was walking by him, dragging a stock cart." Took awhile to get that message through, but I did. As I was calming down, brain goes, "did the garbage bag tied to your cart touch him? It touched your clothes/pants, and now when you walk home your clothes and purse will touch. You need to disinfect your purse or you will get hep C. Etc etc..." It was so close to the end of my shift I couldn't fight it, so I used the bleach spray on my purse and watch when I got home. Then cleaned the bathroom sink/cabinets/counter. I had closed the zipper on the pocket where my wallet is before leaving work but I didn't disinfect my wallet/inside that pocket or my belt. I thought about it and kind of poked my wallet while doing the rest... Brain insists that my wallet/possibly belt are contaminated with hep C virus/that dude's blood and I don't think so. I am OK with using my wallet, but... "You will spread the contamination through your house and while you might not get it from this, you are putting your mother at risk." I can't really even do my usual "tell/warn her" after I use the wallet (to pay bills/get stuff at work/etc) because I KNOW this is stupid and based on a "what if" that feels like it was an intrusive thought. I haven't used the wallet yet and this is honestly killing me inside. I know logically this chain of "contamination" is ridiculous, IF the bag thing even happened, IF that dude was even bleeding at all, IF he is even infected... I have ample information on transmission from my doctor and even several health units and this doesn't fit what they told me and yet... Sigh. I don't know anymore. I thought I had a better handle on this, because now this blows my whole method out the window. It'll pass eventually I know, but I feel like I am starting at square one, despite what I've learned. Thanks for reading.

Its ruining my life but not only mine but my loved ones as well I feel bad for my family. I am beyond exhausted with my life. I moved to a different city and thought that would help but it didn't. I've been called names, means looks, property damaged, people are afraid to be near me, you name it and its happened to me. I've dealt with this for so long I feel there's no hope for me anyway. Like my brain was rewired and then the wires were cut. Like this is just the way its gonna be end of story.

Adults only please. Boyfriend has been getting on my nerves this week and has not been considerate at all when it comes to my triggers. He calls my ocd "anxiety" with air quotes. He is angry and mean one second and anxious and crying for me the next. I told my therapist today about some of my issues and we talked about some ways to cope if anything happened over the weekend. Earlier today I was messaging someone on Facebook, who initially messaged me with OCD questions/concerns. I was talking to them for a while, and deeply empathizing with this person I met today. Earlier, bf said a few passive aggressive things, but I did not react, per my agreement with my therapist today. Eventually bf goes into our bedroom and is by himself for a while. I got up to use the bathroom, and I assume he heard me as he called my name. I went into the bedroom and he said in a weird tone "can we have a quickie?" I said no. He asked why and I said I didn't have to give a reason why, per therapist's recommendations. He followed me out to the living room and sat down next to me and started talking about how he is "starting to realize what [he] really wants in a relationship..." and starts saying break-upy things. I tried not to let him affect my anxiety. I told him I was uncomfortable and told him I wanted to be alone. He said he wouldn't leave so I went into the bedroom, closed the door and texted my therapist. He came into the bedroom (we agreed 3 days ago that after i become upset, I will come to him when i am ready to talk) and sat super close to me on the bed. I tilt my phone away from him, because I'm texting my therapist about him, and he starts asking what app I'm on and getting nosey. I told him I was texting my therapist and I was getting all anxious because I was expecting confrontation or accusations about who I was talking to, since I sensed jealousy earlier when talking to OCD facebook person. I started crying and asking him to go away and he wouldnt. I came back out to the living room and put headphones on and ignored him as he proceeded to tap me and stare at me and yell over the headphones. Eventually, he turned off the internet (I assume, because the internet "magically" shut off last time we argued) so I connected to my phone's hot spot. Then, he put his hand out asking for his controller back (I was holding ps5 controller). I didn't hand it to him, per my therapist's recommendations. He went over to the playstation and turned it off. At this point my hydroxyzine is kicking in and I'm calming down. He left the apartment for a few minutes and a minute or two after he got back, I calmly explained to him that it is not a good time to have this kind of conversation, because I am upset and I expressed that at the beginning of this conversation. I was able to calmly communicate a few things before I shut down. He started saying that my behavior was "creepy" and made faces at me as if he were judging me. I was clearly on the verge of a panic attack and he did not help. I did say some impulsive things, but my therapist and I agreed earlier today that if I ask someone to leave me alone, and they persist until I'm at that point, then it is not my fault for being pushed past that point. So I don't want to write this as if I'm completely innocent, because I know I am not. I tried to write this as objectively as possible. Is this abusive behavior on his part?

TW: appearance/attraction I know I should probably try to figure this out myself but I just had therapy and I am just now accepting that I don’t find my boyfriend’s body very good looking when he’s shirtless and that that’s a fact. I have been kind of not accepting it and telling myself that I only feel that way sometimes but basically I feel like I need to tell him now that I am accepting is as a fact, especially because that was an issue at the beginning of our relationship where he didn’t feel like I was sexually attracted to him. I love him very much and I think he’s hot and cute and attractive but specifically his torso shirtless I don’t find attractive really. I know this would be so hurtful for him to hear especially because I had told him long ago that no I wasn’t not sexually attracted to him but that his body wasn’t my type and I told him I grew more attracted to him as my feelings grew (which is true) but if I still think that he doesn’t look good without a shirt on it feels so abnormal and wrong. I know I can still be in an emotionally and sexually fulfilling relationship but what I’m really worried about is it feels like I’m keeping this massive secret from him now. And I really don’t want to tell him because I don’t want to make him insecure and I know it will make things feel off between us and I would feel so horrible if he felt that way about me so I don’t want to tell him. So I don’t know what to do, it makes me really sad to accept this as a truth. And my therapist told me I’ll have to decide if I want to tell him or not and that it’s a moral issue that I need to decide for myself basically. But even though my therapist said it’s okay to feel that way, I think they seemed like they actually thought it was a problem when I asked if it’s okay for the baseline to be not thinking his body looks very good. I’m just sad I don’t want to hurt my boyfriend. And I know I shouldn’t reach out for advice from people online because it has to be my decision but I feel desperate.

In 2020 I had an episode of psychosis because my ocd was so severe. I can’t/couldn’t pick apart intrusive thoughts from reality and I didn’t understand what was happening to me at the time. I live with so much guilt over what I did during psychosis and while I understand my “reasonings” for things, how I was pushed over the edge, I live with the constant fear of judgement and condemnation from those I love if they ever found out. I am on the way to get medicated again, and I’m starting sessions with NOCD again. But I feel like… I’m breaking apart here. I look in the mirror and I realize that there isn’t any running from who I am. There isn’t a magical cure to make me someone else, I will always have to live with this shame of even being in psychosis in the first place. I believe in God but it’s hard to even sit with myself. I’m safe, I’m just severely depressed. I’m looking for hope and it seems like everyday this disorder just gets a little stronger. It’s slowly chipping away at me. I want to get my life back, have a job, a healthy relationship, but I’m so ashamed and sad… guilty for having lost reality like I did. I’m not looking for reassurance, but encouragement. Am I the only one?

I have somatic OCD that revolves around my breathing. Ive been struggling with it for a good amount of time now. I came to the realization today about it and my anixety. I thought id share some advice that really help put things into perspective for me. Do not take these as set in stone or medical advice. Please consult with your therapist about these to make sure none of these will harm your work on your journey to healing. • Keep your head up. - Easier said then done but the more you try to find the silver lining in anything the more hope and drive youll have. You are getting better each and everyday even if you back slide. Just think of the journey and what youre achieving. You will have struggles but its not the end of the world. • Dont focus on getting rid of your OCD! - Focus on working with your therapist to find triggers and complusions so you can do effective ERP. • Dont focus on your anxiety. - Thats a hard one especially because it causes so much discomfort to the point of pain sometimes. Find ways to sit with it. One of my ways is to try and focus on relaxing all the muscles in my body so i dont tense up. It keeps me from fighting it which is what you dont want to do. *Remember this is a natural body response to a stressor. So let your body do its natural response. • Write stuff down. - I write stuff down so i can talk to my therapist about it later and it really helps me get all of my fragmented thoughts into a clear and concise thought. • Do your ERP Exercises! - One of the biggest things i can say is do your exercises. Seriously, talk to your therapist about when and where you should do them. Then commit to it otherwise you wont get better! • Dont overthink your OCD. - You start to over think it by paying attention to it, paying attention to the thoughts and then you start to ruminate. Dont give those thoughts any value by giving it another thought. • Even if you dont feel like it, go be spontaneous and also do things you love to do. - anxiety and ocd both love ridgid rule following schedules (according to another therapist ive talked with). So go out and make it confused by enjoying your life! • Becoming okay with Uncertainty. - I know it sounds scary and it is (im still a bit scared myself) but you have to be okay with the uncertainty of what could happen with your OCD and anxiety. The brain needs to become ok with the uncertain possibilities around whatever it is youre brain is fixated on. • Dont seek reassurance on your OCD. - i get it we are trained to make others feel better and to feel better ourselves by asking people "i am i going to be okay?" or telling people "you got this, you can beat it and you dont have anything to worry about". Dont do it, it will only make things worse. Going back to uncertainty, you need to just let yourself not be sure and live your life, even if in that moment it's hard. • Finally, just let it be. - wierd to think of and say right. Just let your ocd be. Like in one of the above points, once you give value to it and to the thoughts, it likes to dig its claws into you and not let go. If you just let it be and stop caring about it (goes back to the uncertainty point and overthinking it) it starts to fade away from viewand becomes less threatening. You just acknowledge its there, like yep okay i noticed the thought and then just try to productively think about something else or focus on what you need to do or are in the act of doing at this moment like cleaning or showering. You arent distracting yourself (which can be a complusion and unhealthy, talk to your therapist about it to get a better understand of how to safely and healthily shift your focus) but rather just trying to live your life and do what needs to be done. I hope this helps anyone struggling with their OCD and anxiety. Again talk to your OCD specialist/therapist about any of these things above before you try them yourself. Some things wont work for everyone.