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Possible trigger warning! Anyone have tips on taking shorter showers? I have gotten my showers down from over to an hour to about 30 min on average. Sometimes I go over or under depending on certain factors that may trigger my OCD. I want to eventually get down to 15 min. I always worry that I forgot to wash a body part and probably end up washing it a bunch of times over. I also have to wash my hands a lot in between certain body parts to not “spread contamination?” Showers are super stressful for me.

So I was walking on Christmas Eve and slipped on some ice. I fell backwards and smashed the back of my head into the pavement, resulting in a pretty bad concussion. I have horrible contamination OCD and an awful, endless fear of dying from an injury/illness. I’ve forced myself to stop googling symptoms every time I don’t feel well, which has helped slightly. This concussion is making me extremely irritable and I don’t feel like myself. My compulsions are out of control, I’m not sure if it’s because of the head injury, or the constant fear that my brain is bleeding and the fear that I’ll never feel normal again. I can’t tell my actual symptoms apart from my OCD. My anxiety has been so bad that I’m sleepwalking during the night, it feels like I am never going to snap out of this. I’m having constant panic attacks because of how overwhelming the symptoms are and how nervous I am of having a seizure/dying. Has anyone on here ever had a concussion that triggered their OCD? If so, what did you do to overcome it and about how long did it take to feel okay again?

I feel like I won't be able to make any progress bc I live with people who don't respect my rules. I worry about how clean surfaces are but the people I live with ignore me when I ask that certain things don't touch each other. For example, if something touches the floor I can't touch it or anything else it has touched. This causes a problem bc even if I could disinfect the object and surface it has touched I can't force someone to wash their hands and constantly watch over them to make sure they are what I determine to be clean. Their hands which I think are dirty touch other surfaces some of which I can't clean to my standard and only continue to ruin all the work I spent making something sanitary.

Potential trigger???? My harm OCD is spiraling out of control and I cannot stop obsessing over the idea of ending my life. I really don’t want to but it’s all I can think about. My intrusive thoughts keep reminding me how much suffering I’d be done with if I just did it but I don’t want to actually go through with it!!! Terrified— has anyone been through this and fully recovered from the thoughts? :-/

Hey guys I have some questions on OCD recovery. I just get confused on what to do, like some people say to distract yourself when the thoughts come in, others say to think it harder or on purpose or something. Are some forms of distraction better, like exercising and not forcing distraction. A thought can get stuck in my head for a while and I’m not really sure how to distract from it, do I just let it be there while doing something else like the exercising or drawing? I just need some advice. Any techniques you have for recovery will be much appreciated ? Thanks in advance!

Do any of you ever feel like you cannot lie or you will feel an immense amount of guilt? Even about small things?

Anyone else’s ocd ruin a really important relationship in their lives bc their obsessions and compulsions took over and became the center of the relationship? For me it ruined my friendship with my ex best friend, and I obsess about it constantly

its just me that hate myself? im so insecure, i start crying bcs i look at girls and they re so pretty smh

Does anybody have Sexuality OCD? Because I am pretty sure that I am straight but then suddenly about a week ago I stopped going guys attractive and it really scared me. I was convinced I was gay! I tried to like a girl but my brain was telling me that it was wrong. That was when I thought ‘OMG I DONT HAVE A SEXUALITY’ and I got really scared. Then yesterday I thought a girl was really cute but then saw a guy and thought he was gorgeous! And then I was like no I have to be straight!!!!! What do I do? Does anybody have this problem?

help please. Was watching porn and masturbating. Looked up a specific physical attribute that reminded me of my ex, curly hair and watched one. I masturbated to it then all of a sudden thoughts started to attack me like what if this was actually her. Then out of nowhere i thought what if this was her and her brother. Then now its just bothering me to confess to her. We talk sometimes and i really dont want to cause whats the point we r over and thats just fucked up But i feel more bad bc even having that thought and it made me :/ i still continued to masturbate bc i didnt feel satisfied enougj, i mean obviously not to the thought of her and her brother cause thats weird but i was masturbating while that thought was in my head and it feels wrong and makes me feel guilt or icky.

Does anyone else deal with body image issues? I feel like it's an extension of my OCD. I obsess over my body and face. I have a round face and have hated it my entire life. I have a chin and jawline, but they aren't prominent like a lot of celebrities or just girls I see with what I consider to be skinnier and more beautiful face shapes. I hate the way I look in pictures and insist only having them taken on my best side. I think the other side of my face is uneven. I've looked into becal fat removal and cool sculpting for my chin and jawline. I obsess over my stomach and arms. I love the way I look in the mirror when I do my makeup and hair. And then I hate how I look in pictures. It sucks. I feel like no matter how much time I spend on getting ready, I still look hideous. Again, I think this is another form of my OCD taking place but not sure. Is body dysmorphia it's own thing or can it be an obsessional thing? I compare how skinny I was in high school to now (comparing pictures) until I cry. I pull back the fat on my chin and cheeks because I hate it. And I grab the fat on my stomach and arms when showing my mom how overweight I am. She and my friends say I'm the only one who sees it. But who would honestly tell their daughter or friend that they're overweight or ugly? I think they're lying. It causes me such distress that I want to cry every time I see myself in the mirror or in a picture. I have some medical conditions that keep me from working out as much as I'd like to and from doing cardio. So that's one of the disadvantages I have. I also find it impossible to eat super healthy. I love pasta, bread, etc. I don't know how people give that stuff up for stuff that is disgusting. I can kind of find healthy alternatives for breakfast and lunch. But for dinner I am completely stumped. I really shouldn't eat carbs at all. I should actually have protein and fiber. But I literally cry if I end up eating chicken cooked a million different ways for the millionth time. It gets so boring and is so time consuming as well as energy consuming. Sorry for the long rant. But my anxiety is going a mile a minute and I just seriously want to cry. I wish I could just eat nothing but I can't. I'm also not considered overweight or anything. I'm... normal I guess. I'm just not toned. And it's so hard when I see all my healthy friends who have time and energy to cook healthy and work out every single day looking gorgeous while I'm here and can barely get out of bed like a bump on a log. ):

Advice for RECOVERY please? I completely cut out asking for reassurance of any kind and am trying my best to ‘walk the unaltered path’ not changing plans etc. Doing basic ERP twice daily as well. I’m still terrified constantly and always have the loop playing in my head. I have Suicidal OCD and it always feels like I’m barely making it through the day. I feel like I don’t want to do anything but scream and cry and thrash because I’ve lost my lust for life in the past few months. Does anyone have any advice on recovery and how to get better quicker? What else should I be doing? Love to all xx.

I’m pretty new to the App. Anyone else have an OCD that is not “a typical OCD theme” and feels alone with it?

I’ve started reading the Bible. I’m trying to convince myself I’m not going to go to hell. I just can’t stop thinking that because of something I did I deserve to be in hell. It says if you committed a sin unknowingly that will be taken into account, but the same goes if you did it willingly. Thing is I did something horrible because of my OCD obsessions and I KNEW it was horrible and wrong. But I had reached a breaking point, the worst low of my entire life, the darkest spot I have ever been and I pray to God no one here or anywhere ever will reach it. In this I did what I did because even though I was in therapy it didn’t help and I thought “perhaps I am a sociopath” and thought the thing to do would be to carry out with it and then I would know if I was insane and the scary thing is I didn’t think I’ll turn myself in for being a sociopath I thought “I’ll just live my life this way and no one will know. Ill just get good at it and live as a nut job because it’s who I am” but flash forward I found out afterwards that isn’t true because I have been wishing every day since then that I would have just killed myself instead. And thing is idk how much of this is real or a false memory. I know if happened but I hope more than anything I’m exaggerating it due to the years of torment after. Maybe I’m holding onto false hope. Anyway do you guys think God will know that even though I did it, it was my OCD telling me I’m a monster and should just do it? Or do you think this doesn’t matter I’ll probably be sent to hell and for the non religious, do you think it doesn’t matter what God thinks I’m a horrible person?

Do you ever get headaches from your OCD/anxiety? It seems like I get stressed from my OCD thoughts and rumination and it gives me a headache in the back of my head and makes me dizzy and disconnected?

I have the worst contamination ocd and I really need help. I told my mom about it and she told me I was crazy and need to get over it. I told my dad and he understands (he also has ocd) but doesn’t think I need to see a doctor. I literally live my life everyday worrying about being clean and I know it’s totally not normal, so I just want to go back living a normal life. And my parents don’t think I need help. What do I do? :(

Hello, first time posting here. Does anyone else suffer from bad health anxiety? Due to stress mine has gotten pretty bad recently and for a week now I've been REALLY scared of skin cancer to the point I have difficulties sleeping and I worry all the time. Logically, I've had my moles all my life and most of them are very small and round and I don't think the bigger "weirder" looking ones have changed at all (ofc, my brain keeps telling me to check them constantly and looking at them makes me imagine things and causes anxiety). I also keep imagining I'm finding "new" small ones all the time (probably just haven't noticed them before bc they are so tiny, light brown and I haven't been checking myself like this before..). This is just really frustrating for me and is causing distress. If anyone else has experienced similar worry, do you have any tips to calm down or force yourself to stop searching your skin for marks and spots? This new obsession is driving me crazy, and makes me feel really foolish, but the feelings are real and scary!

I’m leaving nOCD I wish everyone luck u all r amazing people please get well soon stay strong and positive I going to heal myself because I’m using this up for reassurance n it’s making my mind play up even worse I hate feeling like a bad monster so wish me luck everyone if it gets to the point I might have to get therapy but trying to get over it b4 I do wish everyone the best of luck ❤️

Does anyone else’s intrusive thoughts at times make them ‘feel’ things? Like if you have an intrusive thought about your boyfriend you then begin to feel you don’t want to be with him. And afterward you feel extreme guilt and shame because you do love him so much. I used to call them “fake feelings”

I am new to this app so I really appreciate any feedback on this post! I suffer from what started as intrusive thoughts which has now escalated immensely over the last few years. I feel like I am not in control of myself, when it comes to being around my pet, other humans and worry about several things and more. Another one is a worry that I will betray my boyfriend who I love. Sometimes I have intrusive thoughts so strong that it almost becomes like a ‘feeling’. And I know I love my boyfriend but it’s almost like I’m so focused all the time that I feel exhausted, so sometimes I’ll get let the thoughts in about my boyfriend and being with him, and then it comes so strong that I almost believe the intrusive thoughts about him. When I’m out of this state of mind - I then feel extreme guilt and worry that I’ve done something to betray him like cheating. I’m so confused by this and so distressed. What I’ve wrote probably doesn’t even make sense, but if it does to someone, could you please shed some light on this x