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I've been spiraling again, feeling like I lost all my progress from one lil step back. -Why does my mind cling to intimacy so much? -Why does my OCD have such an issue with it? -Why can’t I accept it? -Why does someone having a past make me feel less special? Logically I don’t even care that much about sex itself. What I want is love and safety. I get that people’s past is part of what shaped them, that they fell in and out of feelings and wanted closeness before me. -So why does my OCD care so, so much? -Why does it frustrate me this intensely? -Why do I keep fixating on the past and what they’ve done instead of focusing on the present and the person I love right now? -Why can’t my brain accept that I can be deeply loved and still not be the only person someone has ever touched? It feels irrational and exhausting, and I just needed to get the questions out exactly as they are in my head. Anyone else stuck in this exact loop?

I want to introduce what I call Obsessive Comparison Disorder. Obsessive Comparison Disorder (OCD—not to be confused with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) can feel like running a race where you always look side to side instead of ahead—no matter how fast you go, someone else always seems further, better, or happier, leading to exhaustion and anxiety Obsessive Comparison Disorder involves an uncontrollable urge to compare yourself with others, often triggered or intensified by social media. This leads to persistent anxiety, intrusive thoughts, dissatisfaction with your life, and feelings of depression. Many confuse it with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder because both involve obsessive thinking, but unlike OCD, it usually doesn’t include ritualistic behaviors—it's more about constant comparison rather than compulsive acts. To manage obsessive comparison, try these strategies: limit social media use to reduce exposure to idealized images, practice mindfulness and meditation to become aware of your thoughts without judgment, engage in activities that bring joy and distract from comparison, and cultivate self-love by acknowledging your worth irrespective of others’ achievements. If self-help isn't enough, consulting a qualified therapist can help uncover deeper triggers and develop effective coping mechanisms. While Obsessive Comparison Disorder is not a formal diagnosis, recognizing it and employing these coping techniques can help break the cycle of constant comparison and improve mental well-being. For those with traditional OCD, evidence-based treatments like cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) with exposure and response prevention (ERP), medication, and mindfulness techniques can be effective in managing symptoms. Professional support is vital if symptoms are severe or persistent.

I was given invega injections and it’s been hell

I’m dealing with something really specific related to my OCD, and I’m hoping someone here has gone through something similar. My main trigger is trash day. I constantly worry something important was thrown away so when trash day happens, my anxiety spikes very bad. I’ve been working with my therapist and actually did an exposure today that left me already feeling raw. The problem is that I moved my mother in with me about a year ago due to her declining health, but she constantly questions me about everything I do…. especially when I step outside or move around the house. She doesn’t understand my OCD, and every time she says things like, “Where are you going?” or “What are you doing outside?” it sends my anxiety through the roof. Even tonight she texted me to “remind” me that tomorrow is trash day, which completely derailed my whole evening. I know she doesn’t fully get why this is so triggering, but the constant questioning makes the exposure work so much harder. It feels like I’m always being watched or judged, and I end up spiraling. I’m 33 years old, and I’ve lived independently since I was 18…. so being questioned like this makes me feel suffocated. I don’t need a parent, but I feel like I’m being treated like a child. On bad days, the anxiety gets so high that it feels dangerous, and I hate that something so small can hit me so deeply. My husband has been really supportive lately, and I’m thinking about asking him to talk to my mom because I honestly can’t keep handling this on my own. Has anyone else experienced family members unintentionally making your OCD worse by constantly questioning or commenting on your behavior? How did you deal with it? Did you ever have to set boundaries or have someone else intervene on your behalf? Any advice, similar stories, or even just reassurance would really help right now.

18+ please I've been following the genocide in Gaza for the past 3-ish years now and thought it was important to see the horrific things that my government and governments across the world fund and approve of. I've seen a lot of disturbing things, including dead bodies, because again I thought it was important to be aware of the crimes committed by my government, I never went out of my way to view these things of course, I just followed accounts that would post about Israel's crimes but I unfollowed them because they were triggering me a lot more recently, I feel awful for this but I couldn't stop panicking and having basically every OCD symptom everytime I saw something disturbing and some of the images were of malnourished kids in nothing but diapers that made me incredibly uncomfortable. I realise this is in an effort to document Israel's crimes against humanity but I really really hated seeing these images and the intrusive thoughts and groinal responses they caused and I was reminded of this when someone retweeted a fundraiser onto my feed and the person posted an image that made me incredibly uncomfortable of presumably their malnourished kid just wearing a diaper so I didn't retweet it but then that made me feel just as bad for ignoring a family in need so I went back to the post and didn't look at the image but retweeted it but now again, I'm panicking and don't know what to do, I want to help these people but I feel disgusting for retweeting the image even though I think it's my OCD that's making it weird but I just want it to stop

Hello everyone ☺️ I do not actually struggle with OCD, but my current boyfriend is showing a lot of OCD symptoms, especially obsessions, and I’m worried how best to support him. He doesn’t want to do therapy or have any digital tools. What might you guys suggest? I would appreciate any sort of phrases that really help or any advice really Thank you all for any thing that could help ❤️

Today, I was asked to hang out by my friends. I’d usually say yes even if I did not have the energy. But today, I said no after a busy weekend! I usually people please because I have a little voice in my head that says “if I don’t continuously hang out, they will stop being friends with me.” It’s one of my biggest OCD themes since I was a kid. I am friends with a lot of people who gain their energy from being around others. I am not one of them and have limited “spoons” that I am trying to protect for once! I am very proud of myself. My brain wandered for a bit but then I have come out of it feeling my growth! Yay!! 🎉

Can someone please help me understand if ocd can do this, I have moments I find my partner really attractive and then it just disappears, we could be laying beside each other and my head starts making me feel like it’s wrong and that I don’t want to be with him because he’s a man, I can’t describe what is happening in my head but all I know is I’ve never felt this ever in my life until this came along. Every time I think of him I get this horrible feeling in my stomach, this whole time all I’ve wanted is for this to go away and get better so I can get back to how I used to be with my boyfriend but now I get this horrible feeling in my stomach like I don’t want it to get better anymore when I try think about it. I don’t know this is scaring me so much and I just don’t know if this is even normal for OCD. This doesn’t happen all the time but today it is really bad and I’m feeling so lost. The thing is I still want to be close to him I still want to be cuddling him but at the same time it’s making me feel all these things.

What do you guys do to quiet your mind? I literally can never just enjoy a moment because my mind is constantly blasting. I used to drink wine very often, but I haven’t in a long time. I find myself tempted to go get some wine often not because of it numbing my sadness or anything, but purely because it seems to be the ONLY thing to quiet my mind enough to where I can truly just relax and not think too much. I would like to stay sober forever if I can. What do you guys do to truly relax when your brain never wants to?

How are you guys that are triggered by social media balancing with having it ? I feel like I always delete and redownload because I either need to reach out to someone through DMs, or wanna go on it and scroll but it’s so triggering now that we have reels and constant access to other peoples thoughts. Videos about relationships, violence, poor health, body image and politics always put me in a spiral and causes me to have to delete the app, and sometimes it takes a day to get over it, but other times I’ll be stuck in a loop for weeks because of how ONE video makes me feel. I want to be on social media because I like to be in the know with what my friends are up to, but I can’t stand how addicting and stressful the videos and reels are. Also it’s just insane to me how I will scroll and watch a lot of videos of memes or cats and it’s entertaining and good, then out of nowhere I get a fear mongering story or graphic video of someone dying. What a world we live in now.

I’ve been learning to drive for nine months now, and I could technically take the test tomorrow. But my driving anxiety has never improved. I still dread driving for hours beforehand, days beforehand, etc. And after not driving for a few days, it’s like my anxiety convinces me I don’t know what I’m doing and i “forget” how to drive. A week later and I’m terrified to even get in a car. The same happens when I use any other car but my instructors, which has a safety brake in the passenger side. I thought it would get easier with time but it didn’t. The anxiety is actually stronger now. I can’t afford more lessons unfortunately. I know some might say “just practice everyday!” but it’s not possible with family working. I must be able to not drive for a few days, and still be just as good at driving. Like everyone else. I know it’s an anxiety/ocd problem I just can’t prove it. The last thing…in my state if you fail the test three times you must redo all your behind the wheel lessons. I can’t afford that, so I’m very scared I will fail and be forced to redo everything.

I was going share a soda with my fam member. I do not usually drink soda but i decided to say yes today. I randomly got a thought while waiting for her to bring a can that said "this kinda reminds me as if you were to withhold doing the deed (inappropriate) and you finally said yes and shes all excited" I was about to say no to the thought bc it gave me anxiety. I felt a deep pit in my stomach that felt very uncomfortable but felt no pleasure, no arousal, no happiness, but it confused me bc it felt weird bc no panic and i was trying to figure out what it meant. Then i said "wait no. I do like this thought. I want to keep thinking this in the future and would miss it if it leaves." And it felt like i meant it but when i said that answer it ALSO felt wrong and i felt confused and nervous. Then ocd said "you sexualized her. You want to keep doing that in the future. You literally just admitted it. You also admitted you are attracted to her." And i immediately started to spiral bad and regretted saying that. Why did i say that?! Like 6 hours i was doing all sorts of compulsions and crying and having panic attacks and trembling. And then all night I was awake and couldnt sleep. I felt so guilty, like why did I agree with that thought for a few seconds? It wasnt an intrusive thought when **I** said "no wait i do like it?" But it still felt wrong and confusing and i was nervous bc I still felt the pit in my stomach! Did I sexualize her??? And do i want to think of her in thay way? Am i attracted to her??? Im so scared its all I can think about and I cant eat, sleep, or think about anything else!

Hi all, I asked Chatgpt to create a step-by-step approach for my OCD using Bashar’s logic of demolishing deeply routed beliefs. I found this interesting to read so I figured I'd share it. (This is not therapy advice it's just for your entertainment.) 1️⃣ Identify the core belief, not the surface reaction What you want to break is usually not the belief you think it is. Example: • “I’m anxious around X” → surface level • “If X happens, I won’t be safe” → deeper • “I cannot trust myself to handle things” → core Your job is to get to the root statement—the one that creates the emotional charge. Ask yourself: What must I be believing is true for me to feel this way? Repeat that question until you hit the emotional center. ⸻ 2️⃣ Acknowledge the objective truth: the belief is a CHOICE You cannot experience a belief unless you are choosing it. Not consciously—but still choosing it. You don’t try to “fight” it. You simply say: “This is the belief I’ve been operating from. I chose it. And I can choose differently.” Ownership dissolves resistance. ⸻ 3️⃣ Ask the Belief Its Own Weakness Beliefs don’t like being interrogated. Say this (silently or out loud): “What proof do you have that you are true?” Not evidence from fear, not imagination, not what-ifs, but actual objective, physical reality proof. Most beliefs crumble right here because they were never grounded in objective reality—just repetition or emotional memory. ⸻ 4️⃣ Replace, don’t erase The mind doesn’t understand “delete.” It only understands “swap.” You pick the new belief like selecting a new weapon in a loadout. Ask: “What belief would I prefer to hold that feels more aligned with who I actually am?” Example: • Old: “If I don’t feel comfortable, something is wrong with me.” • New: “Discomfort is just my system stretching into a new configuration.” Or: • Old: “I can’t trust my thoughts.” • New: “A thought is just an option, not a command.” ⸻ 5️⃣ Take one action that proves the new belief Behavior is the engine. Belief is the steering wheel. You need one aligned action—even tiny—to signal the new belief is active. Example: • Text someone without overthinking → proves “I can trust myself.” • Watch the trigger without spiraling → proves “I can coexist with discomfort.” • Sit with a thought without reacting → proves “thoughts aren’t commands.” Action is what locks the belief in. ⸻ 6️⃣ Each time the old belief pops up, recognize it as a ghost trend Not a relapse. Not a failure. Just a habit echoing. Say: “Ah, that’s the old program. Not mine anymore.” Neutral acknowledgment destroys its power. ⸻ The Real Reason Beliefs Feel Hard to Drop Because the belief isn’t the issue. The identity attached to it is. When a belief ties into: • safety • stability • predictability • ego • childhood imprinting …it feels like dropping the belief = dropping part of yourself. But the truth? That piece of you isn’t you—it’s a survival reflex pretending to be you. Once you see that, the spell breaks.

I would like to share my real event, cause I really don’t know anymore is it even pocd. I asked if I should quit my job as a teacher and everybody said no, but they don’t know the situation. I want to do the right thing. I can take it.

I have done some pretty weird and messed up things throughout my life. Some just because I grew up I guess a little weird and traumatized and some were compulsions for OCD or to relieve anxiety or stress. All of these i consider mistakes. I have a new boyfriend and a part of me gets reminded of often of these weird things I’ve done and I feel like I need to confess them to him or that means I’m hiding a really bad part of myself. Some of these things I consider disturbing. I have confessed them to people before and they don’t look at me different, but I don’t want to feel like I have to confess, but I don’t know how to feel like I shouldn’t have to.

1. Should I quit my job as a teacher and report myself somewhere. 2. Try to handle this as an OCD. I really don’t know.

Hello, I am currently taking 50mg of Zoloft daily and have been for the last 2 weeks. I will be upping to a much higher dose in the future but am wondering if anyone prescribed this has noticed improvements with ocd symptoms, im trying to have hope but I’ve heard bad story’s with Zoloft and have been obsessing over if it will harm me more than good.

I know that the only solution to OCD is to stop the loop by stopping the compulsion. However I have pur O OCD and I want with all my soul, all my being, all my will, to stop doing what is keeping up the loop. But I have no idea of what compulsion is keeping this going ? All I know is that once I remember "I will die one day. And everyone will die one day" it is over, my mind is going to torture me every single second with thoughts about it and that I am going to have horrible anxiety every single second to the point of literal torture for a whole entire year with no break.

Hi to everyone, I want to share with you my actual situation. I'm 26 and I've been diagnosed OCD 2 years ago. Now I'm doing therapy once a week and I'm starting ERP but I'm still struggling. It seems to me that I'm not reaching anything in life... I'm an aspiring tattoer, but I'm extremely afraid to apply as an apprentice in a shop; I mean that I worry about what could happen and so the anxiety increases till nervous breakdown. I also have many intrusive thoughts about another tattoo I would like to do and for this reason I'm avoiding it. Theese fears makes me question about my identity till crisis. I still live with my mother and I work only 3 days per week: I'm really ashamed of it. I feel so isolated and blocked.. Depression is another issue and my mom doesn't tolerate it; so she repeats to me that I have to find another job to feel better. I don't like my self and I hate how I'm living... I hope I don't disturb anyone. I'm not seeking reassurences; I'd just like to read your opinion.

When I was 16/17, I was addicted to nude content. One day I wanted to find content that was my age, so I went into some discord server I found online. What I saw in there was the most horrible stuff I ever saw. Years later, I cry almost everyday because of it, and can't move past it. It is eating me alive. I would give my both two arms to have the ability to go back into the past and never make that mistake. Can I forgive myself?