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I've been getting really poor sleep quality due to my OCD. Anyone have any tips or tricks for a good night sleep?

Guys I’m super confused. I know I’ve posted about this before, but I feel like I may be on the asexual spectrum, but then it’s giving me a lot anxiety. Why? I can’t get used to the label, but I think it makes sense? But it doesn’t feel right. I don’t know if it’s the desire to be straight as that is how I’ve always identified. Idk. I feel very distressed. Hocd does not make this easier. I’m 16. Any advice or ways to be calm? X

I’m not sure if i have ocd, but i feel like all the signs point to rocd. I will suddenly have this freezing all consuming anxiety about my relationship. I will get triggered randomly and then spiral for weeks about how i feel for my partner. we have been together ten years, we got married last year, and in those ten years i’ve had this happen a few times. My brain will keep telling me that i’m in the wrong relationship, that i don’t love him, that i’m lying to him and everyone i know. I feel so frustrated because the times where i’m not going through anxiety, i am perfectly happy and in love. My brain keeps telling me to leave. To run away from him because i am a liar. how do i calm myself down? how do i fix this? does anyone have advice to help me? even as i write this, my brain is telling me i am lying and that it’s ocd i just need to leave, but i don’t want to. please help :(

I feel like I am constantly questioning every word and action of my boyfriend and I don’t know how to stop. It is driving us both insane. It has gotten to the point where I am picking apart the smallest things and making him explain them if he does not word it a certain way. How do i stop? :(

Jesus can help you beat your OCD, even if it’s so hard. If you have been praying for a sign to trust Jesus Christ again, this is it!

I always recommend seeking professional help because it’s safer and way more effective to do it with a professional since they know EXACTLY what to do. But if you can’t see a professional right now and you have no idea when you’ll be able to seek help from an OCD therapist due to money or where you live, here’s an extensive list of tools and resources to help you get better and/or stay recovered. -Look into OCD and Anxiety’s YouTube channel. They have an OCD course you can do for a fee, -Download either the Calm app or Insight Timer app for guided meditations, -Read ALL the books by Lee Baer and Martin Seif on OCD and anxiety, -Look into Therapy in a Nutshell’s YouTube channel, -Start doing yoga! Because exercise is good for you. I suggest the YouTube channel Yoga with Adriene, -Subscribe and follow the YouTube channel, Psychology With Dr. Ana for great mental health content, -Start watching Thich Nhat Hanh’s guided meditations and talks on mindfulness. Also, buy his books on meditation and mindfulness, -Look into OCD International’s website if you’re international (or is the US but having issues finding help outside of NOCD) for help, -If you are looking for inpatient treatment for extreme OCD, look up Rogers Behavioral center’s website. You can even reach out to them for help, -What’s Pure O OCD? https://www.verywellmind.com/pure-o-primarily-obsessional-ocd-4159144 -How To Stop Rumination Video: https://youtu.be/CkcspsmLh9k?feature=shared -Confessing compulsion vs. healthy sharing: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/ocd-compulsive-confession-vs-healthy-sharing -ERP scripting: https://www.shalanicely.com/aha-moments/erp-scripting-for-ocd/ -The Hidden Power of Swearing at Your OCD: https://www.psychologytoday.com/intl/blog/beyond-the-doubt/201711/the-hidden-power-of-swearing-at-your-ocd -Taking The Power Away From OCD: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/taking-the-power-away-from-intrusive-thoughts -Worry Script: https://www.anxietycanada.com/sites/default/files/WorryScript.pdf -What is ERP therapy: https://iocdf.org/about-ocd/ocd-treatment/erp/ -What’s An OCD Trigger? https://psychcentral.com/ocd/what-is-an-ocd-trigger -Differences Between OCD & GAD: https://ocdla.com/ocd-vs-gad-7071 -The Psychology of Seeking Reassurance: https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/reassurance-seeking-ocd-anxiety-how-to-stop-cycle -Grounding Techniques: https://www.therapistaid.com/worksheets/grounding-techniques -OCD vs. Phobia Differences: https://www.treatmyocd.com/what-is-ocd/info/related-symptoms-conditions/ocd-vs-phobia-how-to-tell-the-difference -ERP Techniques for Reassurance video: https://youtu.be/D1O3RGnLjRM?feature=shared

Hey guys, I’ve recently had a relapse in my OCD. I felt like coming on and maybe sharing some of my events so maybe it will help someone feel a little less alone and to get some advice. I have ROCD and Harm OCD. My harm OCD started at 16 years old, I was shown a disturbing video in class one time.. My teacher was supposed to show us the animated version but she showed us the real version. It was truly terrifying. Following that, i started having intrusive thoughts.. of things I would absolutely never want to do. I didn’t know what intrusive thoughts were at the time. I struggled with feeling so alone, crazy.. and so on. I was too afraid to tell anyone because i thought people would think i’m crazy because I thought I did. I finally reached out to my dad about it and he welcomed me with open arms. He told me about his anxiety journey and that he has had anxiety all of his life. Following that I went to the doctor, my doctor started me on Zoloft. I was on that for 2 years and my anxiety improved tremendously. After 2 years I decided to stop taking it due to weight gain, and that I felt better and didn’t struggle with my anxiety or intrusive thoughts anymore. I met my now Fiancé and my OCD transferred into ROCD. I obsessed and worried every single day that he was going to leave me for the past year and a half. Once he proposed, my worries went away, I guess my mind was proven that he wasn’t going to leave. So it went away. A couple of weeks later after we got engaged, I got triggered. I was on a trip with my future in laws and his father brought a g*n. I started having intrusive thoughts about harming them or myself. Had a very bad panic attack. I have been struggling since. I avoid the kitchen, tell my fiancé to put away knives… I feel the need to isolate but at the same time I don’t want to be alone. I have thoughts about the people that are close to me and that I love. Which makes it so much worse. I finally decided to share my story after an extremely rough night last night. I woke up in the middle of the night, had a HUGE panic attack due to my thoughts. Every single time I have a thought I panic, I feel butterflies in my stomach, start to uncontrollably shake..my brain gets so loud and I feel nothing but like straight fear. It’s like my body and brain reacts as if it’s trying to run away from itself but I can’t escape my head. Which in a way makes me feel better because i think “oh well i’m scared as crap of these thoughts which means i don’t want to do them”. It kind of keeps me going because i know real people who have these thoughts enjoy them… but of course my anxiety and ocd goes “well how do you know you don’t enjoy them” and I just go down a rabbit hole. Then if I have a thought, and i don’t get scared over it.. I get scared that I didn’t get scared. 🤦🏼‍♀️ I just pray that they go away, I even get scared that with Zoloft i’m like “what if they don’t go away because it’s really what you want”. My brain is on high alert, everything is a trigger. My fiancé has been an absolute rock star and has helped me through every second of it. He is my biggest supporter and so understanding. Then I’ll have intrusive thoughts about him! I’m just at a place right now where I could use some hope. I want my zoloft to get rid of them completely. This has been so crippling. Im on day 4 of Zoloft, I know it isn’t working yet. If anyone has any advice, suggestions, or literally just anything. I would appreciate so so much.

Hi so today I feel ok and really terrible at the same time. I realized that I feel fine and dandy at moments with friends and totally strangers but with my family I put on this almost act of suffering around them from my guilt but as my parents talked to me about it too it seems like I am manipulating them. And I feel weird because going back to my blow up I think I could have been okay I just chose to let it all go and out because regulating myself was tiring and I didn’t even notice how bad my persecution’s became. I’m not sure what to do now because now I’m living a very different life with my family and I feel like I am kinda being a manipulative fraud despite me wanting the complete opposite. My actions don’t align with my good intentions I want. I can watch YouTube videos and talk with friends and strangers but I can’t do that with my family?? Even I think it’s weird. I need help because I’m starting to believe my thoughts of who I am and that is not good because I am a good person. Not a bad one I know it but am not showing it.

just met this girl we are texting more, we know of each other because we went to the same middle and high school. i always knew she was a grade below me, but never her age i just assumed she is 17. she smokes, i smoke, so we agreed to smoke and she told me just now that she’s turning 17 a month after i turn 19. i feel scared. i feel like a p, i thought she was pretty and before i knew her age she would talk about gay stuff (not flirting but i had the thought oh what if she acts gay to me). i had an ex bsf who was 2 years and 2 grades below me, and we would smoke. im just scared im gonna be considered a terrible influence, even though we went to school together and she’s only one grade below and she’s been smoking her whole life. I’m just scared because now that i know she’s 2 years and like a month younger than me i feel as though i am doing something terrible

Hi Everyone I need some advice on how to decide what to do with myself. I can’t seem to find a way to make any decisions without doubting and It’s driving me insane because I don’t know how to help myself with my decision making

Im just so confused about the attraction. I feel like i’ve never really felt sexual attraction towards someone, or maybe i did i just dont remember. I personally dont really think im asexual. Maybe this is reassurance seeking but how does real attraction, or sexual attraction feels like? Im scared that my admiration for woman was actually attraction?😔 even though i had no sexual or romantic fantasies or desires with them. I can tell if a woman is pretty or attractive but i’ve never had any desire to date one. And it scares me. Like what if i’ve never been attracted to a guy? I dont even remember how does it feels like. Im so fu*ked up, like im 20 years old, my last crush was when i was 13 on a guy (even that my ocd makes me doubt) and i have these thoughts since 14. It got me in this early age when everyone around me were experiencing crushes and i DID NOT.

I really don’t understand myself, I tell myself they’re not real or thinking I’m not in my own head then I overthink that I would do something terrible to someone, then I get super anxious and worked up. I have control over my own self obviously, but if I just let myself go without thinking over my thoughts, I’m afraid something bad would happen. Therapy is helping but I don’t get it. I can be doing something so simple and my mind throws stuff at me, either from trauma, past experiences or something completely made up. I’m afraid I won’t ever be able to overcome this, because I beat myself up every time and think I’m a horrible person and don’t deserve the life I’m living. It’s so hard and some times I just want to give up, because it’s an everyday occurrence. It’s better than it is as but I’m done thinking all these dark thoughts and obsessing over them thinking that I could do these things because they live in my head rent free. I don’t want to do anything it tells me to do, so I fight. I fight hard and hopes that one day it will go away… does anyone else relate? I need someone to talk to about this.

I’m not sure if this is ocd but sometimes I’ll just be doing literally anything and my brain will be like what if this this and this happens and it’ll be like so random like an example id be like walking home and id be like what if my whole family got k!lled in this really brutal way and it’ll have nothing to do with anything im doing ill just get a really vivid thought of something horrible happening and it freaks me out every time and sometimes I just have random ones about like me like having a whole scenario of me singing in front of my whole school and everyone loving it (I can’t sing) sometimes the thoughts are just intrusive thoughts or somethings they’re like full on daydreams where there’s like a whole plot to it like even the bad scary ones it’s weird

Hello, everyone :) i posted because I am in a situation. I am a college student going into my sophomore year and my parents refuse to help with my college anymore. I was in Rotc but was dropped because I have asthma. They gave me a scholarship and was paying my in state tuition and my loans covered the rest. Should I drop out? If i continue I will be 300k in debt and i can't go to community because I have an associates degree when i graduated highschool last year.i thought about moving out and living on the streets or with a friend because my parents demand i go to college or they will kick me out.I am currently 19 and I am doing a dual major in BS Mechanical Engineering and BA Mathematics. I live in Texas and attend school in Oklahoma. Now i feel numb I have cried all I have cried and a part of me is saying stop worrying and leave it to God but I am struggling currently. I tried to file as homeless and fafsa said i cant they alr have my parents information. Fafsa still believes my family will pay but they are middle class and don't pay for anything.Please no hate to my parents on this post. I have accepted that hating them won't help. Any response will help! Also any tips on trying to calm down? My ocd has been horrible since I received these news this week and school starts in 4 weeks. I am just very upset and numb.

I am having a serious breakdown. I am SO SCARED that I won’t be able to get through this. I am scared I will give up. I am scared that I will eventually not be scared. I am scared of being depressed. I am scared of literally everything right now. I’m in a med change day 3 and I understand that can make things worse. But I’m just scared and need words of encouragement. I am crying. I don’t know how someone could be in so much mental pain and make it out.

I feel like I kept getting bit by something but nothings there! I know this is a symptom of schizophrenia & now I'm freaking out! Plus I deal with delusional like thoughts, so that's a double whammy 😣

I’m struggling significantly with contamination themes for the first time in my life. I realize now that for a while it was looming in the background but it was always held back. I don’t know what triggered it but now, I feel like I’m drowning. I went through a liter of hand sanitizer plus multiple small bottles in a few weeks. I wash my hands and stuff around me constantly, and have started just avoiding stuff that I think is dirty because I’m tired of washing my hands and washing down surfaces, items, etc. The problem is that in my head, all of this is logical, and I genuinely do think there is a part of this that is tied into logic. I’m not worried about getting sick or getting others sick. My main issue with OCD is morality, and even with contamination, that still seems to be my fear. For example… I’m 23, so I’m an adult, and have sexual experiences. I also have three cats, and while my OCD tries to convince me I think a certain way about them, I’m positive I don’t. However, I have cat on me a lot. Cat hair, cat spit, just cat. It’s all over my house and while i try to clean it’s unavoidable to do it entirely. Anyway, I feel like I have to soak in hand sanitizer before sex because I don’t want them on me. Additionally, I have to use separate blankets and just hope there’s no cat hair. I’m also worried about having any bodily fluid of any kind on me and then seeing a child. Even if it’s only on a tv show or something. Essentially, my contamination is things like that and it makes sense, but something feels off. What I feel and experience is definitely OCD and I don’t understand what I did before I had this obsession, was I just a bad person? And I don’t understand what others do without the obsession! Plus, I go through so much hand sanitizer that there’s no way this is normal. It’s gotten so bad, I’ve put hand sanitizer on my lips, soap in my mouth, and cleaned my skin with a Lysol wipe because it’s what I had easy access to. I also damaged the microphone in my phone from cleaning it so much. Does anyone have any advice? Thank you.

It’s annoying that I can’t even walk past a man without thinking I do something wrong idk why my mind is always telling me negative things I was at the gym and I had to walk down the hallways which is small and the same time I walked this man was walking so we had to pass eachother and now I’m freaking out that I kissed him while walking passed him because my mind is always anxious about that whenever I have to walk near a man it’s getting annoying because it makes no sense really And I failed at my compulsion because I called my boyfriend and starting talking about it but I couldn’t sit with uncertainty 😅

Hi, I'm stuck in a hole of overthinking and depression that has lasted 2 months. I had a baby 3 months ago but I remember the moment I fell into my theme of thinking about my thoughts. I'm obsessed that I'm going mad or that my mind is wrong. I analyse every thought that pops in my head. However trivial amd I'm like 'how am I thinking' or when I speak to people I'm like 'how is it that I can speak' it's insane and I'm going mad and it's left me desperately depressed. I'm away from my family and spend most of my days in bed. I feel like this is my life now and I'll never get the old me back. Is this OCD? Does anyone else have this? I'm going to lose my kids and my partner if I don't get better. I'm so depressed. I have been taking antidepressants but I just feel so depressed I can't see a way out.

I first began NOCD therapy in crisis mode. I had been stuck in SO-OCD since 2022 and there came a point where I would have to do deep breathing exercises before my best friend’s bridal shower because I feared intrusive thoughts and feelings during the event. After spending two years in talk therapy, mentally and emotionally stuck in rumination and isolation, I made a desperate call to NOCD after a morning walk riddled with racing thoughts and tears. I began ERP therapy with Emily and in the beginning, there were many tears and anxiety over finally confronting the thoughts, images, and needing to develop new strategies instead of compulsions. Starting medication was the final boost I needed to succeed in my ERP homework and developing new neural pathways to combat OCD. The total war approach of therapy, medication, and taking each day as it comes has given me life again. I used to check my eyes because they would be puffy from the raging cortisol and stress. It’s been two weeks and my eyes look wide and clear again. Mental compulsions that would take hours of my day are now a blip in my brain that I can let pass and move forward with the day ahead. Thank you NOCD, Emily, Dr. Azzem and God for bringing me to life again!