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How do I not be anxious over a date ?? So I’ve never been in a long-term relationship because I was like “I don’t belong to any man I love being single” but that could easily have been a cover for being to anxious to date or having standards that were way too high I don’t know. I went out with a friend of mine for a month a couple years ago and while he was nice and everything I just panicked and broke up with him one day while I was on vacation because I felt like he was holding me back from living elsewhere or growing on my own because I assumed I’d have to bring him along with me (??) it was confusing but I think I was just scared to be in a relationship. Now fast forward 2 years and I finally felt ready to date like at the beginning of this year one of my resolutions was to start dating I felt it was time. Then covid hit so that messed everything up and I left it alone. Anyways there was this one guy friend of mine I met back in college who I liked at the time but didn’t pursue anything with because I was nervous. We fell out of touch but I found him on Facebook later on and we reconnected. For the past year or so we’d just Snapchat each other but that was it, no deeper discussion. The last time I saw him in person too was last summer because he lives in another city for school. So the other day I was snapping him and I’m gonna be honest it was late night and I was feeling him so I was flirting with him but it was one of those things where you flirt and then the next day you kinda move on from it, even though I do find him attractive but again I think it’s my fear of getting more serious. He asked for my number because this whole time we never had each other’s numbers just social media, so I gave it to him and we chatted for a day and now today first thing he asks is if I’d like to go on a date with him in the near future and I said sure. But now I’m freaking out haha. Like I said he’s attractive and friendly and cool but I also don’t think we have that much in common so I keep going back to what I’d ideally like in a guy and what he doesn’t have so I feel like it couldn’t go long term, but at the same time it’s just one date like we could easily have the date or two and just decide it isn’t gonna work out..? As you guys can see I’m way overthinking this hahaha. Can I get some advice on this please? I feel like I’m too old to be going all over the place with this (I’m 24) but I’m still inexperienced when it comes to actual relationships and dating

I’m struggling with my real event/false memory ocd right now over the same damn event I’ve talked about on here forever. I have so much anxiety and guilt about it. Every time I start to feel better I get back in my head about it and find a new detail to obsess on that doesn’t sit well with me. I was doing so good for a couple of days and now I feel like I’m right back to square one...

I think I’m at a point where I can no longer be helped. My thoughts seem too convincing, I can’t talk to anyone in my life about them. I feel like I’m going to be stuck with this mindset for the rest of life and I’m just going to continue to get crazier. I’m too afraid to interact with people irl because I’m afraid they’ll notice something is up, or that I’ll get thoughts. Almost my whole life is being consumed by these thoughts, I noticed a lot of things that used to keep track of in my day to day life I’ve completely forgot about. I’m worried if I see a therapist I’ll get misdiagnosed and only get worse. Everytime I try to remind myself of old morals my mind tells me that I was only being brainwashed and that I’m trying to brainwash myself again. It feels like I don’t even want to go back to my old life, it feels like I only want to follow these thoughts and see where they lead me and it sucks that I predicted all of this would happen. That my mind would come up with more unwanted stuff and I’d forget about everything I’ve ever cared about and become lost in confusion. I think I’d rather see someone in person than online, but I’m not sure about the therapists in my area or if they’ve ever even seen anything like what I’m going through. I don’t even know if it’s ocd anymore, but I really wish I could get out of this. It feels like I’m getting worse everyday even though I know it’s just all in my head and I need to let it go and focus on real life but I can’t stop worrying about what’s in my mind and what happening to me and what’s going to happen.

Contamination anxiety playing up at the moment. My brother who is living with us at the moment refuses to brush his teeth, wash himself/his hair or change his clothes. He doesn’t take hand sanitiser out with him, he’s been meeting friends without a mask and he only washes his clothes like 1 every 8 weeks. To be frank he does not smell good. It makes me so anxious, it makes me not want to be around him and it makes the rest of my family irritated too. We’ve tried talking to him but he says that it is our problem and that we should just get over ourselves, and that society is what makes us want to wash. I can’t tell whether my ocd and anxiety is being unreasonable or whether I am justified in my ill feeling. Not sure. Has anyone else got experience with this?

i'm very scared.. i feel like i can't take it.. i feel so hopeless. am i the only one that gets thoughts like " yeah you are attracted to that child" or sometimes i feel like i can't control myself but, something tells me it's just that my thoughts are so hard that i feel as if i can't. i'm very scared though.. i'm literally so young , 18 to be exact, i feel like i can't control this POCD, i'm planning on ending my life on september, i cant anymore. i get scared ill act on my intrusive thoughts

*Recovery Inspiration* Hi everyone, I hope you’re all doing as well as possible during these difficult times. I have decided to share my success story so far. Bare in mind, I’m not fully recovered yet but definitely on the road to it (maybe 75%) recovered. Therefore, I just want to pass on some inspiration and words of advice from my journey of Pure OCD. I found it all started during quarantine maybe because we started to overthink too much when we had too much time and stress on our hands. I felt awful because at the start of this year, I was at my happiest. I literally thought life couldn’t get any better. However, that soon changed when the OCD and anxiety kicked in. This was such a shock to the system because I went from one extreme to the other (My happiest to my saddest). I started doing my research online and learned this is just OCD and that your thoughts are just thoughts no matter how hard it may seem to recognise that. This gave me a great sense courage and massive relief. I learned in order to defeat this monster, I must be hungry for success and I’m sorry to say it but by nature, I am quite blunt, you have to grow a pair of b***s. Don’t get me wrong, I did dwell on my thoughts for many weeks, had breakdowns, do compulsions and ruminate etc. I’ve had urges, sensations, false attractions, guilt, shame, feeling of numbness and being emotionless. Basically all the usual symptoms of OCD trying to scare you. I’ve been going through depersonalisation/derealization too because of OCD but I don’t care anymore because I know this will pass too and is just a protection mechanism sent from my brain. Finally, once I started to stop fighting the thoughts and let them flow without giving them attention, they started to lessen and lessen. At this stage now, I finally understand this is just my OCD talking, NOT me. See OCD is essentially a bully, it will try convince and manipulate you into believing the thoughts it sends you. The bully craves attention and will feed off reactions which is why you must limit your reactions. I have being taken Prozac since June which has been a massive help in reducing my anxiety so it can allow me focus more on doing ERP work. I haven’t had any therapy because unfortunately I couldn’t find any OCD specialist where I live. I’m sure therapy is great and I would advise it if it’s available for you but the more and more I think about it, it’s up to us at the end of the day to make the change, not a therapist. They will provide you all the skills and tips to recover but it’s up to you to implement them. So guys I wish you all the very best in your recovery. I promise things will get better once you take the steps towards getting better and more importantly, you yes YOU deserve to get better. Don’t mind OCD doubting you. It is the doubting disease after all. People with OCD are the total opposite of their thoughts, they are good people. That’s the reason why we worry so much because we’re more sensitive and against our thoughts. Don’t hold off until tomorrow either to make a change. Start today so that you’re one day closer to living your normal life again. Good luck.

Please someone talk to me. Hello, i haven’t been diagnosed with ocd because i wasn’t able to consult a therapist. After Countless google searches, i saw articles regarding hocd and rocd. And i think i have it. But what if i don’t? What if i’m in denial and i’m only using my boyfriend to forget my ex and that i’m a lesbian?

Does anyone have any tips for recognizing when contamination worries are becoming obsessive vs. when it’s a typical reaction to the current pandemic situation? I don’t really have contamination fears but I find myself really worrying about any interactions I’ve had when I go out somewhere now. For example I went out to pick up an item yesterday (with a mask and everyone around me had a mask of course) but the woman helping me at the store was definitely closer than she should’ve been (she was also wearing a mask) so now I have a small worry she could’ve passed COVID onto me. I’m not asking for reassurance that I don’t have it, because obviously no one can tell me for certain, but I would just like to know how this sounds to anyone who experiences a similar dilemma.

Guys again today has been very hard for me. I was sitting down and I saw my sister sitting in a certain way. I didn’t thing it was sexually attractive. But like the way her body was positioned in an arch or sumn was weird. And I noticed it. And it because a lot of the times I see people post sexual pictures or I find people attractive in similar poses. But like I don’t wan to find my little sister attractive. And I don’t. But like I noticed the pose and I was really scared that I found it attractive. She was also wearing a shirt that showed a lot of her legs. And I don’t know the way my mind describes things to me sometimes makes things worse. Like the way I tried to talk to myself to calm myself down worried me more. Like my mind is slowly trying to convince I am attracted. But like why. Why does this have to happen. I’m I a pedophile??! What if I actually found it attractive? Do pedos get worried like this? Help!! Anyone else experience something similar? Help!!

People with OCD often fume "why do the god damn thoughts have to ruin everything?!?!" Don't get me wrong,, unwanted words and pictures in our heads can be pretty unpleasant. But they don't actually ruin activities. Imagine thoughts as insects and whatever activity you care about as a camping trip. In this analogy, the question "why do the thoughts always ruin x" becomes "why do mosquitoes always ruin camping trips?" - As anyone who enjoys spending time outside can tell you, insects are everywhere. Most are boring and we pay them no attention. Some, like butterflies are super pretty or interesting, and we enjoy them. Some insects bite. Mosquitoes are like unwanted thoughts, we'd rather they not be there because they bite us and cause some discomfort. - Most camping trips have mosquitoes. If mosquitoes always ruined camping trips, or even ruined most or half of camping trips, camping just wouldn't be a thing. Yet loads of people love camping, despite mosquitoes. So clearly mosquitoes aren't the problem. What can ruin a camping trip is the person's response to mosquitoes. Mosquitoes will only ruin your camping trip if you ... 1)expect there will be no mosquitoes 2)don't prepare for mosquitoes (bug repellent, appropriate clothing and tent) 3)get onto the campsite and go "omg, these mosquitoes SHOULDN'T be here" 4)get bit a couple times and DISQUALIFY THE POSITIVE by thinking "yeah, fishing was fun, but it doesn't matter because I got bitten up" 5)use BLACK AND WHITE THINKING and conclude that any the trip is with all good or all bad, so getting bit by mosquitoes meant it wasn't perfect sooo "this trip was the worst. The mosquitoes ruined it" And, it's pretty likely that by the time you've done those five things, you OVERGENERALIZE your bad experience on this camping trip and say "all camping trips are a miserable waste if time! I'm never going on one again". If you follow through and never camp again, you lose out on an activity that could have brought you great joy as well as opportunities to learn that mosquitoes don't ruin camping trips. - Now, let's apply this to unwanted thoughts during activities (in this example, game night9 we want to enjoy. Here's how to set yourself up to not let the thoughts ruin the activity - 1) expect some unwanted thoughts to occur during game night 2)prepare in advance for the unwanted thoughts (acceptance statements, response prevention plan, having someone there to encourage you, a list of benefits of fighting OCD and engaging in the activity prewritten out on a notecard in your pocket) and then use the tools you prepared yourself with 3) when an unwanted thought arises, think something like "look, a thought. It's about time you showed up! You can stay as long as you want, but I'm not focusing on you" 4) name both enjoyable and unenjoyable parts of the activity without using one to cancel out the other "the intrusive thoughts were unpleasant and I didn't especially like the dessert they served. The board game was so exciting, we didn't know who would win up until the final moment. And petting the dog was pretty sweet too" 5) use balanced thinking "overall, game night was pretty good. There were some unpleasant parts, but I enjoyed a whole lot of it. 6) it's unlikely you'll overgeneralize at this point, but catch yourself if you do. Attend game night a few more times before deciding if you want to make it a regular activity.

Can someone with ROCD (relationship OCD) tell me how they deal with it? My boyfriend and I have been rocky on and off, but I still love him and want to work through our differences together. I think things like well there is someone better out there for me, what if I’m just staying in it because it’s comfortable, etc. I’ve had these thoughts for a while now and they are hard to navigate because they are valid reasonings as to why we might not work out, but then there are valid reasons as to why we could work out HELP ME PLZ

Has anyone here ever been doing fine the all of a sudden get anxiety while driving or doing everyday activities like shopping and such ? I have the fear of having a panic attack and it’s so stressful for me as I am a single mom and need to to everyday things 😔

Tips on working on self esteem? I am self aware on my unhealthy attachment styles in relationships and men in general. I’ve had self esteem issues since I was a child. In college I was like the ugly duckling turned hot, and subsequently I was promiscuous for years. Recently my friends with benefits from college (one of my best guy friends), who I fell in love with but we had a falling out because I was so attached and heartbroken when he didn’t feel the same, contacted me telling me he had a dream about me. It’s been 5 years since we graduated college. We sent each other some sexual snaps (without faces) and he acted so into me again. I sent some more the next day and I got no response. He’s an engineer so I know he’s super busy but I immediately look too much into these things and think bad about myself. He told me to come down to Florida to visit him for a few days but he didn’t answer my snaps so my self esteem kicks in and I assume he doesn’t like it or feels weird now. Like maybe he felt horny for a second and he didn’t wanna hear from me after that one time he contacted me.

can someone please just talk to me ):

how were your experinces on medication for OCD? which medications helped the best? my therapist recommended me see a psychiatrist for medication but im terrified of getting on them in the first place because i dont want them to affect me negatively

i can’t go to bed until i do certain things can anyone help?

My OCD has been attacking my Dad lately. For whatever reason my ODC says “what if u r face gets red around him or while you’re talking to him and ppl think u like him or what if I have a panic attack around him and ppl think that he must’ve done something to me to make me afraid of him and HE DIDNT! He’s never been anything but a loving great Dad. It makes me feel like such a horrible person. It causes me at times to avoid him and I don’t want to. I just want these horrible thoughts about my Dad to go away. Has anyone else experienced this? And if so how did you cope? I HATE myself for this😭

really struggling tonight 💔 currently tapering off my medication and having constant panick attacks. I suffer with GAD, Emetiphobia, health anxiety and different forms of OCD. the withdrawal is terrible and making me.feel sick so becuase of my health anxiety and emetophobia it heightens everything and I just feel I'm about to die at any minute. can anyone relate or have any words of wisdom?

Freaking out because I feel like I can be such a toxic person in my head. Like I think some mean mean things that I’m incredibly ashamed of, and have a lot of aggression towards things. Mostly friends. It’s all internal and I really don’t let it show in my actions. I am caring to them all because they don’t deserve anything less. I just feel like a fraud for thinking the things I do and then acting kind. I do care for them I just also have some awful brain noise.

Stuck. A few days ago,I saw three years ago I was invited in a chat that had revolting content. It was full of racial slurs, and nsfw ,gore,etc. I never sent any messages nor interacted with it,I suppose i never checked it and never was aware of its nature. However,it haunted me for days on end and I felt immense guilt by association alone,I felt disturbed to the extent its all i thought about,and the only thing I thought about. I constantly showered,struggled to eat,and either struggled to sleep or slept excessively. When finally overcoming the guilt,that it had no reason to be there because it was not my actions nor was I aware of it until three years or so after ,another thought came by. That if the content was so openly shocking and vile,whos to say they hadn't sent something illegal,and whilst scrolling through the hellhole I just so happened to miss it. I remember one user in particular had a picture of a young girls face sent in,i remember it just being a face and nothing else from what I observed. The only nsfw things i saw were also cartoons like Wendy(from the fast food chain). it haunts me still if I just didn't look close enough,it was really something more sinister. This sort of triggered my past POCD,and now I cant stop obsessing over it,going back to the memory over and over in spite of not being able to recall anything else. Its sort of inhibited my ability to look to the future and relax in the present,I cant do things without thinking about it. I'm considering talking to a hotline regarding its effect on me, but I dont know if its safe to discuss. The whole situation has drained everything about my life tbh