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Hi guys, I'm currently dealing with another setback that started about a week ago. I was doing pretty well for the past month and a half, and was so happy that I was able to stay more present in my life. I had another setback in July but came back stronger than before, and I know I can do that again this time but it feels SO hard. My OCD is latching to my fear of other mental illnesses ("going crazy, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder), but also has hit me where it really hurts and is now targeting the love I have for my dog. Has anyone had a setback that added a new theme? I'm having intrusive thoughts AND images now, and I have a lot of DP/DR. I feel like I'm constantly on the verge of a panic attack, and the only reason why I'm not having one is because I know how to let them pass (thanks for the DARE method). I know that my OCD is based on my fear of not being able to live my life (even though I know people with the conditions I mentioned are able to live fulfilling lives), and I'm trying to treat this like all of my other OCD themes/fears. My therapist said to do exposures based on what's really bothering me, but it feels chaotic since multiple things are bothering me (fear of "going crazy", fear of hurting myself or someone I love, what if I don't love my dog anymore?). Any advice helps! I really am appreciative of this community. 💛

This is going to sound so silly, but I’ve always wanted to try lip plumping glosses, just for fun! I love playing w makeup. Now the issue: I’m scared of the potential burning/tingling sensation. I deal with allergies and swelling lips was something I experienced as a kid during some of my more…traumatic reactions. I have big health OCD around allergies so I’m just scared of putting on the gloss and seeing my lips swell up bc of an allergy and maybe triggering a more serious reaction if it gets in my mouth. Idk how to deal with this…🥲 I could just,,, not wear them, but I also think I should choose that out of a personal choice and NOT bc of fear, you know?

Okay, I am going insane at this point. I've been in and out of hospital with my contamination stuff and made huge progress in ERP, so I decided to tackle a bag of "contaminated clothes" from months ago when I went to my endocrinologist and something made my eyes and skin and inside of my mouth etc. itch and BURN, I mean to the point of coughing up blood and bloodclots coming out of my nose, and everything felt very dried up (at the time I thought it was residual acid from medical test I was supposed to undergo and couldn't because of the OCD). When I washed myself and rinsed my mouth, it would stop, but whenever I'd come close to the clothes I was wearing that day, it'd start again. I have since washed them in a washing machine, but not separately, I did a whole load trying to convince myself it would be fine. It wasn't though, the whole batch of clothes now does this to me, even a towel I put near it. But it doesn't make any SENSE, it was washed?? Twice now and it still won't go? Can OCD do stuff like this? I used the towel to dry myself and my hair after shower and have been waking up the whole night unable to breathe with dried up sinuses and inside of my mouth. Can it do this?? I've never had this happen to me before and I feel crazy beyond recognition from it.

heyyyy everyone, has anyone had any weird experiences with lexapro? quick back story, had really bad health anxiety paired with ocd compulsions and other things not relevant to this discussion, got fluvoxamine, could never go past 50mg without increased anxiety and derealization/depersonalization... eventually got off and got on lexapro, started with 5 mg, went to 10 mg, just a few days ago went to 15 mg because i felt as if my health compulsions and fears were making a comeback. i believe im on day 3 of 15 mg lexapro and i feel as if im spiraling a tad bit, nothing crazy/anything i havent experienced before... but in my post work shower i felt feverish almost... which is a trigger for me, my mind automatically thinks cancer. i tried resisting the thoughts to google my symptoms (literally just feeling feverish) and took my temp, and took my temp again.... and again.... and again.... (tale as old as time lol) each time it was in normal range... but i still feel weird. brain fog, dissociating, just all around weird vibe and heightened senses of my body and such. could this be because of the lexapro? idk. lowkey thinking i was bound for an ocd relapse because i was doing so good the majority of this year, erp went great, medications were finally working, but now i feel like its all coming back :(, any advice?

Hey there, Im recently diagnosed with ocd and working with a therapist. My thing is I get focused on how I’m feeling. If I get a headache it freaks me out, I could be congested from allergies and it can spin me out, like what if it’s something more serious, it could be any body sensation that causes me to ruminate. Health ocd? Somatic ocd? Anyone have this? Any tips? Thanks!

I cant believe this like why am I asking this so I have health anxiety right and I was worried if I had scitzaphrenia and one of the symptoms were believing delusions obviously I don't believe any then the same day I went for a walk and looked at the clouds and got a thought what if clouds aren't real which was really ridiculous ik clouds are real lol heck you can see them even "feel" them obviously you can't touch em but I was afraid if I actually believed that they aren't real obviously they are why am I having this even after the schizophrenia fear left I still have the what If im crazy fear anyone eles have some advice to calm down I don't have to know how clouds work again to prove my ocd wrong lol im laughing a bit how irrational these thoughts are.

rant. covid statistics CW my partner went out to eat at a small restaurant for a friend’s birthday even tho we’ve talked about covid consciousness before and he agreed to mask again at the grocery store and stuff and i wanted to tell him that the new statistic was 1 in 19 people have covid in texas rn but i felt like it was a compulsion so i didn’t and i just told him im scared and that i would have gone to the dinner but masked and gotten my food to go if it were me… now i feel like i can’t go see him like i normally would on Monday cause it would be too soon if he was exposed. there were definitely at least 20 people in that restaurant. he tells me he understands how important it is to me but… and i opened instagram literally for a minute and immediately saw the most upsetting video compilation of people on tiktok posting about getting covid like it was a trend and how “embarrassing” it was and i just. UGH !!! WEAR A MASK THEN

It’s a little long so bare with me I have always had a fear of elevators, which I found is more common than I thought. I had been alright and got it out of phobia territory until a very poor therapist got me in a situation that worsened it entirely when I was a kid. (Exposure therapy gone wrong) Since then I have worked my way back to a neutral status towards the machines. However, I have also found I experience a sort of ‘elevator vertigo’ I basically get dizzy if the elevator moves too fast, again, not super uncommon but apparently not everyone experiences this. But this uncomfortable feeling, despite it completely going away once the elevator stops, causes anxiety. Especially if I know I am going to have to travel via the elevator that gives me the ‘elevator vertigo’. This then causes more anxiety which causes the spiral of not being able to stop being anxious about it because I’m mentally counting down the minutes before I experience it again. And this, go figure, worsens the dizziness. I am usually pretty good about giving myself options when something like this causes this much distress. I’ve explained to myself there are stairs that I can take if it’s too much to take an elevator. However, it’s the fifth floor and without too much detail, I am not entirely physically equipped to be 5 flights of stairs on top of my usual commute. (Should mention I’m a college student right about now) So then I worry about overdoing it physically and hurting or distressing myself by not wanting to take an elevator. Which in turn causes a self hatred/diminishing my anxieties and feelings spiral. I’d usually pocket this up as much as possible but it’s woken me up at 4am when I went to sleep around midnight/1am and have to wake up for the class that causes me to use this elevator at 7. So question at hand: how the hell do I calm this cycle down? I know it’s near impossible to shut it off completely but I’m almost annoyed at myself for letting this little thing disrupt my sleep! I was literally dreaming about potential situations depending on my choice of elevator or stairs.

To me this has probably been my own biggest question I've asked myself in the last couple of years. But I recently went to a social event in my college town for a college football game and had fun while also interacting with a girl and my friend. All of that doesn't matter for this topic. But basically part of me wants to consider drinking because I've been fearful of it for years and always viewed it as a negative. The thing is with my therapist of almost 2 years I've gotten to a way better and confident point in my life and I really want to pursue a relationship with a girl. And I mean something that can go long term so rather serious I understand if the first girl I date wouldn't end up being the one but I want to atleast experience now with my boosted confidence. Back to the question though. I feel like going down the dark side 😂. Which sounds kinda goofy but I'm really considering drinking to ease my nerves. The girl I talked to had a few drinks and she got pretty flirty which in my eyes would help me get to that point with someone I want to pursue. She ended up ghosting me which is perfectly fine but obviously I'd like to try to form a relationship or get another number like I did. I have had addictive stuff with myself and family and I'm genuinely fearful of what might happen if I drink along with what my ocd might make me do or not. Which I understand is my ocd talking but I need honest opinions here. I feel like I'm turning against my old self that I knew up untill 21 years before this day.

I came across a video talking about brown recluse spiders and their bites im now obsessively looking up reassurance about how recluse spider bites are not that bad and not to worry about brown recluse spiders being in your house, but instead all there is online is horror stories about brown recluse spider bites and I live in southern indiana where they live and I'm absolutely scared out of my mind now. What if they're in my shoes or bed what if they bite my face??? I need to get traps to see how many are in my house, but then I'd have to live with the knowledge that they are in my house. There are lots of spiders in my bathroom closet it's near my backyard so it makes sense. I don't know if they are brown recluse or a different species but I'm so scared and idk how to be okay.

I had experienced a few instances where I am about to fall asleep or waking up and I will hear something from a previous conversation no matter how long the time. For example, on time I heard in my head my daughter say mom or another time internally the laugh of my husband's friend, etc. It led me to research which was my biggest mistake because although I read that it could be hypnagogic hallucinations and could stem from anxiety or stress and disrupted sleeping patterns which I currently have all of those, As I continued reading I saw that it can be seen with patients that have schizophrenia as well and my mind went into full panic mode, now I am in crippling fear that I have it or psychosis and am worried I will start to hear things and hallucinate, etc. to the point where I now hear ringing in my ears and it has caused my anxiety to fully spike again. Anyone else experience something similar?

Has anyone taken sertaline/Zoloft and experienced chest tightness? wanting to throw up a bit, muscle twitches or just a weird feeling in muscles. sleeping issues, loss of appetite, sweating, headaches. I've been to my psychiatrist yesterday but I felt I didn't provide enough details about how the meds actually went and it's really bothering me that I didn't so I'm not sure what to do now and I'm nervous about some of these side effects. I have a feeling I don't want to continue on the meds but he told me to continue and prescribed me something else to increase my focus as well (I have adhd) any help? Are these side effects normal like should I wait and it'll be fine or not?

I have been diagnosed with OCD for a couple years now. I would say my obsessions stem around a fear of pain/getting sick/vomiting. And my compulsions are to constantly check expiration dates on foods multiple times, smell it over and over again, and i take one bite and wait a couple minutes to see if i start feeling sick, as well as eating really slowly in general. it's gotten to the point recently where i would say im entirely vegan except for breads/baked goods, and honey. But i don't eat meat in fear of getting sick, and I don't really eat out at all anymore. I eat a lot of prepackaged foods, and i'm not sure why but fruits make my stomach hurt (maybe a fructose sensitivity i don't know) but it's almost entirely prepackaged. This has hit extremely hard the past few months where i don't even recognize myself. I've always been an insane foodie open to trying new things, now i'm at the point where i eat the same foods every day and wouldn't dare eat out. i feel massive judgement from my friends and i don't think i can explain because they wouldn't understand the gravity of how this impacts me. If i start feeling stomach pain at all i start spiraling and i start having a panic attack. I'm doing talk therapy at the moment and slowly trying to find a routine again. But it feels so demotivating when i wont eat at restaurants without sobbing from overstimulation/nerves, even drinking water at a restaurant scares me. It blows my mind that 3 months ago i would and could have eaten anything! sorry this is so long I am new to an app like this

My OCD is directly tied to my PTSD from being hospitalized in the past. I feel incredibly alone because of this. I’m 26 and was hospitalized twice - once when I was 14 for an eating disorder, where I experienced solitary confinement and SA. Then again when I was 22 for depression, where I was “cold-turkey” from one of my medications and almost had a heart attack. I’m traumatized because of these events and struggle with “insanity OCD” that directly ties into my trauma where I get terrified I’ll “lose control” and do something that will cause me to be hospitalized against my will and taken away from my loved ones. I’m scared to even seek therapy or reach out. If anyone has similar experiences/lived experience I’d greatly appreciate your guidance. Please forgive any grammatical errors; I’m not in the best state of mind rn.

One of my big ocd themes revolves around the fear of passing out. I have agoraphobia and panic disorder too bc of this. It started when I was 5 when a doctor gave me a shot, I passed out. After that any time I went in for a regular physical exam I would get so nervous I’d pass out, it then extended to other types of doctors. To as an adult everywhere I go, I have this extreme fear of passing out. It doesn’t help that I have some sort of validation behind the fear bc it has happened. Throughout my whole life I’ve passed out maybe 10-15 times so idk how to get over this. It rules every aspect of my life and I’m completely home bound bc of it. I also just feel really dramatic talking about it to people who don’t have anxiety, so I don’t talk about it and I keep it in and it’s not fair that whenever I have to do something I have to be brave. I don’t want to be brave, I want to feel comfortable

So after going back to therapy, I’ve been doing really good. I didn’t care about the thoughts or any of my obsessions. But this past week, my mind has just been looping so many thoughts that are scary and sad. The rumination cycle feels like how I felt before even receiving therapy. I don’t know if it’s just because I’m not doing compulsions as much, but I’ve been so afraid this is never going to away, and I’m going to feel anxious and scared forever:(

Hi group, My pre teen daughter deals with constant nausea. She said she felt it for the longest time, however, it wasn't until the start of 2025 that it began to control her life. This led to panic attacks when going to school and not wanting to go to places that were too far from home. She doesn't even want to sleep over her grandparent's house, or friend's houses. It got so bad she missed the last 3 weeks of school, amongst other things we have never seen in her before. She is taking some meds, but they aren't helping with the nauseous feeling like we hoped. Anybody else face a constant nausea feeling that brings about a level of anxiety and panic? The idea of getting tested for food allergies was brought up, which does make sense. -Thanks-

Hey, everyone! Really struggling with my health ocd, again :/ I am stuck on the fear of a brain tumor as I have been having tension (I think) headaches lately. (Which I’m sure my anxiety is making worse due to holding my body tight). I am just feeling quite discouraged and could use some encouragement.

In hindsight, I’ve had OCD my entire life. However, it began to be extremely distressing around August of 2017. I began to have intrusive thoughts and obsessions around health and harm/ losing control. Since 2017, I have had OCD pop in and out of my life. I thought I was losing my mind, but was always told that I just had “anxiety”. This anxiety was irrational! It was nothing like the anxiety my friends experienced. 7 years later, August of 2024, I was finally diagnosed with OCD. That is when I began my ER/P journey. E/RP and NOCD have helped me regain control of my life. I no longer engage in avoidance, due to fear. I embrace uncertainty. I can now sleepover my friend’s houses, travel, watch scary movies, and listen to true crime podcasts… things I once loved to do before OCD convinced me they were dangerous. I am forever grateful for this journey and for NOCD!

I am so incredibly tired of living life in fear. I’m in constant fear that I’m going to have a heart attack or stroke. I’m hyper aware of every sensation in my body and I’m in constant fight or flight. I’m exhausted and I just want to be normal. I received a Covid vaccine Saturday because im afraid of getting Covid but now I’m worried about the vaccine making me sick. I know it won’t I’ve had them before but my mind is just in obsessive mode. I want a good nights rest but now I’m crying and scared because I don’t feel good. I’m just so sick of life being so hard. I want to enjoy it. But then I spiral and I’m crying because I’m worried about being alone in life. Thankfully I have my mom now but I worry about the future. I’ve tried erp twice here and just can’t feel like it’s helping. I’m working with a therapist now and we are doing DBT plus starting erp. I’m nervous it won’t work again. I’m doomed to feel this way the rest of my life. It’s been almost 2 years of this constant fear, worry, and spiral. And when it’s not the health anxiety it’s awful intrusive thoughts that make me feel like a monster.