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I’m having some trouble believing that reducing skin picking is really achievable. It’s been part of my life for a long time. Is it really possible to get it under control?

I hate that it takes so long for ssris to kick in. And I have a long way to go because I’m not even up to 10mg(my doc has me going up very slowly to have less side effects) yet. I know with Prozac specifically you get heightened anxiety which I’ve had here and there but it’s more so the tiredness and almost depressive mood that’s bothering me as well as loss of appetite. I know to stick it out but just sucks cuz I more so deal with anxiety not depression so it’s a weird feeling like not feeling motivated etc. just hope I’ll feel better in a few weeks :(

It’s so hard to pray to God. I don’t want o put him on the back burner but I get anxiety talking to him and sitting in his presence. Then I will force myself to but then I just feel dumb since my flesh doesn’t want me to. And I pray and rush it then immediately scroll on my phone after cuz I get stressed and don’t know how to hear from him bc if I pray and just wait for Him I will get intrusive thoughts over and over and like I can’t even hear him anyway my mind is constantly going 1 million miles an hour and I have so many real life problems too on top of the ocd that makes it even harder.

How do people with ROCD deal with the guilt? I recently started ERP but feel so guilty sometimes when I talk to him or think about him knowing I’m stuck dealing with these thoughts. It hurts me so bad because I love him more than anything in the world but my OCD keeps trying to make me think of leaving him or hurting him.

so I scheduled my free call today, then I had this anxiety that maybe I shouldn't do this, I dont have ocd, im faking it all, blah blah. So I canceled it- fear that I'll waste there time and yeah. I also fear I'll get locked into paying for something I dont need even though this call is free, and also think i was lying to them for attention as I think all my symptoms are fake and it's all in my head and im just dramatic😅 Idk if this was a mistake or not, I want to know i rlly do but that nagging fear is stopping me.(sorry if i repeated anything)

Hi everyone! For those of you who have overcome OCD, did you find the initial feelings, emotions, and thoughts kind of become less and less consuming as it got better? In the beginning, I feel like I was crying, sick to my stomach, had a nervous/scared “blah” feeling, etc.. now, Im not crying like that, i still get a blah nervous belly feeling which kinda scares me into thinking its because the thoughts are true and maybe I was just in denial? Idk.. help lol

Does ocd tells possiblity of what will happen in your life so ocd is telling truth only?

I sit on a swivel chair sometimes and when people get too close to me I move the chair away from them cause I don’t wanna go crazy and move it towards their groin. But one time someone was super close to the swivel chair like they were making contact with it and I had a thought of what if I move it towards their body and I felt the need to move the chair an inch towards them and so I moved it quickly and without hesitation and idk why like I must be crazy tbh. There is also this vague sense of wrongness attached to the memory. It is present right before the movement. It almost feels like I remember thinking an evil thought or having bad intentions but just don’t really remember. I try to prevent stuff from happening but this time I snapped I guess. Also I wasn’t anxious at all until afterwards. I was in a good mood at the time. I know OCD can cause urges but it feels like I remember turning bad/evil before I did it. Idk anymore. I just can’t live like this anymore. I’m terrified of myself

Annoying!!! So I wake up aroused I get these dreams and now I feel like a r because it’s like what if my brother was doing something to me while I was sleeping and I didn’t care and just went back to sleep it’s so weird like why I keep getting aroused in my sleep

It’s been several days of feeling paralysed with fear and engaging in compulsions by reading so many NDEs. I don’t even know how people live their lives knowing they’re going to die one day. I’m gonna miss my family so much!!! I mean I’m not gonna know because I’ll be dead! I can’t even look at them without feeling sick. What’s the point of life if we all die? GOD!!! I literally can’t do anything! I’m so overwhelmed!

I have to get my wisdom teeth removed on the 21st, I don't know how to deal eith this as I have a fear of needles, blood/gore, sedation, and the biggest one that has nearly sent me to the psych ward multiple times already this summer: emetophobia. I genuinely don't know what to do besides beg my primary doctor for Xanax before the surgery. Whenever I am presented with a fear I have, like the list above, I will tend to shake uncontrollably to the point of having sore muscles and it looks like I'm having an epileptic seizure because of how violent I shake and that's simply not plausible if I need to be sedated and given shots before my surgery to knock me out. I don't know what to do anymore. I was prescribed zoloft because of the fears but my fear of being sick is so strong I can't even take the medicine because I'm afraid of the side effects, and I also generally don't like the idea of ssris anyways but that's the main reason. My girlfriend said she'll be there for me on the day of surgery thankfully so that's good and I'm not worried about waking up too much or tje pain I'm jist worried about the needles and getting sick because they stuff an obnoxious amount of cotton in your mouth when you get teeth like that dislodged from your face. I'm worried about choking on blood because I'll be laying down for the surgery obviously and that much blood will definitely go down my throat and i could be sick

Can anyone share any success stories regarding Pure/Real Event OCD? I think I just want some uplifting news more than anything, though this may read as reassurance seeking… not sure what counts and what doesn’t. So any education on that may be helpful too. Many thanks!!

For me, sitting with it feels like there is a storm going on inside my body. It’s such a challenge to just sit there and continue about your day when your body feels like there is a threat and your brain feels like it’s being pierced. I wanted to share/ask because we are told to “sit with it” but never told what that actually looks like or means. At least for me anyway.

Hi everyone, my name is Kendal and I am new here, although I do not believe I am new to OCD in the SLIGHTEST. Im about to leave my 20s behind and begin a new chapter of my life. Everyone says your 30s are suppose to be the best right? I am proud of myself for making a huge step forward, before the beginning of this new chapter. I’ve been experiencing symptoms of OCD for as long as I can remember. These feelings, thoughts, compulsions have been existing with me since middle school. They’ve manifested in many many different ways throughout the years, and continue to evolve as I get older. I’ve experienced emetophobia, obsessive thoughts about passing out or getting sick in front of people, contamination OCD, white coat syndrome and the newest culprit… Harm OCD. In middle school, it was extremely hard to understand WHY I felt the way I felt, and experienced the intense anxieties that I did. Over the years I kind of just put up with these thoughts and feelings of uneasiness.. and thought it was just regular ol’ anxiety. Recently the harm OCD came through, triggered by a traumatic event. Lemme tell ya… if you’ve ever experienced harm OCD… I am terribly sorry. It’s absolutely horrifying. It scared me so badly, to the point of actually seeking professional help. During that extreme anxiety inducing time, I was also terrified to tell a professional what was happening to me. I started with telling my husband first. What a RELIEF! I learned that telling someone made me feel so much better so I thought, man… I wonder what telling a professional would do for me? RELIEF!!!!! She helped me realize that yes this is a very very real thing people experience daily. She’s suggested therapy to pair with medication. I’ve given the medication about a year to do its thanggg and goodness, what a difference. I wish I got help earlier but hindsight is 20/20. This is me, now ready to implement therapy. I’m ready to gain a better understanding, collect coping skills and chat with people who have had similar experiences. Thinking you’re alone in OCD is incredibly isolating and scary. I am happy to finally realize I am not alone.

I did post about this the other day, but I’m just genuinely worried like this happened many years ago and I can’t really remember exactly what I said, but I have a feeling like I said something really mean and I think I lashed out on a person like a stranger cause I don’t know I was probably going through something and I’m afraid that like it was so bad it caused them to hurt themselves and now I keep thinking like what if the police are secretly looking for me because the harm caused, even though I have no evidence of any of this, but even this Happened like a deca ago, it still haunts me like I really hope that the person is OK and I constantly like keep reviewing like their conversation over and over again like in my mind like I genuinely feel like a bad person maybe even a criminal 😃

Ive also realized... if it's my own fault I have POCD and Real Events OCD to begin with... because of the genuinely horrible real events I've done... then why should I even feel any ounce of sympathy for myself? I don't feel sorry for myself because why would I feel sorry for something I hate? It's my fault right? I did this to myself so I face the consequences... thats how the world works right? I did so many bad things as a teen, so the karma finally catches up to me... right? So yeah... I deserve this... all of this... it's so funny... thinking I deserve a happy life... its all just one big joke... my life is a joke... but jokes at least have a purpose and make people laugh. People do laugh. At me, and not with me. So yeah. I deserve this. All of this. I accept it. I accept it all. Come take me god. Cause I dont want to be here in this world anymore.

I identify as a straight female, and I really want to talk someone. I have SOOCD and I have a partner and I don't know if my struggles are common or if I'm alone. I'm really scared and I feel so lonely.

Hi, I’m new here. For a long time I’ve had these rituals I do before I go to bed. I have to make sure my socks in the laundry are lined up, make sure the HDMI cord is plugged into my tv (it always is), and check if my closet light is turned off (it almost always is and I can see under the door, but I have to open the door). I believe that if I don’t do these things, something bad will happen. And it’s worse at night than during the day. Has anyone else experienced something like this? Where they have a certain ritual before bed? How do I stop this?

i feel so lost. my religious ocd involves sexual intrusive images right now about Jesus, and it's really killing me. it keeps flashing in my mind and I feel so bad and in pain. i feel so dirty and disgusting because of it. i really respect Jesus and i love Him so much. i always saw Him as a Father because He has a father figure. now, i don't know what to feel anymore because of those sexual intrusive images. it is traumatizing and terrifying. i hate that my ocd creates images of Jesus as bad and tries to put the blame on Him. i'm trying my best to fight it and put the blame on myself. i feel like my relationship with Him is slowly getting ruined. for me, it's all my fault because of my ocd brain. i want to feel what i normally feel toward Jesus. i hate that my ocd needs to do this. i hate the feelings that I'm liking it even though I never like it. i feel unforgivable and condemned. i can't take anymore of what my ocd keeps throwing at me. i feel like I'm going crazy. i feel disrespectful. i feel so disgusting. i feel like i'm not comfortable in my own body. last night i broke down because of it. it is so heavy and too much to carry. i'm thinking that this might be my punishment for the constant blasphemous thoughts and doubts caused by my OCD.

I’m new to NOCD and just wanted to share my experience to see if anyone else can relate or has any thoughts or advice. My thing is needing a system or some kind of digitally saved reference (online article/notes app) to make decisions on how to live my life and spend my time- then I get super caught up in what is the objectively “right” system to have which never really leads anywhere- over the last 6+ years I’ve probably changed this system over 100 times because at some point I realized it wasn’t “right”. At best, I stick with a system for months and be pretty free from OCD but at worst I can go months where I only experience intermittent periods of living free from OCD and spend hours and hours putting my life on hold trying to figure out what the right system is or to answer and figure out impossible answers to completely subjective things. I get a lot of regret over all the time and life I’ve wasted in this cycle, and feel kinda like everything I’ve done in previous systems was “wrong” so I try to fix that by undoing some of those actions. I think part of the root of this is wanting to control so many parts of my life and the fact that there are other parts of life I could be experiencing, ways I could be improving, and that there is so much out there that I could never ever do or experience all of it leads me to try to figure out some system that gives me a better feeling of control over this. If anyone reads all this that’s awesome- lmk if this resonates with you at all