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I pick at my thumbs until they bleed and then keep picking. I’ll have to use bandaids again, but I wondered if anyone has other suggestions? Thank you 🙏

Hey everyone I hope you’re doing great :). I wanted to ask you something, it happened yesterday me and my boyfriend were on facetime (we’re a long distance couple) and suddenly he kissed the screen w it made me so happy and I felt an excitement that I’ve never felt since the start of our long distance because of ocd (the last time that I felt like this was in december, when we saw each other). Anyway, I felt that it was weird, not bad weird just weird and I started crying because I’ve missed being this happy however it felt weird, is it normal that I felt like this because it’s new? This is stressing me out, is it a sign?

So at this stage in my OCD it actually feels like all of the physical compulsions I do drive the intrusive thought rather than the other way around. Does anyone have any advice other than erp on how I can start stopping these compulsions? I have to admit that I'm beginning to become really afraid now that this is how the rest of my life is going to be because I just can't seem to stop them and its been over 4 years

Does anyone deal with having a very messy living space? I know for myself, a combination of OCD, ADHD, and Depression make it very difficult to keep my space clean, and the mess is having a negative effect on my mental health, but it feels overwhelming and impossible to conquer. Has anyone else dealt with this? Do you have any strategies for managing this?

Has anyone felt very anxious from OCD and still successfully gotten through school? If so do you have any tips? (I’m an engineering major in college)

Does anybody else’s intrusive thoughts come in the form of “delusional thoughts”? I’ve been in a terrible episode of hypochondria or ocd for the past 6 months where I have FULLY convinced myself I am developing schizophrenia, it started with becoming really easily overstimulated and not being able to concentrate and now it has spiraled out of control to where I am constantly getting intrusive thoughts center around demonic stuff, which i have never ever believed before, I have always been a skeptic. But now i get these thoughts all the time like “what if this song has hidden demonic meanings?” “What if your wife is a demon” “what if nobody is real and your just in hell” “what if this political figure is being controlled by the devil”, the typical kind of delusional thoughts you would expect from a schizophrenic. Keep in mind I am a literal atheist and all about facts, science and evidence, I am a skeptic. Not only does the fact that I’m even having these thoughts in the first place scare the life out of me, but I have to constantly battle with these thoughts in my head if I believe them or not. I feel like I have to constantly hold myself back from fully going off the deep end, I feel like I have to constantly disprove these thoughts and stop myself from believing them, but they feel so real and it’s scaring me so much. One part of me is like “why can’t we just stop worrying about this, this is delusional” and another part of me is like “what if I actually do need to worry about if these things are true or not, they FEEL true” and I’m just like “wtffff I shouldn’t have to worry about if things like this are true at all in the first Place!” I feel like I have fully lost my mind, and in no time I’m going to lose this little bit of insight I have. I hate these thoughts so much, I don’t want to think about them, but now that they are here, I feel like I can’t forget them. My dpdr is already making everything feel so off and weird and unreal and I feel like it’s only giving these thoughts more credibility and realness. I feel like this could also be partly a terrible form of existential ocd that’s being thrown into the mix with all these “what if thoughts”. Ugh I just want to be normal again ): but I don’t even know what normal feels like anymore because I’m constantly on the lookout for symptoms that I can’t even be normal anymore. Btw: yes I am seeing 2 therapists and a psychiatrist and all of them do not believe I am developing schizophrenia.

Please read the whole thing I’ve been dealing with ROCD in my relationship It started with feeling like I want to break up Feeling like I don’t know if I love her Feeling like I don’t know if I think she’s attractive And I tried to learn a lot about ROCD and the things I learned have been helping me Now more recently I’ve started to feel like I don’t know what I want to do anymore When I was feeling the thoughts above. In my brain I still knew I wanted to work through this But as the anxiety began to lower it feels more like I don’t know what it is I want and that uncertainty has been bringing back the anxious feelings I have a drive that wants me to figure out what it is that I want but when I do that I get that anxious spiral. I’ll get feelings where I wanna break up without an anxiety spike like I used to get with these feelings and in turn that makes me anxious because I don’t want these feelings I want to love her I would rather be 100% sure that I want to stay and fight for her with the previous feelings of anxiety I was getting then to have an uncertain feeling of what it is I want to do with no anxiety. I hope that makes sense and doesn’t sound weird I know OCD is the doubting disease. And that part of the definition of doubt is uncertainty But I’ve never been uncertain on what it is I want to do even when I had those feelings I’ve always said “ I don’t want these feelings im getting”. And now it feels like I’m beginning to be okay with these feelings and that scares me because they seek to grow and get stronger when that’s not what I want to happen at all it’s the opposite. I want the feelings of love and want to grow I understand that by over thinking and trying to figure the issues out is what fuels OCD and anxiety. But I fear that by letting the anxiety go away on its on with these thoughts it’s training my brain that I this is what I want to do. I also understand that the more over analyzing I do the more confused I will get leading me to not know what I am feeling or to feel nothing at all and just be confused. So if I have been over analyzing too much could that confusion turn into the feeling of not knowing what I want to do?

Has anyone had success with meds and ocd? I suffer from overthinking. I Can’t get out of my head . I know results can vary just looking for some hope or light at the end of the tunnel. It’s really hard to live like this.

I keep getting sad out of the blue… when im around my loved ones… really sad sometimes… i don’t know why… hate it

I know a lot of guidance tells us to live for and move toward our values, no matter how scary OCD is. But does anyone else struggle with this when they are really having a hard time? Like it almost feels like you can’t do it in the moment because the thoughts and feelings are so overwhelming? I have harm ocd and it certainly is difficult. Mainly because it feels like I can’t (which is probably my ocd tricking me).

Is ERP or CBT more helpful with moral based OCD? Sometimes I struggle to find ways of exposure with my theme and it can be very triggering. Wondering is CBT is really the more helpful type of action. Also any CBT book recommendations would be helpful. Thanks.

i saw videos on tiktok that people who would pray would end up being gay and i have been praying everyday that i don’t end up gay. I don’t want to be gay but i’m scared that i’m gonna end up changing my mind. What do i do?

I was sleeping and i had a dream about a girl who is young and she was being touchy with me and it seemed like I liked it. And then i woke up and i felt so miserable and scared, like why would this be in my head and why would i appear to like it😔

The worst is when ocd latches on to your children. I’ve been having intrusive thoughts about my daughter that have me so depressed. I know none of it is true but the ocd really tries to convince me that it is. Any other parents experience this??

I have a constant need to confess past sexual fantasies to my boyfriend. the problem is I can’t figure out which ones were real and which ones were sexually intrusive thoughts (which i deal a lot with). When it comes down to it, I don’t know if this is a compulsion to confess or if I owe it to him bc it’s a form of cheating. I feel disgusted with my past thoughts/sexual fantasies. They are constantly playing in my head and I’m always wondering what my real intentions were during them. Is this something I am obligated to confess to him? these happened almost 2 years ago and some even longer. I just feel like if i confess one, I’ll just fixate on another and need to confess that too. I feel like a disloyal partner for having those thoughts and i don’t know how to deal with that.

I studied at school Sigmund Freud. It was very triggering and disturbing. Sure his studies aren't all true? Like dreams being actually our unconscious desires? It's terrifying to apply this with pocd. That whenever we see a trigger and feel triggered we're actually being in denial because society doesn't allow it and we actually desire those ugly stuff.

So, I have OCD, that part, obviously, wont come as much of a shock... But lately it just feels like I have been spiraling and, honestly, it is effecting those around me.. I know it is time for me to get help, but I can't help but have some sense of fear going into it.. A little bit about my OCD. For starters, I didn't know there were so many categories, with such, I don't have all the right words to say this is or isn't what I have, but I will explain it here. I have a son, he is almost two, and for as long as I can remember now (I think it started once he had actually moved into his own bed room) I have to kiss him 3 times before bed. All at once, but it has to be left cheek, right cheek, and forehead. Then I put him down to sleep, don't even get me started on how it is if I "don't get a good enough kiss" or he moves or whatever it might be that messes it up, but anyways. I feel like I have to do this in order for him to be safe at night. The weirdest part is that I only have to do this when putting him down for bed at night, not for naps. But I feel like if I don't, he will certainly die in his sleep. When I am leaving the house for work each morning I have pretty much the same routine, but the important part comes when I am actually leaving the house. I have to lock my door from the inside, using the handle, not with the key. I can't really pinpoint why it has to be this way, but I am thinking maybe because i feel to vulnerable using the key to lock the door? I don't know, by the way, I am also really good at thinking up these really elaborate stories of what can happen if I don't pay attention to XYZ.. anyways, After locking the door with the handle, I pull the door closed, and then I pull it harder one time so I hear a click, after that I test the door knob by jiggling it 3 times before I can go. I do this because I feel like if I do not, my home isn't locked and someone will break in and kill my family while I am away. Every morning on my way to work I pray the same prayer, because if I don't, someone I love will certainly die. I have before facetimed my boyfriend while he has been downstairs with the baby and I was up in my room, supposed to have been asleep, just so he can show me our son is alive and well. I can get it into my head almost always that something awful has happened to him and I can't shake it without being able to confirm he is in fact okay. I once was up way to late one night worried about the smoke alarms in my home. It got so bad I had to physically get out of bed to check each one because I felt as though if I did not, our house would catch fire and we wouldn't know. Because in my head, if I didn't see that it 100% worked, it simply didn't. Honestly, the list could go on and on, but, at this point it is starting to effect those closet to me as well. I know I need to get help, but honestly, I am just a little scared. The last time I had been put on medications to handle mental illness, it made me a completely nub robot and I hated it. Literally, while I was on the medication a family member had passed and it had little to no effect on me emotionally. So much so that it scared my mom and I was taken off the meds immediately. I am scared of not being myself. I know it is a process and I know its just about finding the right mix for me, but I am just scared because I can't look at it and say it'll be this long until something works, you know? It is all unpredictable, which makes it scary. But I want to be better. For myself and those around me.

Has anyone experienced fear of not falling asleep? I have never had sleep issues before but after a bout of jet lag 3 months ago, my sleep has been terrible. This last week, I’ve only managed to sleep 3-5 hours a night because I’m just so SCARED of not sleeping. I’m unable to function because I’m obsessing about not sleeping and the terrifying effects it has on the mind and body. I’m afraid I’m going to end up losing my mind from not sleeping. Last night I was able to get 4 hours of deep sleep, but I was in bed for a total of 14 hours and just tossed and turned. Can anyone relate to this? I’m so scared I’ve been vomiting and nonstop crying 💔😭

can ocd give us false feelings? I had an intrusive thought and I’m scared I liked it.

My OCD has gotten way better, but I still struggle with one thing in particular. This does not necessarily have to do with my ocd but I also struggled with it while I was still struggling. It is this feeling of always needing to do better, to evolve, change things etc. This affects my relationship. Everyday I bring something up to my partner that we/he could change. Everyday I insist on having deep/meta psychological talks about how we feel, what we need, what we should change and it is really taking a toll on my partner. It feels like I am constantly trying to be better, to make him or us better and it is hurting both of us. He is not a better partner at all, I am just sooo scared of things not turning out okay or right. I just have this heavy pressure on my heart, idk if it is fomo, anxiety or whatever but it sucks joy out of things. I feel like I‘m constantly trying to live im check lists. „Oh this was a cute moment, check“ „okay, we just had a good conversation, check“ and so on. Every moment i spend with him has to be evaluated and it. Is. Draining. It drains me so so much. I am just so scared of not being mature enough, that m partner and I don’t talk enough, don’t know each other enough or that things should be different. Do any of you have the same problem? This is not just a relationship problem for me. I also feel like I am not doing enough, I should be experiencing more things, etc. I know i should just let go but I can’t. Do you have tips, advice or similar story? Please share, I feel so frustrated and alone. I don’t want to be this serious, strict being.