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the NOCD Community

Can you get a disease from touching a clothing item that someone else wore. I work in the returns section of target sometimes and have been wondering.

How do you deal with obsessions when you know the thing you obsess about will happen and there’s nothing you can do about it? I try to be rational but it doesn’t work.

Does anyone else feel like the media is turning people gay that would not have normally been

I don't know who I am anymore. My life feels ruined

I hate myself sometimes. My ocd is rooted in the fear of schizophrenia. I told my friend something in my mind is more afraid of schizophrenia than bipolar disorder and she said I was gaslighting her. ( she has bipolar disorder and is a sociopath) she has also manipulated me in the past. I apologized but told her that she did not need to go off on me during my panic attack. My guy friend sides with her and idk I’m kinda losing it. I apologized there’s nothing more I can do

Being around my niece and her friend is really freaking me out right now I don’t know what to do. I keep getting false feelings like groinal response and intrusive thoughts. I thought I was at a point where it wouldn’t bother me and it really is. I feel so disgusted

i haven’t noticed how horrible my ocd is until i sent something to my friends about the new conjuring and how if u watch it u can attract demons and they were just like “haha that’s silly” or making fun of it, but i was convinced it’s true and i bought sage and kept praying because i was convinced something bad attached to me. i know it’s just a movie and it’s ridiculous to have these worries over a block buster movie like it’s actually insane i am even worrying about it, but ocd literally convinced me if i don’t pray and use sage then someone will die around me or i’ll do something bad. 😭this was really a reflection moment for me where i was shocked at how bad my themes have gotten. i literally spent most of my day like in my own head thinking bc i have POCD and HOCD and s*icidal ocd and in*est ocd that i am possessed. ☹️it’s like my cod’s way to prove i don’t have ocd and that it’s my own spirit and soul that’s evil... this was probably a lot to read, but i just wanted to share how crazy ocd can get and how if anyone is struggling, i am with you and you’re not alone.

How do yall make new friends?

how do i deal with this: my friend is talking to me about boys and a hot guy she met at the store today and while she was talking to me i was getting thoughts like "she's normal... she likes grown, attractive guys when i like little boys". this happens often and it feels so real. sometimes it feels like im actively thinking it but the thought sounds more like "she's happily infatuated with men meanwhile i'm stuck with pocd". in other situations when im talking to someone about romance and that sorts of stuff enthusiastically i get racing thoughts that portray me as a deviant. they're in first person too which is scary. i just despise this so much because although these thoughts distress me they come in so naturally it's like i don't even notice them sometimes. i don't know what im supposed to do :\

Guys I was diagnosed with anxiety and not OCD. Idk something told me I had ocd with how frequent my intrusive thoughts were

Has anyone successfully explained OCD to their partner and got support from them or asked for support from them without being too much of a burden to them? Any tips? Thanks!

Can somebody please assist here I'm trying to do erp erp for me is almost every thought anyway however before I am able to do erp I react automatically with my thoughts the reaction is automatic I haven't got a clue how to change this. Its frustrating me because I know now I've trained my mind to produce these ocd symptoms because of the way I react how can I react differently when it's happening automatically now? This is not reassurance I'm asking for a way to help myself around and eventually through the situation.

Question for people who recovered or are in recovery, does attraction goes back to normal?

Hi all, wanted to share some recent insight I hope can help people. So from my understanding, the emotional brain doesnt understand logic, this is why its often said you cannot think your way out of anxiety, or any emotion necessarily, you need to let them wash over you. It understands behaviours, how you engage and choose to react with the thoughts/feelings. This is probably why some, or most of you when you guys have come out of an obsession, when the old one pops up and you are no longer reacting to it by ruminating etc, you realise how bizarre it was that it upset you before. It is the rumination (analysing, reassurance, rationalising) and other compulsions it then leads you to do other compulsions such as googling etc, which is one of my big go to's. The thougt content does not matter. Choose to not get into it, to take the risk and not answer the questions it poses, your brain will start to go oh, we're not reacting with behaviours or fueling further emotions, we'll start sending those thoughts and emotions less and less, and with less intensity. Just be careful not to try and use this as suppression, you ARE acknowledging the thought but instead going, whatever and getting on with your day, sure, it won't be easy at first. But an attitude adjustment and a refusal to engage in the behaviour that keep you stuck will take you a long way. The part of the brain keeping you stuck understands behaviours, don't engage in those behaviours that keep you stuck (compulsions) and take the risk to just live your life with healthy behaviours, again, you'll start to gain more clarity when you are out of that rumination cycle. Rumination is controllable, when you get your next "what if" do not engage or answer it, or engage in any other compulsions, this is the aim of ERP. freedom from OCD is through more of a non-doing with your thought and emotions, it's the rumination and other behaviours that keeps you stuck.

I remember I once came across a tiktok where it was signs of comphet and it was things like, If you think, “I’d date her if I was a guy”, “I wouldn’t treat her like that”, “She’s cute” “She’s hot” , “I’d date someone like her” and ever since I saw that stupid video my mind automatically thinks those things when I see any girls. It’s like the more I pick up about what it’s actually like to find girls attractive, the more my brain throws it at me. I was watching Teen Mom and her boyfriend called her a bitch so I thought, “I wouldn’t treat her like that” and it’s just crazy and annoying because I can’t tell if it’s real or not anymore.

Question for people who’ve been doing ERP for a long time: do you feel like you have to keep doing exposures continually over time, in order to stop obsessive thoughts? Or do you feel like once you’ve done them long enough you’re able to clear the obsessive thoughts and stop doing ERP? In other words, do you feel it is an ongoing way to manage OCD or do you feel it can stop it from recurring?

Anyone else always get triggered by people Brie Larson? Always seems like she’s always fancied by women and it terrifies me :( Lots of little things triggering me today

someone please help what i often do is try and imagine scenarios with the same sex to see if i like it, but lately i have had a thought: what if these are fantasies and not compuslions?!?!?! i am scared these are fantasies that i like especially because i have been getting groinal responses and haven't felt disgusted by them (bit of background: when my hocd first started i used to feel so nauseous every time i thought about it and never had groinal responses but now i don't feel anxiety nor disgust and i am getting groinal responses) does it mean i am gay????

I'm not doing well

Hey everyone, today I’m struggling with accepting that I feel like I want to have a same sex fantasy and what that means. I have been doing really well being non judgmental and open with my thoughts. But this particular thought is really scaring me. Does anyone have any mindfulness techniques to move through these feelings and thoughts?