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working to conquer OCD
Anyone know any ERP techniques or specific exposures that help with health anxiety OCD? I’ve heard such great things about ERP for other subtypes but I can’t think of any for health related OCD. I’d appreciate any advice!
I’m a few days in on starting 10 mg of Prozac, my anxiety has definitely been heightened and it’s making it really hard for me to eat :( also sleep has been very hard when the intrusive thoughts fill my head. I want to stick with the medication and give it a good shot as I know it could really help me. Any suggestions or some encouragement to help me get through this time
I know the solution is to always say “yeah that could be true, but I am choosing to live my life anyway.” However, I feel like my biggest issue is my brain always assuming that it is immediately true when I do that. Like if I say “maybe I’m attracted to teenagers, it’s possible,” then my brain INSTANTLY starts rationalizing that thought and defending it and being like “oh okay so you think this now and it makes sense because xyz, and now that’s who you are and your real desire is now and always will be teenagers.” I feel really alone in this area of feeling like my brain “accepting the thoughts” means my brain immediately accepts them as true. I obviously don’t want to think they’re true but I feel so stuck now.
I'll start by saying, I have not been clinically diagnosed, as I do not have the funds to see therapists or psychiatrists in my current situation. Once I'm in a better spot, I very much intend to. That to say; after months and months of having issues with anxiety, specifically health related, my partner was the one that mentioned OCD. I did have some somewhat OCD related behaviors in my youth, though those likely could be explained by potentially undiagnosed ASD (as my mother is on the spectrum as well as a sibling, both diagnosed.) But I never considered OCD taking form in a health sense. I posted earlier about how I've had 4 days of pretty minimal anxiety and intrusive thoughts, and it has led me to doubt the OCD label I've been working at treating? I don't want to be the person that identifies themselves with a disorder they don't have, which is why I hesitate to self diagnose with OCD or ASD or anything else. At the same time, I've read that a lot of even clinically diagnosed people with OCD doubt their diagnosis. It makes me wonder if I will always have this doubt, and if that means it is worth it or not to get tested? I know that if I do, they can actually do ERP (whereas I've been self taught and self guided so far) so that would be worth it...
Please don't judge me or think badly of me. Earlier, my OCD started obsessing over the question of who God really is — Jesus, the Father, and the Holy Spirit. I got curious and started searching online, and I came across the teaching about the Trinity. I learned that Christians believe in one God, but He exists in three Persons: the Father, the Son (Jesus), and the Holy Spirit. I grew up mostly only thinking of Jesus when I prayed, because I would always see His image in churches, on TV, and in pictures. So, when I prayed, He was the one who came to mind. As I got older, I started learning more — like how Jesus has a Father, and that there's also the Holy Spirit. That’s when my OCD started to obsess and worry. It told me that I’ve been “wrong” in my prayers because I only focused on Jesus. It kept pressuring me, saying I should now imagine and pray to all three — the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit — equally, or else I’m doing it wrong. But I don't even know what the Father or the Holy Spirit "look like," and I don’t want to offend them. I truly respect and believe in all of them, but it’s overwhelming. My OCD keeps telling me I’ve already committed an unforgivable sin just for not knowing these things before. It says I’m not praying right. It keeps bringing up the fear of blasphemy, especially about the Holy Spirit. It’s so scary. I tried to calm myself down by reminding myself that when I pray to Jesus, I believe the Father and the Holy Spirit are included too, even if I don’t fully understand how the Trinity works. I still feel confused, but I try to believe in the Trinity because I’ve noticed that whenever I pray, I naturally say, “In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit.” Even though it still feels new and hard to understand, I’m doing my best to trust in it. Growing up, my family wasn’t very religious, so I never deeply understood these things. I used to think Jesus *was* the Father, and that He was simply God. So learning about the Trinity at 17 feels like something I should’ve known sooner. That makes me feel guilty and unforgivable — like I’ve failed as a Catholic. My OCD keeps pushing me to get a “perfect answer” or else I feel like I’ll go crazy. It’s causing me so much anxiety. Now that I know about the Trinity, even praying feels confusing. Before, I would simply pray and feel connected to Jesus, but now my OCD is telling me I’m “leaving out” the Father and the Holy Spirit. I don't know who to pray because my OCD keeps on saying there are 3 Gods. I’m scared that God will punish me for not knowing everything earlier, for being confused about trinity — and for not praying the “right” way. I didn’t know the Holy Spirit is also fully God. I never meant to disrespect or forget anyone in the Trinity. I just didn’t understand before. Please help me. I feel overwhelmed, scared, and confused. I don’t want to offend God. I just want to love Him and feel close to Him again, like before. But now my mind is full of fear and anxiety instead of peace. I feel like I’m falling apart inside. Can anyone give me advice? Religious OCD is ruining me. Please help.
Whenever someone say no to me and work go beyond my wills intrusive thoughts bad words comes in my mind regarding God and spiritual figures I don't want to do it but it happens that time I always say no resist to my mind that this is not because of them it is something else but all logics become failed and bad words comes now I am in severe pain why this is happening it is ocd or not I think I am doing it by myself how it can be ocd. It's seems to be real.
Does anyone have any tips on how to sleep with harm ocd, I’m always so tired but I can’t fall asleep until it gets to the point my eyes won’t stay open, I’m scared that I’m gonna do something in my sleep or my thoughts just eont shut up and it causes issues with sleeping, advice needed please
Last two sessions have been rough. Not gonna lie. I feel like we’re back at square one. It’s no fault of my therapist really. I feel like we finally conquered my balance/symmetry themes only to have a new health anxiety theme pop up. And this one is tough to tackle. That’s how insidious OCD is. I hate you OCD.
Licensed Therapist, MS, LPC
It could be possible to treat a severe scrupulosity OCD without taking medication and asking guidance from the psychiatrist? I can't afford for professional consultation 🥹. Can anybody give me some advices on how to deal with these intrusive thoughts? 🙏
So me and my boyfriend of 5 months broke up and I'm very sad about it, but I'm trying to move on. But it seems like nobody wants me. They either ghost me or we hangout once THAN ghost me. I need someone to date.
Is anyone here actually gay and has/had sexuality or religious ocd? I don't have it at all haha I'm a lesbian myself without socd or religious ocd but I'm just curious: what's it like and how did you deal with the whole "biggest fear coming true" thing?
Not reassurance seeking just want to know if someone else has dealt with this. When I mention marriage and stuff, my brain and body feel off and it feels as if I don’t want it. I don’t feel excited talking abt it even tho I talk abt it. I can’t tell if I actually don’t want it or if it’s ocd. Is there any true way to tell? Has anyone else dealt with this? When I talk about honey moon or whatever it feels like maybe I don’t want it. I think it’s commitment issues
One of my biggest struggles in overcome OCD is that in moment where I feel invincible and feel really good, my mind itches back at me telling me that it’s too good to be true and I need to feel back on edge. I call this my OCD homeostasis, and my mind just needs to revert back to this. How has everyone dealt with this effectively?
I struggling with POCD specially fear of inappropriate porn thoughts.. I am in week 3 sertraline and my anxiety is like at the peak now.. I hope it gets better when I hang on with the med
Due to real event ocd and past mistakes? I’ve been actively trying to work on this and try to accept and not pay too much attention to it but the confession thing has been bugging me but I’m also trying to accept that I don’t need to confess every single mistake I’ve made and we’ve all made mistakes Recently I’ve been wanting to work on myself and be more positive but because of my real events in childhood, I feel like I can’t live a normal life or deserve a normal life.
I’m having a hard time this morning. I’m always living this anxiety of what if I harmed my son on a specific occasion. I know that I’ve look at it a million times and no amount of ruminating is going to give me the 100% assurance that I am looking for. It’s just hard when it ties in with my religious OCD and thinking that there may be sin here that I need to repent of. It’s like I’m holding onto it and I just don’t know what to do.
Ive been struggling with the fear that if i am suicidal or something and ive been having like fears or intrusive thoughts of jumping off or losing control and acting on these thoughts and i dont know if this is just some very bad case of anxiety? Im always thinking about it trying to prove it wrong in my head and its gotten to a point where its effecting my sleep, i use chat gpt. I know deep down i dont wanna do any of it, i mean the very thought makes me panic quick so idk i just want to forget all these thoughts and i was wondering if anyone goes through this as well?
my OCD is doing what it does best and it’s randomly selecting themes. Once I’m not scared or react to one it bounces to another. And then i temporarily forget all of my coping skills for that theme. Rn it’s fixating on the time I had a panic attack and it’s trying to make me have one again
Hi everyone, I’ve been really anxious lately, and I just need to get this out of my head. Someone recently told me that maybe I’m bisexual — that I might be more sexually attracted to women, but more romantically attracted to men. That bisexuality is not 50/50. And ever since I heard that, I’ve been spiraling. The thing is: I don’t want this to be true. It scares me. I don’t feel romantic attraction to women, I’ve never wanted to be in a relationship with one. But yes, I get aroused by fantasies involving women — and that makes me feel broken or like I’ve been lying to myself. I love my boyfriend deeply, I don’t want to lose him. I want to feel fully connected to him, physically and emotionally. But now I’m stuck in this obsessive loop of questioning: “What if I’m just in denial?” “What if I’m not really straight?” “What if this is why my libido is low?” It’s exhausting, and I don’t know if this is OCD, anxiety, or if something is fundamentally wrong. Has anyone else felt this split — romantic feelings for one gender, sexual feelings for another? I feel so alone and scared. Thanks for listening.
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