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Does anyone have any coping skills they really recommend or learned from therapy? I start therapy soon but until then I wanna learn how to manage this on my own.

i don't even know if i have ocd but it would make sense. the semester before i dropped out of college i was completely unable to function — i was addicted to weed and getting high on cough syrup and i could barely eat. i ruined my friendships and broke up with both my partners because i was so so scared that people would find out how awful i was. i didnt feel like i could trust the people around me to be an accurate judge of morality because i felt like they were too black and white. looking back, I was the one that was too black and white but ive never trusted myself to be a good person instinctively anyways so i was just caught in a web of "i dont know if im doing the right thing i dont think im doing the right thing i think everyone is being too harsh but maybe they're not maybe im just a horrible person" and nobody SAID that but i believed they thought it (or would think it). i was trying so so hard to be a good person and to do the right things all the time and i was NEVER succeeding so i would just get high and try to shut off my mind and pretend it wasnt happening. when my cousin died it was awful and i was shocked and grieving but every time i cried i was so, so relieved because since i was 7 I've worried that if a family member died i wouldn't be affected. i felt so guilty when matthew died because even though i cried and i knew i was sad i felt like i shouldve been worse. i didnt like when people talked about it because i knew i shouldve felt more but i didnt know what to say and pretending i did and trying to act like a normal person grieving for their cousin was exhausting and stressful and i hated it. when i spiral about something i did or something i said i fantasize about being stabbed in the stomach or gouging my eye out and i used to cut myself for some sense of relief but now i mostly hit myself or use the end of my cigarettes or dig my nails into my skin because it's easier to hide. nobody notices bruises or tiny circular burns on your arms so i dont have to wear long sleeves and long pants. My entire life ive known there's something wrong with me and it's only recently that I've tried to talk to my family about it and every time i do it just goes horribly. it's not like theyre not supportive but they dont believe me and they just tell me it's normal and they get frustrated when i try to explain that it ISNT because there IS something wrong and i didnt know what but im pretty sure it's OCD because that makes sense with how my thoughts spiral and the guilt and the patterns and the rules for how i interact with people so that they might forgive me for everything else. and sometimes i just want to be hurt or sick or something undeniably horribly wrong so people will feel bad for me and i used to SH and act suicidal because if someone found out then maybe they would know how bad i feel and maybe then they would forgive me for it. and maybe this isnt ocd or maybe it is but im just so so tired of being told im fine when im NOT because it's not like i can just say all of this to them. it's not like i can say "the first time i tried to kill myself was when i was seven because i got yelled at so i tried to drink nail polish remover." i cant say "i dont know if i care if i die at 60 because of smoking" and i cant say "ive always been the fuckup of the family and the only thing that makes me feel even a little bit better about that is if i stop trying not to be." i cant SAY that

Hey guys. I have been doing something (not cheating or anything like that) but something not good to my boyfriends cat. I have hurt it when I’ve gotten mad or yelled and picked it up aggressively and I told him about it and how I feel really bad and I’m definitely not going to be doing that anymore and I have no idea why it makes me so mad sometimes. But my boyfriend graciously forgave me and said as long as I don’t do that anymore and he still loves me and always wants to be with me, but I just feel like i don’t deserve that. I feel like an absolute terrible person for those things and I truly don’t believe I deserve to even be loved anymore. I’m really working on trying to love his cat now, but it’s been going on for a while and I feel like i’ve done too much to come back from. I feel like a terrible person and like i’m scared i have no heart but i truly feel guilty and will never do any harm to his cat again.

Hi there. To start with, i just finished my ocd-therapy. I found it useful in many areas, but i still struggle a lot with the past life ocd. If anyone would share tips in this how to handle these kind of situations better, i would love it. So, this weekend randomly, i got an instrutive thought that have i been somehow flirtatious or talkative to other men during our (me and my fiance) start of dating. Even i tried to avoid it, i went to check my old instagram convos, and found still some men commenting on my instagram stories, and i had liked the comments, or even answered with some emojis. Nothing disqussion or whatsoever. I felt immediate GUILT and ashamed as i always needed to be the picture perfect spouse(ocd about it). I felt that i am a cheater, and i had to confessing all of these to my man. Also sometimes me and my friend watched our ex’s ig stories (so petty). I felt immediately so embarrased,petty and disgusted to myself didnt know what to do. Reason behind probably was the most pettiest, because i felt so good about my relationship blooming and all these exes who did me wrong - i somehow wanted them to look how good i was doing. Which is toxic and embarrasing to admit. I love my man over anything, and started feeling that I havent been loyal or whatsoever. Also seeked for reassurance from him and my friends so basicaly failed in every step of avoiding these compulsions. In my history i have been in very toxic relationship before him, and had a lot of trust issues. I have been humiliated and cheated on, physically ab@sed in my past. I tried to reassure myself that i just found it difficult to commit and trust a man again after short 2-3 weeks of dating so i think my past took a control of insecurities. But still never done anything worse than that, and obviously i dont have anyone of my past in my socials anymore because it triggers me. I deleted everyone years go. It’s now almost 3years since we have met and i talked with my partner about all this. He is supportive with me and knows i have bad confessing ocd and cheating ocd which now this topic got triggered. His reaction was calm and supportive. I dont know what to do now. Feel like the worst partner, and also failed to stick up to not checking, asking for reassurance. Basicaly feel like a massive failure🙄 Should i delete my old convos with my friend that i wouldnt check those things? Now again Im trying my hardest to not go check more of those convos. I am also pregnant, passed my first trimester so my hormones are wilding. Feeling super upset about this and yeah, just wanted to talk about it. Sorry for long and mixed up text.

Hey, does anyone has had OCD about hallucinations/schizoprenia? One day i was driving home at night and it was stormy outside, and thats where it started (about 3 weeks ago). I was soooo scared of the trees and everything around me looked like something else, but not exactly. I cant even describe it. But not like as i was watching in front, but in the side of my eye, and when i looked directly on the tree it was all normal. But from that night i have soooo much stress in me, that i see very vivid images (but like in my head not in real life) but it makes up like it will be in reality and i will see those images any second. But i dont see them. Like i know that that isn't real, i know that there is no one standing or that tree is not a big bird (funny as it sounds), but in my mind i convince myself that i will see it. Like one day me and my boyfriend were driving and i imagined that his face turns into a monster and when i looked at him everything is okay, but when i turned aside i saw in my thoughts that horrible face. I knew that it is not real and its just my imagination, but damn i am scared, like i can't even do anything, i think about seeing something in front of me every second and i am so avare of everything around me, like every person, every cloud, flower, everything. Tomorrow i have an appointment with my psychiatrist and i sooooo soo much hope that this is just my ocd and extreme anxiety... please someone let me know that i am not alone in this 😭

Recently I've been experiencing intense and intrusive thoughts about how time is constantly passing, and one day I will be old and frail. Like, OCD is trying to convince me that my whole life will pass me by and it'll be like one day I wake up and suddenly I'm old and on the verge of death. With this has come fear of what comes after death. I just want to enjoy life now, without these thoughts plaguing me. It's like I'm stuck living in the past and future rather than what's right in front of me. And it makes me so sick thinking about how one day I won't have my mom, or my dad, or my grandparents. It's not that this is foreign to me, it's just that my OCD latched onto it and now it just keeps playing in my head. It's so hard to live in the moment. Im thinking it was exasperated by the fact that my families dog died recently; she was so endlessly loved by all of us. It's been several weeks and I haven't been back to my mom's house since then. Not to mention I'm also moving states in a month. I am so stressed, and scared, and I feel like this feeling will never end, even though I know it will. Can anyone else relate? Or have any advice for getting through this theme? TL;DR: I've had really bad existential ocd lately based on mortality and the afterlife. Has anyone else experienced this?

Hi everyone. I hope some of you can sympathise with me and my story, and why not share yours also..:) I wanted to share my story here because im at a very BAD point in my life and i basically feel burnt out and hopeless. My story with **OCD** begins in 2020-21 when i first googled if its normal to have constant thoughts you dont like or go against your character, and thats how i found out about ocd. Life was hell for some months as i constantly battled with some of the worst types of OCD that go against my character and who i am. *Also my dog was killed by a psycho and that impacted me a lot* -its a long story involving an ongoing *trial* My life was hell Long story short i visited a **psychiatrist** and got my diagnosis, she persisted its curable and others had overcome it and i did not go to therapy nor use ERP or other methods. I basically sat on a chair, cried for hours and explained what is going on inside my head and boom i just got meds and a new lifestyle because I HAD to go to another city to attend UNI. I got prescribed **escitalopram** and went back to Pharmacy school (yes the year i got diagnosed was my first year in Pharmacy School in my Country \[Greece\], i failed many classes and retook them next year, some i passed, some i failed again and with the pressure of time, many learning gaps and new classes i am now finishing year 4 out of 5, only having passed 22 classes leaving me with 24 more and thats when my troubles with mental health, anxiety and panic attacks begin again. \*my psychiatrist always tells me how a person like me is like a marathon runner trying to run with a broken leg. She used this analogy and never tells me you have this you have that. I see it written on my prescription though. Maybe so that I do not identify with my problem and use it as an excuse to cry all the time? She is kind of down to earth and harsh some times. But i know what i have. After balancing (or ignoring) my mental health all these years and some slight breath of fresh air and finally getting some stability for a short period of time- **without unwanted thoughts**- (purely out of attending uni and meeting my *boyfriend*, change of enviroment, having to live on my own etc.) last year my psychiatrist said that it was ok for me to get off meds and that i was stable and confident enough. **But i think i just tucked my problems with uni under a rug**. I got a part time job to help my financial needs and not be a burden for my parents who help me financially and i hated that job that only paid 3.5eur an hour and it wasnt worth the cope and it drained me so i quit after 2 months. I also couldnt attend university and had a major setback this year Academically. So much behing my peers. I feel like a failure and pharmacy school is hard and i have totally lost my spark and belief in my self and my abilities. I feel like i cant even remember basic chemistry, i cant recite anything, i cant absorb info OR MEMORIZE HUNDREDS OR THOUSANDS OF MEDS without crying and feeling hopeless before even starting. The constant anxiety and doubt about my future and panic attacks are killing me. I feel like i am brain dead and im constantly thinking about how many lessons i have to pass and i have Pharmacology Classes, Pharmaceutical Chemistry, etc etc while having so many GAPS from not even attending, memory loss, diziness etc and i dont know what to do. My family is kinda poor and have gone to great lenghts to help me go to uni in hopes of a better future and get my mental health under control. I love my parents and they are true gems and they care avout me very much but they are also very anxious and when i have a panic attack they cant handle it and it all ends in screaming and telling me to quit if i cant handle it. **The thing is:** -I feel like i am disappointing them and my old self on top of all that. I was not like this. Maybe i got burnt out or maybe this was not my calling and i cant do it which lead to all this mental crisis. -But i feel like i *have* to give it a try for the shake of my troubles. All my teenage years i've been trying to score good grades to get into a promising school and help me and my parents some time financially. But i feel like i am basically stupid and cant get anything done. I open a book and cry. When in the past i had courage to study and i actually believed in myself. -I got into Pharmacy with courage, strength and many hours of studying but UNI has gotten out of hand for me and i feel like im crawling while my peers are running. -I am totally hopeless. I dont know what to do. I have like 4 or 5 more years before they delete me of the courses (thats how it happens here) and i feel like ive lost track of my life. I dont like anything about my life. I cant focus on my pets, myself, my boyfriend. i dont know what my next move is. I have failed so much and i feel like middle schooler in terms of knowledge. -I want a quiet life with a job that pays enough for me to survive and maybe travel once in a while, i want pets and a piece of mind I feel like cant do Uni properly right now and i dont know if anyone else has a similar story or has gone through such difficulty before How can i get back on track, get myself to study so much when i fear studying and failure. Its not like i have 5 classes left. they are SO MANY and scary and i need to enroll with 100% of my brain capacity again when im basically in a vegetative state crying all day. I was an A student, how could i let myself hit rock bottom. **I feel like i am throwing my life away** I dont have any friends in the city where my uni is and thats very hard. Also im not a social person and i cant easily open up. Do i continue and give myself an opportunity- mind you how hard pharmacy is or do i start something new from scratch? something easier in my town to soothe my brain? My Degree is an MPharm deegree which is very promising and allows me to go abroads which has been my dream . But i feel to stupid to complete the classes, too burnt out How can i start over when i am at this state?How will i complete my dreams when everytime i wake up i feel like a complete failure, unable to even read a sentence out of my textbooks. Is OCD about Uni a thing? Cause thats whats been going on in my head for months now. Anyone that's had a similar experience or has some advice to offer? About my meds now:: I take **Trintellix (Vortioxetine)** i am on my 2nd week and dont feel anything at all. Escitalopram (my previous drug) i think helped with the mess in my head 2 yrs ago but made me super tired and my mind was foggy and I couldnt attend classes easily. I needed sleep all the time and was lethargic. My psych says this drug is promising because i was also diagnosed with major depressive episodes with panic and anxiety attacks. Is anyone taking it? **Extra Notes**: * I dont know if i am capable of putting in any work in my state- seems like i cant after all this failure. * My parents are really depressed with my state. I dont know what i can do to help them. They said im killing them * Jobs in Greece arent easy to find- they pay shit- most are service jobs. I wasnt planning to do that with my life. Seems like i am wasting years and potential but at the same time my mind fights in favour of dropping everything * Should i work Season and save money for some other college? For something less hard. I cant survive here without some sort of degree. **My point is after all this blah blah:** How do i get past all that? how can i get behing my academic needs and stop the voice in my head? Is it possible for someone like me? ------- I really want to hear similar stories or opinions, or some spark of hope. I dont know anyone with ocd or even attending Uni with ocd. Please dont be harsh on me if you dont know how ocd works. I am battling with my head everyday to the point of mental and physical exhaustion Also my 1st language isnt english so sorry for errors Thanks for reading, *yes i know im undecided and a mess.* :) love and hope to all reading my story. I hope one day i come back with great news and stronger

How can I tell the difference between real urges and ocd screwing with me? I wake up in the morning and the first thing that happens is I start seeing harm images/thoughts. But now it’s starting to feel like I want those things, even though I don’t. Like it just feels like normal thoughts because I’m consciously thinking of them and it feels like my brain or body wants me to do these awful things. I know in my heart and my “normal” brain that this is not something I’d want, but it still is the first thing I see in the morning and I’m really starting to question how I actually feel. And if it will ever leave. Is that normal for this??? How do any of you ever tell the difference between these at this point?

Does anyone else have a such a bad fear of death that it keeps you up at night? Makes you scared to close your eyes? I’ve been struggling with this for years & don’t know how to accept the fact I’ll die one day. For example when people I knew from school or through my parents etc died I will fear for days I’ll be next. My friend can’t even mention dying or death around me because it will my emotions & fear. I am so scared to die tragically, (murder, car accident, shooting etc.) I am scared to die young. I am scared I won’t become elderly. I’m scared going in to a new school year wondering If I’ll be next to die. I’m scared of going into a new school year wondering if I’ll die in a shooting. I’m scared I will randomly have an unknown condition that can kill me. Sorry this is so long but I need to know if anyone else is like this.

The other day I wanted to sign up for this 2 day class that seemed interesting to me but thought I'd buy tickets in the morning and if not it wasn't meant to be but then it did sell out but I was extremely sad and emailed the company asking to be told if anyone dropped out or anything and long story short he told me that I can just show up but then I remembered how I had thought if I didn't get tickets then maybe it wasn't meant to be so I got concerned and just prayed to God that if I wasn't meant to go for some reason that something would block me from going or it would be cancelled or something. And then I got an email that it was postponed because of the instructors flight being delayed so instead of having one session today and one tomorrow they r having both tomorrow and I really want to go but I'm afraid God was telling me not to by postponing it. And it's a scary drive making me scared I'll get in a car crash

i’m having such a terrible night. my day started off great. i went to the beach with a couple friends and was happy all day. it wasn’t until i was on my way home and anxiety over throwing up started to kick in. it hasn’t gone away since then and it got worse after being triggered by the possibility of getting sick from poor water quality. the beach i swam in was good equality but google says you can still get sick from it. then i was distracting myself, finally calming down when panic started to ensue. and this panic is unrelated however it’s making me nauseous, making my anxiety even worse. it came from me questioning if i was anxious or panicked over anything else after i was finally calming down and now i am. i can’t even explain how i’m feeling or what my mind is making me feel but it’s terrible. i would do anything for it to go away. i’m currently using my heating pad and have a cold pack on my neck, but it’s not working well. nothing sounds calming or is putting me at ease. and i don’t want to sit with it. i’m in fight or flight mode but there is not really anything i can to fix this immediately. HOW DO PEOPLE COPE WITH THIS?? i’m so tired of being in a constant state of anxiety or panic. it’s exhausting and i continue asking why it has to be me because that’s all i’ve felt for as long as i can remember. i’m so frustrated and CANNOT understand why i constantly have to feel like this all of the time. trying to cope literally feels against my nature because i feel like i’m in a state of imminent danger that i cannot rationalize in a way that will calm myself down. i just want this to end (i’m not suicidal). right now at this moment. i want all of the mental anguish and suffering to go away. i just want to live a day of peace. but what’s even worse is when i feel calm, it feels weird and uncomfortable. like being anxious and alert feels correct to me. it feels like a lose-lose situation. i’m about to cry because i’m so exhausted and frustrated. it’s either always something constant, new, or both. i never get a break. i appreciate anyone who took the time to read this, thank you 🫶🏻

I remember when I was younger I accidentally slapped my brother in his privates (I KNOW it was an accident), and he said “can you please not touch there?” I remember i freaked out at the time worried that his tone was indicating that I had done this before or that i’d m*lested him before. I felt really anxious and guilty when he said it like that. I’m looking back on this and i am obsessing. Should I be worried? Should I dig deeper into my memories to try to figure out what else i could have done, was there any deeper meaning, what exactly was I thinking and feeling that day when he said that? Maybe I was anxious because i knew something had happened? I’m so scared. What do I do? The more I ruminate the fuzzier and fuzzier the memory is. Please help.

how do I know the difference between having having a low sex drive versus being asexual? I saw a video about how someone found out they were asexual because they were sad or crying after/during sex. I have cried after sex with my boyfriend sometimes and I often do experience sadness/anxiety many times but I believed that maybe aftercare needs to be prioritized more and that maybe my ocd/anxiety/depression puts me in a state of low libido a lot. There are times where I begin to space out during sex or begin to have uncomfortable thoughts, and then there are times where I enjoy it in every way possible. I also believe that because me and my boyfriend are going through the process of healing betrayal and trust in our relationship that that could be a big factor as well. all of these things add up as reasons for just having a low sex drive. I've also always said that i think i could be in a relationship where i didn't have sex often if at all and I think id be okay because it isnt a priority to me. But seeing that video really made me suddenly question it and it scared me a little because I have questioned if I really know sexual attraction vs. aesthetic attraction and now I just feel scared and confused. This could change so much for my relationship and I'm just scared that the answer is something I don't want it to be. could someone please help or leave some insights?

I have certain “good” numbers and “bad” numbers. The good ones are clean. They feel clean, good, and pure. They’re the numbers I count to in compulsions. Then there’s bad ones. They make me feel dirty and bad, gross. When I see, feel, think of this number I just feel very dirty. Then like I wanna rip my skin off. Get rid of whatever the number was related to. I wanna puke and cry. I was wondering if anyone else is like this? This also happens with colors. But mainly with numbers. Any tips on how to deal with it? I need to figure out how to cope. I saw and heard the number so many times today. I feel so gross.

I have been on and off 12-15 medications whithin the last 3 months for anxiety. I was having these horrible, awful intense looping thoughts. I would go through these breathing attacks, and I couldn’t stop thinking about my breathing for days, weeks.. months. They tried to give me antidepressants, and I did not react well to them at all. They put me on benzodiazepines, which was super nice at first but within a week of taking them I started going through depersonalization, depersonalization. This was 1-2 months ago I believe. I got prescribed seroquil, and still am continuing to take larazopram. I am still feeling depersonalized and disconnected from reality. I have been searching and searching to see what the hell is wrong with me. Just this week I got diagnosed with ocd. It has made me feel a little relieved, but now I overthinking if I take the new medication for ocd am I gonna have horrible side affects from the ssris. I need advice on which medications help ocd that are not ssris.

My huge ocd fear being “sick” . If you don’t get what I mean (I can’t say the word so I’m hoping you’d be getting it by now). It’s an action someone does when they don’t feel the best. Anywho. I hate it. I always need Dramamine, ginger ale and a hot shower ready anytime or anyone starts to feel the way. I have to envision a paper or something pushing it down. I always have to imagine that paper taking away any virus or potential cause of sickness. I always have to avoid words that correlate to the action or the “v” word. I always avoid pressing the volume up because it needs to go one volume down. I can’t say, see or breathe or touch green. Just typing it out lead my doing my compulsion. It’s honestly time consuming. I also have to repeat “blue”. Until it feels right at least. I also wonder if anyone else has tics with your compulsion. It also doesn’t help how I suffer with bipolar disorder, ptsd, anxiety and body dysmorphia. I need to take lithium and my ocd with the fear of side affects makes it so hard to take my medicine. Which has lead to me not taking it then leading to a pretty bad depressive or manic episode. When it comes to depression it makes my body dysmorphia 10x worse. I truly can’t even look at myself in the mirror. To this day I’m constantly looking for ways to “fix myself”. It’s gua sha, to looking into plastic surgery to looking into diets even though I’m skinny enough (legit gained to the ideal weight I’m supposed to be), to heavy make up and it not being enough to just in general not feeling enough and hating myself everyday. I hate it. I just want peace. I want to be able to drive without having the fear of another panic attack. Not being so jumpy or afraid. Having constant nightmares is an even more misery. I want peace. I want tranquility, like how I wrote in my poem. “As the water of the shower touches my legs, warmth and tranquility races to my mind, as it brings me back to a time where life was just a relaxing, rainy, blue-dull day.” -Nabila Roman (me tee hee).

I'm planning to take Prozac medication for my OCD. How is it for all of you? What side effects did you get? What's the worst that could happen when taking it? I was told diarrhea, suicidal thoughts, and upset stomachs were the worst that could happen. I'm a little scared of the side effects but I still want to take them soon.

im starting to think these are more than just intrusive thoughts. i am feeling URGES to harm someone i love. its been almost a week and every time i think the thoughts and urges are done spinning they come back even stronger. im sick and im tired. i feel like the only way they’ll ever go away is if i act on them but they are terrible and gruesome.. i miss how my head was before these thoughts/urges..

very scared and worried i hurt/did something bad to my baby cousin while he was growing up and scared did something to a young family friend when i was growing up. idk how to move past without having answers but I never will get one. how do i even FEEL like im a decent or good person if there’s a chance i did something bad like this growing up? i was very hyper sexual as a kid and did try to touch other kids my age and also did weird things out of curiosity. i also did have things done to me as a kid by other kids idk if by any adults. I’m just scared.

Hi, this is my first post and I just wanted to see how others have approached their OCD with their partners? I am right at the start of my OCD therapy journey. I’ve had CBT in the past for health anxiety but it’s only recently I’ve been honest with myself that this is partly contamination OCD. It got a lot worse after a recent illness. I haven’t had ERP yet but have read up a little and know what’s involved. I absolutely cannot get my boyfriend to understand what I’m experiencing. I’ve tried to explain that when he does stuff like touch the bin then touch other things, it causes genuine distress, but he has said he feels like he can’t relax in his own home. Today he said “this has to stop” and I was trying to explain that it will, but not overnight and in the meantime I really need him to support me, even if it seems illogical. Am I wrong? How on earth can I make him understand what OCD feels like and what I’m trying to do to fix it?