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Sleep is becoming my biggest issue. I think being on fluoxetine has definitely helped but since the dose is high rn (80 mg) I think its definitely exacerbating my sleep issues. Ironically, I am so tired of being tired 🥲

I read Dr. Greenberg article but I can’t seem to apply it.

Hi everyone, this is my first post here so sorry if the format is off. I’ve been working with my therapist for about a year and a half. I’m not clinically diagnosed, but based on everything I’ve shared, she believes I have OCD. My obsessions shift over time, and for the past six months it has focused on relationship OCD around friendships. I constantly analyze whether the people I feel close to actually feel the same way about me. If I don’t get the exact kind of reassurance I’m hoping for, I spiral. Therapy hasn’t helped this specific issue much yet, and honestly it feels like it’s getting worse. I keep convincing myself that I have no friends, that I’m a loser, and that I’m basically a social reject in my town. I’ve even gotten into this pattern where I obsessively Snapchat people every single day because I’m terrified that if I don’t, they’ll forget about me or think I don’t care. Then I end up feeling like I’ve annoyed them. And when there’s a group outing with the girls in my town and I’m not invited, I get devastated for weeks. I don’t know if that’s normal or not, but it feels like confirmation that I’m rejected and don’t belong. I talk to a lot of people on Snapchat and I have several male friends (I’m female), but my OCD tells me that male friends don’t count and that having a big female friend group is the only “normal” way to be. That thought really eats at me. I want to put myself out there, but I get too scared. I’ve tried apps like Bumble BFF but never follow through. I’ve messaged old friends to hang out, but I get anxious about going to the things they do. The strange part is that I’m not even sure what I’m looking for anymore. I just know I’ve had good and bad friendships, and I can tell there are people I’d genuinely love to be friends with and others I don’t really want in my life. I’m not sure what to do next or how to break out of this loop. Any insight or similar experiences would mean a lot.

I feel like I don't see much about the type of OCD I'm experiencing, so maybe others can relate? I got engaged in April and have the most incredible fiancé. He is kind, understanding, and tells me constantly that he would never leave me in a million years. But losing him, my best friend and the love of my life, is my absolute worst fear in this world. I would never be the same. I'm an independent person, so I don't want this to sound like I depend on this relationship in an unhealthy way, but he isn't just my partner, he is literally my best friend. I mean seriously, we have so much fun together, we love each other so much, and he is just the biggest blessing. I have this fear that I'm going to do something or think something that would essentially be the thing that he leaves me for. So now, I'm constantly in this state of worry, feeling like I need to confess these thoughts to him. They may be intrusive, or have some logic to them but are essentially not a big deal and not worth saying. But anything that could be perceived as negative, I have to tell him. Like for example, I thought of something as a flaw on him, and I immediately spiraled and had to tell him just to make sure he wouldn't leave me for that. I essentially feel like if I don't say anything, I'm lying to him, and that I'm keeping something from him. I constantly tell myself, "he loves you so much, he would never leave you." but then I'm like, "Yeah, but what if this is the last straw? If he knew, would his feelings change?" I'm back in therapy for my OCD now, because this has really been affecting me, and it's just terrible. I feel like I don't deserve the happy moments I have with him, or at all. Like, I don't deserve to be present in the moment.

my friend has a girlfriend who met on tinder abroad and they started seeing each other as she came to our country. (i haven't heard from him for a while because i was focused on my studies, so I don't actually know if they're still together, i hope not) The issue is that she lied to my friend on being 19 the whole time she was with him, and she actually was 3 years younger than him. He didn't know that and still had s&x with her a few times. During her stay in my country she was still 16 (he wasn't aware) and my friend had just become like 20 a week ago, she would have become 17 a month later. My friend discovered it during her stay, and i'm afraid about the possibility that he could have had s&x even after discovering the age, because maybe he could have thought that he had just become 20 and that she was basically 17, while on paper until that following month she would have been 16. My friend is a good guy, I do not know how to ask this without sounding weird. I asked advice before and some people think he's a creep and deverses to be arrested. He's not that type of person I can assure you that. I think it mainly lies on ignorance and stupidy rather than malice, since, while not personally agreeing with it, a 3 years age gap in my country is considered not weird, even though i find it personally inappropriate. I will try to confront him about such topic, and make him realise it's inappropriate. I don't know what should I actually do. I don't want to break that 10 years friendship. Wouldn't a good friend be someone who made him understand and make sure they don't repeat it again instead of cutting them off their life completely? And to what degree is something forgivable or not acceptable? If he still kept the relationship and put on hold any se^ual rapport, after gaining the age gap context, but was unsure if to still try to keep the romantical relationship as he catched feelings (they've been in a 1 year distant relationship), and then came to his sense and break it off, would i be still allowed to be his friend? and what if the worse happened? not thinking deeply abt it and generalising the fact that they were basically 17 and 20 and kept having s&xual rapports? I don't know what could I do in such case. I really hope he didn't. I'll talk to him about it. But please offer any help.

Adults only So I watch adult content and I'm trying not to be ashamed of that. It's something I'm sure almost all of us seen and may watch. Does anyone else struggle with POCD and see content that has fictional minors and it's just disgusting? You don't search for it but it still comes up anyway? Whether it's channels that have the content that is okay but then you go on their channel and they have disgusting stuff on their channel but you hope that they are just adults? Whether it's playlists, channels, it's annoying when people upload stuff like this and it's gross. I don't ever search for stuff like this but it still comes up and I only try to watch content I'm comfortable with. I get horrible flare ups and intrusive thoughts related to POCD whenever this happens. Worse, I'll watch something with a character I think is an adult and I get really worried about their age and then I get thoughts that say "You were attracted to this minor and didn't know her age" which really hurts me mentally too Do people without OCD just not care about this stuff?? I'm sure they do but not to this extent. If they see it, do they get very disturbed for a long time? I just don't know what to do. I feel very alone in this.

I’ve been having so many sleepless nights lately. I’ve always dealt with insomnia from rumination, but now that I’ve stopped smoking weed to fall asleep, I’m realizing how much it was covering up. My brain literally will not turn off. It is not even conscious thoughts. It is like my subconscious is running in the background while my eyes are closed. It feels more like I am stuck in meditation than actually sleeping. Last night I got maybe thirty minutes of real sleep. My body is so used to this that I still get up when my alarm goes off, but I am a zombie the whole day. I tried to lay back down around 8 a.m. for just an hour, and when I opened my eyes it was 8:52. I was not actively thinking about anything. It is just this quiet mental noise that keeps my whole body restless while I am praying for REM. Melatonin does nothing for me. I tried it again and it did not change anything. I am honestly scared my system is out of sync, and part of me keeps wanting to go back to weed because at least I slept. But I am trying to stay sober and clear headed, and I also have this dental implant so I really should not be smoking anyway. Just needed to get this out. If anyone has dealt with this level of insomnia, what helped you? I am struggling.

Do you have personal experience with OCD medication, and do you would recommend one over another? Up until 2.5 years ago, I thought I had general anxiety with OCD thrown in. Then I determined that it's actually OCPD and OCD calling the shots, and they cause me general anxiety. I've been taking Citalopram for GAD the past 11 years, and I don't think it's as effective anymore. I would also like to try something that's prescribed for OCD. I've done my research and have come across a couple I want to talk to my doctor about, but it's always good to hear others' experiences too.

How does one get over a breakup? I have very little experience will take any ideas

my friend has girlfriend who met on tinder abroad and they started seeing each other as she came to our country. The issue is that she lied to my friend on being 19 the whole time she was with him, and she actually was 3 years younger than him. He didn't know that and still had s&x with her many times. During her stay in my country she was still 16 and my friend had just become like 720 a week ago, she would have become 17 a month later. My friend discovered it during her stay, and i'm afraid he kept having s&x after discovering the age gap during that time frame where on paper they would have been 4 years apart . My friend is a good guy, I do not know how to ask this without sounding weird

I had a very bad dentist experience in 2020 and have not been able to go to a dentist since. Its not a phobia, I dont think. It really feels like my OCD. I ruminate, then avoid. Something bad will happen if I go to a dentist again. Im not sure what, but of course Ive imagined every possible thing over and over and some of the scenarios are so outlandish I know its my OCD. I also stopped flossing after that and have to distract myself with something in order to be able to brush my teeth, so sometimes a few days go by before I can get myself in a frame of mind to be able to brush my teeth again. Just related subject matter sets me off: I run through what happened again and again and run through all the bad scenerios that could happen -when I brush my teeth or something related comes up,etc. Like I had to leave when a kid showed me where her tooth fell out and I realized over an hour later that Id just gone out to my car and sat in the parking lot ruminating over it all. So all that was a perfect storm for a dental emergency, which is why Im going to dentist on monday to avoid sepsis. I can't be the only one who's had a situation like this: maybe not specifically the dentist, although I feel like that might be kind of common, but something where you HAD to go somewhere to do something that youve been avoiding HARD -there is no way to continue avoiding this. But I had to take the day off from work to even get myself to a place where I could call and make an appointment. What are some things that have helped you get into the headspace to go do something like that -and to keep from freaking out while waiting? And I feel like just laying eyes on the stuff in the office is going to trigger me big time. Im worried I'll get there and won't be able to go through with the appointment and I really, really need to. I mean, I was trying not to say it because it bothers me so bad i feel like saying it might be bad for someone else with OCD reading this: but how the heck am I ever going to be able to let a stranger touch my mouth?

I just had an unexpected trigger I can’t even put into words how hard the OCD is….I wish I had someone here with me right now that has the exact same cross contamination OCD as me…so that person could tell me step by step what they would do …I can no longer function without OCD. It’s so hard for me to explain. The sad part is …the last couple days I was hopefully …trying to do ERP one tiny step at a time. And then this trigger happened tonight. How am I supposed to get better when there are constant triggers ??? It’s like trying to swim and giant waves keep pushing you back so you can’t swim past the waves that keep rolling in!!! I can’t find a therapist thats takes insurance. I feel so alone in this battle and I have to be my own therapist. It is going to take hours to decontaminate from this trigger. And I’m exhausted. The only thing left to say is Jesus please help me. If anyone has cross contamination that interferes with daily functioning, do you have any advice…I don’t know anyone that has this type of OCD. I really could use some words of wisdom and encouragement from anyone who understands cross contamination OCD.

Adults only Had some kind of dream where POCD was extremely high and I felt disgusting and terrible because when it comes to porn I've seen a lot of terrible, messed up things that people have made about fictional minors. Everytime I've looked for things to watch with legal characters, I find them and I've made a playlist to only have that content I'm comfortable with multiple times but I always end up running into this messed up stuff people upload and don't monitor. I don't understand why there's so much of this shit and it triggers my POCD very very badly and I feel like no one else has gone through this and it's only me, which is why my pocd spikes. Sometimes I even get sexual intrusive thoughts about fictional minors and real minors and it's messing with my mind so much. I don't side with pedophilia on ANY LEVEL. I'm trying to accept that I'm a human being and I have human desires that are sexual and there isn't anything wrong with that. I'm trying to accept that this isn't a bad thing but whenever I come across awful stuff like this so many times by accident it makes me feel so guilty and so ashamed. It feels like I'm going to be put on a list because people are making this stuff with literal child characters and not just adults. They know it and don't care and it's breaking my mind.

i turned 17 a few days ago and i cant stop thinking about how lonely my teen years felt, i mean i talk to people but i don't have close friends especially ones with ocd

last post got flagged lol not even sure what i did wrong but now i feel worse. not doing too good at the moment but i have finals to finish so i’ll just power through it🙃

I'm 20, but I feel so behind my peers. My mental health has caused many roadblocks, and sometimes, I'm afraid of never getting to a point where I actually feel content with where I am. For the past couple of years, life has been stagnant. I don't have a job (due to high anxiety and possibly procrastination), I haven't pursued higher education, even though I do want to, and I don't have a single friend I'm in active communication with. My best friend and I grew apart in high school (I switched to online), and although we keep in touch, we're not as close as we once were. She's across the country in another state attending college, so I only see her in-person once in a blue moon when she returns during breaks. Besides that, we respond to each other's stories, send happy birthdays and such, etc... Realistically, I know I haven't "failed" in life. I try to remind myself that there isn't just one path in life to take and that things are going to be okay, but... I don't think I fully believe it. I want to, but I often feel hopeless. OCD is one of the worst things that has ever happened to me. I'm constantly stuck in the past while trying to live in the present. I feel like I'll never be able to TRULY move on from anything. It will always find some way to reel me back into obsessing. I miss the peace and quiet when my brain wasn't constantly harassing me with horrible intrusive thoughts. I miss it so much. There's so much I want to do in life, but I feel like I'm nerfed or something lmao 💔 I genuinely experience a lot of embarrassment due to everything I talked about above... Any advice or just support would be very much appreciated. I'm just having a rough day.

i am just so frustrated. i keep doing research on the difference between pocd and an actual P, and it just seems the exact same. and everyone keeps telling me “no there’s actually a big difference” but in research there’s literally not. i’ve tried so hard to find more but the only difference i can find is the actual attraction part, but when u dont know what real attraction is because you generally have no experience in it and have natural low attraction it’s like how can you even figure it out for yourself and see if you’re attracted or not??? im just so stuck. its making me angry because i want to figure it out so badly but i just can’t because all the research to me just seems like “yeah real P’s can actually experience and feel the exact same as someone with pocd” and the only difference seems to be real attraction, but when POCD makes you believe you are attracted and have thoughts that people who are attracted can also experience, and even with pocd you feel all negative emotions about the thoughts that also real P’s can feel its like OH MY GOSH HOW DO I FIGURE THIS OUT!!!!!!!! then people are like “if you were a real P you would just know” BUT WHAT IF I DONT???? its possible for a real P to be confused and not really know for sure so like!!?!?!?. i just wish i had a machine where you could type in a question about yourself and it would give you a real definite answer cause then i would know the real cause to all these things im going through.

I had a thought while at work abt my brother and I got really strong groinal respones and I kept replaying it until it stopped. It felt like real arousal. I feel like idk how to fantasize anymore or what the difference is between fantasies and intrusive thoughts. Everyone says intrusive thoughts are thoughts u dont agree with and I feel like ive lost touch and dont even know whats me anymore. Which is disgusting

In January this year i found myself quite attracted to a colleague would go as far to say it was a crush, i never flirted or was inappropriate with them but i did have thoughts about whether being in a relationship with them would maybe be better or if we felt strongly towards each-other i would potentially leave my boyfriend (at the time) But i soon got over this crush and my relationship with my partner got stronger and stronger Now were engaged i feel as though i betrayed him by having that thought and i don’t deserve love and happiness Im not sure if those were the exact thoughts but i definitely did have a bit of a crush What do i do, am i a cheater? Or basically as bad as one😭

I’m making some gains battling my ocd and I really feel supported by my therapist Shawn Welty.