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the NOCD Community

What books, links, articles do you reference to build knowledge and awareness about OCD?

Are anyone else's intrusive thoughts SO quick that it seems like you're skipping the thought and going straight to the fear? For example: out of the corner of my eye I thought the closet light was on, but when i looked, it wasn't. I instantly felt fear, and backtracked my thoughts and realized I was afraid that I was seeing things. This makes it feel like I'm afraid of everything!!! 🥲

Hey everyone so I’ve been just having a bad day already! I feel so detached from myself that I don’t even know who I am. Feels like someone else is in control of me bad dpdr. Now I’m having bad intrusive thoughts because I don’t feel like myself like I’m out of control. I haven’t been able to eat or get any sleep. I’m so down idk what to do anymore.

Does anyone else have intrusive thoughts during sex that make you lose your ability for focus/make the experience less enjoyable? I have POCD so having intrusive thoughts of this nature during sex not only make sex with my boyfriend way less enjoyable, but also make me feel perverted for having them while simultaneously aroused. It feels like they’re causing my arousal even tho I know rationally that they aren’t. Any advice? Feel kind of alone in this.

Help! If you can’t picture yours or your partners body parts and bodies perfectly in your head does that mean you’re picturing someone else’s body or body parts or that you’re turned on over someone else? Please let me know I worry because I would never get off or feel turned on by anyone else but I feel confused when I haven’t pictured something perfectly 100% does it mean what I’m worried about??

I had dentist appointment yesterday and I had so much panic attack I tried to control my anxiety but it got worse my mind kept telling to run outside and cancel my appointment but I sit there I told my mind nope I need my teeth done so if something happens then let it happen I accept the anxiety and it went away but I felt terrible after when I got home I see I got a little cut inside my lips and tongue then I got worry what if I get hiv from that I had to google if dentist clean their tools or use new one I m still afraid that will get a serious issue also I have tmj flare up I didn’t want to do my teeth because of the fear of what if that cause me more tmj or other issue no reassurance just telling you how was my day yesterday

Does anyone else think TikTok is the biggest trigger, for all my themes! I also get triggered so much by ‘late bloomers’ I just watched a tik tok of a women who came out later in life and the comment section was full of so many comments like I was married for 10 years, 40 years, 20 years etc and it just triggered me so much I feel like I want to cry, even thought right now I don’t feel like one I’m so scared I’ll realise it later in life or that I’m just hiding it And it brings in so much guilt incase I am because I have a boyfriend and don’t want to ruin his life if later in life I do realise I am

I’ve never been religious, and I don’t plan to be. I’m happy with what I believe in, but sometimes I think about what would happen if I’m wrong. What if I will suffer for my sins? What if I find out god is real before it’s too late to save my soul? I’ve spent so long being suicidal but death absolutely terrifies me in a way nothing else could.

It's the middle of the night and I just had a really intense and scary attack of ocd. Not really sure what it was all about, but it was a whole flood of different themes all at once. Only thing that was clear to me is that I was full of such intense fear of myself. Afraid of losing control of my mind and ending up in a psych ward tonight, afraid of thinking of hurting myself and how it might feel good/relieving, afraid of losing control and hurting my pet, afraid of having a full blown panic attack and needing my parents, afraid of losing control and screaming, afraid of giving into the urge to lash out and throw things/throw myself around (lately I've been feeling the need to exert/stim), and afraid of how each and every one of these outcomes would affect others. I'm falling asleep now but I'm still terrified of what just happened. I've never felt anything like it before. I've now been having problems every single day for a month straight (happy anniversary lol). My therapist of four years is not an OCD therapist and I won't be seeing her for two weeks yet. I also just started seeing a psych but I won't be seeing her for over a month yet. I'm wondering if i should get in touch with a NOCD therapist asap because I swear I just keep getting worse and I'm getting more and more paranoid and terrified by the hour. I feel like my behavior has definitely changed. The problem is though I know i'm obsessed with getting help for myself because i'm THAT scared of my own mind. I think having a SECOND therapist would be a bit overkill but i'm also extremely desperate and have been considering this for about a month now. Has anyone else tried a NOCD therapist paired with their normal therapist? Anyways now i'm so scared of what i'm gonna wake up to. These intense mood swings are getting scarier and scarier.

It's been 2 nights in a row that I haven't been able to sleep normally, last night was horrible, I only slept like 4 hours and all night long I kept having bizarre "dreams" and I kept having this kind of mind chatter, where random words, phrases, songs or even images kept popping up in my mind non stop for all the time I was asleep. It got so bad and uncomfortble that I jolted up in a panic and couldn't go back to sleep I was so scared bc as soon as I closed my eyes seconds later I would start getting those random sounds and images in my sleep and it really frightened me. Is this normal or anyone has this? what worries me is that it lasted the whole time I was sleeping, not just for a few minutes.

Hey, I'm new, but but been dealing with OCD for about 3 months. I developed it after a really stressful life period, and I've been trying to treat it myself as I have no access to professional treatment. It's genuinely one of the hardest and most scary things I've ever had to deal with, and I really feel so lost. I tried ERP, but I feel like it made things worse. I'm trying I-CBT now, and I think it's helping a little bit, but I have no idea and honestly, I'm just so scared. The only support I have IRL is my spouse, and it's often not enough. Does anyone have tips or ways to support me so I can get better?

I’m going through what is hopefully just a really bad hypochondria episode where I’ve convinced myself I have schizophrenia. It’s been about 8 months and I’ve been through a range of crazy symptoms but the most prevalent symptom is getting crazy delusional thoughts like “what if my wife is a demon and trying to get to me” “what if NOBODY is real and these are all monsters/demons out to get me” etc etc. the thoughts are absolutely terrifying and they make me look at people differently, i get paralyzed with fear and i have to question myself whether I truly believe the thoughts or not, they feel so real, when they come on I catch myself genuinely feeling paranoid that they are 100% real and having a panic attack, but then the tiny bit of me that’s still rational brings me back to reality. And from then on I have to question myself all day “do I really believe this?” “Well you technically can’t disprove those things” “if it’s not real, then why does it FEEL real?” “This really is schizophrenia” “ what if it’s not schizophrenia but ACTUALLY real?” “who do I go to for help?” “What if I can’t trust anyone” and the scariest of them all…”why would a see a doctor if this is all real” etc, it’s literally hell. I can never give a satisfying “No, I don’t believe this” to these thoughts. I can go days and weeks and be able to confidently shrug them off and tell how ridiculous they are only for them to come back with a vengeance the next day. No amount of evidence can calm these thoughts. I no longer have little breaks where I’m not thinking about this, this obsession has completely consumed me. I feel like nowhere and nobody is safe, I just feel so fucking stuck and isolated. I try so hard and pull myself back to reality and provide myself with evidence for why these thoughts cant be true, but there’s just almost like a gut feeling, and such a sense of urgency and panic that comes with these thoughts that it’s becoming more and more difficult to talk myself out of this thinking. I’m truly at my wits end. This has ruined my life. I could really use some reassurance even though I know it’s bad. I have never been like this before until I started obsessing over schizophrenia. I’ve been like this for 8 months now. I’m at the point where I either believe the thoughts are true or this is ocd or schizophrenia, there is no more fear that I might believe the thoughts, it is now, fear that the thoughts are REAL. Can ocd/anxiety really be this severe?

there’s a little kid outside my window at the community pool. i looked to see what he was doing. i looked a couple times and he was just fully clothed in the pool LOL, but then I started having thoughts “oh are u looking bc ur a creep? do u want to go down there and gr0om him???” like wtf!!! and i stayed there and kept looking to i guess test myself and be like see im not looking for any reason but i got this feeling of dread and had to walk away :( i hate this. pocd makes me feel like i am a p everyday it feels so real sometimes I just wanna say I am and admit myself to a mental hospital

I will be ruminating and checking images/thoughts/ "video like images" in my head and i always feel like some sort of.. what i call an "excitement jolt" inside. This makes me want to check and ruminate more and i start to spiral and think well if my body reacts for this and not this then it must be true or if I react more to one image than the other (for example, being more attracted to women then my boyfriend) I don't know if that makes sense at all but does anyone else struggle with this?

i dont really care anymore. I just tell myself “eh whatever.” i know who i am. Is it normal to not let ocd control you anymore? to not be afraid of your thoughts? I had one today, and i didnt get any anxiety, but i knew it was intrusive and still physically cringed about it.

I was wondering if anyone had good tips for being around people with severe untreated ocd who will not admit they have ocd. This is a problem for me because it’s not only triggering to be around but it makes me feel bad to lash out on them because I know the position they are in. But it affects everyone around them. Does anyone else deal with this? I’ve gone through treatment and I wish this person would too.

Hi all! I have had a variety of OCD themes such as Relationship OCD, Homosexual OCD, Transgender OCD, etc. I have a few experiences that I'm wondering if anyone has been through/can shed light on as well: -I feel as if I have a constant feeling that I need to analyze whether or not I'm 100% happy at any given moment. For example I think: "Am I truly happy? Am I experiencing life the right way? If I look around am I experiencing life with 100% clarity?" -One of my themes is stronger/more persistent than the others. And as such it makes me more fearful that it must be true. My Homosexual OCD was the first to manifest and as such I feel like it has ultimate power over me. I also used to experiment with Gay Porn when I was younger but I never felt it was "serious" nor have relationships with men interested me in real life. But I feel as if I am hyperaware of when I find another male attractive yet the thought of sexual intercourse with them doesn't appeal to me. (I'm in a very lucky and lovely relationship with my Fiancé btw). And I find myself analyzing moments of emotion with her. When I cry over something out of joy with her I feel like a fraud, like I am forcing myself to do so. But I've had genuine moments when I imagine our wedding day together alone in my car, I cry because I'm overcome with joy. -How to properly do ERP exercises. I usually attempt to let my thoughts flow like a stream and try not to attach meaning to them. I also try to force myself to imagine scenarios that are incredibly fearful in an effort to desensitize myself which only makes me feel as if I'm actually starting to like the thoughts and then they become an overwhelming, confusing wave. Thanks so much for reading! I'd love to hear everyone's thoughts and I sincerely love and appreciate your time. I hope we can all be in this together! :)

I'm really scared, I've always had the fear of something happening with schizophrenia. I already have GAD, Depression, OCD, PTSD so thinking about it gets me so scared. A lot of the warning signs confuse me because some are symptoms I get with my depression and anxiety (example: Decline in hygiene, insomnia, anhedonia) I'm not sure what to do at the moment😭

Sometimes when I’m in the OCD spiral I find it difficult to remember my tools so I keep this in my notes on my phone to realign myself. This is not reassurance these are just pure OCD facts. Sometimes it just give my brain the little shift it needs to put all I have learned into practice, hoping someone else might be able to find it useful too. 1 - You are not your thoughts - they are egodystonic and go against the things you value 2 - OCD will cling onto what you love the most 3 - OCD will trick you into fear and will cherry pick things in your life that could warrant a trigger 4 - you don’t need to react to these thoughts - simply say - this is an OCD thought/feeling and will go away as long as I don’t engage in the content 5 - call it bob! Cheers bob for that disgusting thought and laugh 6 - continue what you do with your life. Don’t avoid places or people, you win every time not OCD 7 - treat each day with point score every time you resist a compulsion it’s 1 point to you! 2 points for an exposure - 20 points for reward at the end of the week. 8 - rumination - catch yourself like holding yourself gentle to recognise that you are ruminating again, put a full stop on it when you notice you’re doing it and bring yourself back to the present. Tell OCD you can see what it’s doing… 9 - don’t compare yourself with other people - why do I have to be like this, why can I just be normal like that mum, dad or person. In life If you don’t get one thing, you get something else. 10 - everyone gets intrusive thoughts your just a bit more sensitive to them and you need to learn to let them pass by without any interaction After this a bit of self compassion is essential, I always imagine me but as a 6/7 year old scared of these thoughts, and it helps me really transmit that compassion power for that younger scared self xxx

the minute I wake up it’s like a sense of impending doom. I immediately get thoughts like “ur a p, im a p, it’s inevitable, ur hiding behind an ocd mask” and it feels so real. I also get groinal responses and everything feels so real, like I AM ONE. and sometimes im too tired to even stop the thoughts so it just keeps going and my body and brain feels like it agrees and im just a p. idk what to do:(