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Struggling today. I'm a school employee so we're off for 2 weeks. A break is great and all, but it's too much time on my hands. I don't know for sure why 5 months of quarantine was easy for me and this isn't, but here I am. I can't get in to see my therapist until after the break and that's assuming he's willing to just speak over the phone as opposed to Zoom. I'm trying not to ruminate, but it's been difficult finding something else to focus on.

Has anyone dealt with transgender or sexual orientation OCD? Like sometimes I question myself “do I want to be a guy” and I start getting anxiety bc I’ve never questioned my gender before. Then I’m like nah I don’t. But then the rumination starts and I start thinking “what if I’m in denial” then it starts making me sad bc I’ve thought I’ve liked being a girl. I was nervous to share this because I don’t want anyone to take it the wrong way. I’m in no way trying to shame the LGBTQ+ community when I ask this question. And I hope this doesn’t offend anyone and if I have I will take this post down immediately. I support and will always support the LGBTQ+ community.

i’ve been struggling with incest ocd lately and i leave for a trip with my family tomorrow. i’m super nervous but in the end i know it’s a good exposure and will probably help my ocd in the long run but of course it’s still a bit scary. i’m hoping my ocd doesn’t flare up too much, wish me luck!

I am trapped in sin and I dont know if I can win. I saw my mother pass away from covid and I just imagine she in heavens with my God. But for me I dont know. I am like a slave to the sin, dont know if I will ever be sure of my salvation. Life goes fast as a blink of an eye. I dont know how it will end, but I want to be saved. I dont want deceive God or make fun when saying something but keeping doing the same mistakes. Its strange. I want to be a better person. But I dont know how. I feel like I dont have strenght left.

18+ only. Someone please help! My mind is racing right now. My partner is into true crime but I tend to avoid it bc of its triggering nature. Anyways, today she was watching a video about this guy who did bdsm needling and was also a murderer. (The two aren’t intertwined, ik) I’m not a kinky person bc ocd makes that very difficult for me. I did not know what needling was. She said she has watched needling porn and enjoyed it. I looked it up and am very concerned about the state of our relationship bc I would never engage in that practice.

At this point I don't know why I keep going. I don't see a reason to either. My ocd has returned during covid after six years of freedom. It's been six months and I don't have the will to keep going anymore. I have always dreamed of having a wife. Literally, I have had many many dreams of having a woman loving me and I've always wanted that from a young age. The thought always made me happy. My ocd is saying I want to be with a man even though I've never had the desire in my life. I personally find it disgusting but the ocd keeps saying I'm in denial, every time I've loved a woman has been fake. The worst part is the groinal response, it's either real or it's ocd's biggest "Fuck you". I don't get erections but it almost feels like I'm about to and it scares me. I'm always hyperaware of my penis area as well. I've always viewed men as comrades and nothing more. During covid my ocd has attacked many things with different themes. My country, the people I look up to, my faith, family, children. Is that normal? Speaking of faith mine is destroyed, I've prayed hundreds of times for help yet nothing has come my way. A simple answer could be that he doesn't exist at all. Why should I keep going for ocd to return later in life? I don't want to recover to go through it bad a third time. So honestly I'm considering suicide. From what I know ocd is caused by a chemical imbalance in the brain so it seems I'm made to suffer. I don't see a way out. My schedule is garbage with covid. This isn't a life worth living if everything I've wanted is gone. Everyone has a mental breaking point. I don't know why I've typed this. Some way to vent? If this is the hill I die on so be it. I've always liked women only. A wife is all I've wanted.

Rocd ruined my life. I got broken up with. I’m desperate and need him back. Please help.

My ocd has convince me I’m bisexual and that I like women even though I’ve always identified as a homosexual my whole life and never been interested in women for 26 years of my life. I’m tired of this but I feel I have to form to terms with my bisexuality even if I’m not.

Hi everyone. First time here. I suffer from Contamination OCD. I have a good support group in friends, family, and my boyfriend, but I have not met anyone else with OCD and I needed to reach out to others to find help. I first got OCD when I was 17 (I am now 33) and was able to go into remission, but COVID brought it back. I was struggling at work (which was outside with the public). I found a therapist and she wrote me a doctor’s note suggesting I be allowed to work from home. My work was not accommodating at all and only offered me FMLA leave, so I took it as my only option and eventually got on Short Term Disability. The whole process took forever and was incredibly stressful. My leave was supposed to be a time of healing and it just made my OCD symptoms worse. My employer basically treated me as though I was trying to get out of work and proved to me that though they talk about the importance of mental health, they don’t take mental health seriously. I ended up having to leave my job “involuntarily due to health reasons” as they would not grant an extension nor let me return with any restrictions/accommodations. My therapist seemed good at first, but it became clear that she wasn’t really helping me. She would often use our sessions to vent about the insurance company and in one session, she basically called me a hopeless case and kept saying “I don’t know. I am concerned. I don’t know how you are going to be able to function” and threw out the word hospitalization, though she did backtrack on that one. I struggle everyday. I am worried that something from outside of the home touched something clean and is now contaminated. I need help working through this. I am constantly looking for reassurance, question if things are clean, wash my hands, use too many disinfectant wipes, and take showers upwards of 50-60 mins. I feel like my mind is being taken over by my OCD, I’m losing time, and it’s straining my relationship. For anyone who is struggling with contamination OCD brought on by COVID - any tips? My therapist never gave me anything specific to work on with this - to help me focus on something else. I am in the process of finding another therapist, but until then - any help would be greatly appreciated. Thank you!

I have been suffering from OCD for many years. I am on numerous medications through my psychiatrist and have been in therapy for over a year. I don’t feel like things have necessarily gotten better. While ERP has been a big part of my therapy, it has become harder to trust in the process. Has anyone experienced treatment-resistant OCD? I take responsibility for not being as dedicated to ERP as I was when I started, but I am so frustrated with my lack of progress. Any feedback would be appreciated!

Need advice. I’m having trouble accepting that my boyfriend is moving in with a group of people I don’t know. We have never lived together but always planned on moving in soon. He’s now moving in with people I don’t know and can’t help he’s leaving me behind. I’m trying so hard to understand and I just can’t. Every time I think about it I feel sick to my stomach. It’s going to break our relationship. It’s irrational but I still feel it. I just can’t let it go for some reason. Reassurance isn’t even an option here and I’m terrified we are going to break up.

My OCD is surrounded by my ex . His birthday is next week and I Know I can’t call him . It was a very toxic , abusive relationship. We worked together and I see the Coronavirus as a blessing in disguise . Since I didn’t see him every day ( working from home still), it gave me the courage to tell him I was going to block him and that I needed to focus on my OCD. Three years in a relationship with him and I lost myself . While working with him at work,I was walking on eggshells every time I used the bathroom or got a water break . I got accused if a guy got up when I did to use the bathroom or had to reassure him that no one tried to have a conversation with me . He was so controlling and paranoid. He was an alcoholic for the first two years . I helped him get sober . Once he got sober , his anger , paranoia got worse . He was obsessed with me and if any guy tried to talk to me . He even started to think his neighbors were out to get him . If he walked around his apartment and if he heard footsteps , he thought his neighbors were mocking the way he walked . I need a reality check . I did do the right thing by blocking him bc he made me feeel soooo guilty . My heart is breaking .

I have really bad anxiety and sadness about a book (now show) I watched that just made me so sad. Now I try to avoid it at all costs and I just feel so afraid I’ll get depressed again. Everyone else seems to be fine watching it but I read the book a year ago and am still sad

my ocd is gonna ruin Christmas

I just want to know who i am. This has gone on to long

I am so sad. I feel so hopeless. I am just so tired of picking myself up again. I want to recover. I've read so many books and gone to therapy. But I feel as hopeless as ever. I could just cry all day and not stand up. I worry that my OCD has turned into depression... I want to get better! But it is so frustrating!! Those feelings... I keep searching for a way to get rid of them, I can't endure them! I don't want to feel sad all the time...

A lot of the time this doesnt feel like hocd ? 😥

Hello everybody! So one of my big themes was a fear of the sky/ it’s size. I’ve posted several times about it on here, and nobody related but I’m still going to update because I feel like this could be helpful to any intrusive thoughts. So, because I had so many existential thoughts about the sky I had convinced myself I was scared of it. I know sounds crazy. So I started saying “I’m not scared of the sky it’s just my anxiety trying to cling on to something”. And that really helped me to not get this feeling of dread everytime I looked at it. For my existential thoughts I’ve been saying “I don’t need to worry about this, this doesn’t matter to me”. These things have been really helping me, I’m still struggling with it but I feel much better than I did a week ago. But, I do have a question. I can’t fully let go of this sky theme because I keep repeating words in my head that related to my fear. Like I used to think about how the sky was a giant dome and now all day my brain says “dome some dome dome” and I’m not sure how to cut it off. It will also just say “sky sky sky” and it makes me have to stop and reassure myself that I’m not scared and stops me from letting go of it. If anyone has any advice on this I would really appreciate it. Overall though I’m doing well with this theme, and I still have panic attacks everyday but the difference now is that I know I can stop them and control them and that they don’t have anything to do with the sky itself but rather my crazy brain. Hope everyone has a wonderful week and a great holiday if you celebrate :)

Anyone else thinking that the music they listen are for the opposite gender ?

I don't understand what we're supposed to do when we get an intrusive thought. There's so many directions to take according to therapy. #1 just let it be there and get on with your life #2 turn that thought into an exposure #3 do an overcorrection exposure & go above/beyond to make yourself anxious on purpose. I mean, which way is the way? How am I not to be confused? Everything about OCD therapy is super confusing.