Welcome to
the NOCD Community

Hello does anyone struggle to go to sleep at night? feels like my mind is awake all night and wake up exhausted.

About 11 months ago, I entered a turbulent period in my life. I'd just moved to a new city, there was some visible instability in my company, inflation was tightening my budget, I had a high volume of social and professional obligations that left me drained, a truck that wouldn't start, and two young children (whom I love dearly) that like to really test boundaries. There's more I could go on about, but I think you're getting the picture. One day, an anxious thought popped into my head, and I couldn't shake it. I started trying to reason with it, and then one thought became many. I started avoiding certain things because of these thoughts, I started engaging in mental "loops" to reassure myself that these thoughts and fears were not true and could not become true. That lasted for a few weeks, and then some new challenges in my career and personal life sent me into a state of always-on anxiety. I'm talking no sleep, no eating, no socializing, and absolute dread for any required activity or responsibility. And I was consumed by the power of these thoughts, non stop, always on, always needing reassurance. I became, very quickly, a responsibility to my wife rather than her partner, and I saw the toll this took on her. I noticed her healthy habits change and her outlook begin to decline. I felt, honestly, like a burden. One night, I was googling intrusive thoughts and OCD, (as one does!) and I came up on NOCD. I read about how in ERP practice you can learn to become dismissive of these thoughts and that SCARED me. I read threads on this app, and they frightened me too. How could I ignore these terrible thoughts and concerns? My life would fall apart if any of these fears materialized! I can't let my guard down! I certainly can't vocalize any of these fears to another person, either, they would think way less of me. I was SCARED to call. I called anyway. #GoodMove The person who picked up was just like me. Someone who'd been through OCD, and they explained the process. They said it would be hard at times, and that I wouldn't like it, but I would likely succeed if I stuck with it. Anything to give me my life back, I thought, and I agreed to the intake process. A few weeks later, I met my therapist, Kellie, and after my first call with her, I felt like I was seen and understood. I remember a lot of our first conversation, but the big takeaways were: these fears are pretty normal. The fears prey on the areas of your life that mean the most to you (in my case: family, career, and reputation), but most importantly - these fears are not real. Then we got to work, and after about 7 months now, I've learned how to be comfortably uncomfortable. That is, how to tolerate all the discomfort that the modern world will throw your way. In today's session, we discussed updates on my life, and I was pleased to share that I am virtually 100% free from OCD symptoms and disruption in my life. I wanted to take a moment to share this with you, too, anonymous reader. I know I may have symptoms again, (I had a few today), but they don't sting like they used to any longer. The symptoms no longer have an impact on my life. Now, when I notice an unpleasant thought or fear, I take 30 seconds to check in with myself on the stress level I have and what I can do to alleviate that stress. My anxiety is actually working as intended, now. I want you to know, that if you're going through the kind of mental anguish I was dealing with every day, that you can overcome this and you will be all the better for having done it. Never give up on yourself. Keep pushing. All my best to you for reading this far. -Michael 🌴☀️

It seems like the toughest thing is to continue my day and get out of bed even though I have intrusive thoughts. Starting to think my response of quiting or throwing the day away is my ritual that needs to end.

What medicines do you all take that help with your OCD?

The last couple of days i’ve been able to keep my ocd at bay and have been ocd free but now i’m having ocd in my dreams. This is so upsetting. 😪 Does this happen to anyone else?

Can OCD go into remission for a few years, and then come back years later? I feel like this is what happened to me. Around the ages of 14 to 16, I was fine, for the most part. Disassociated but fine, because although my dad's health has been declining slowly, I was still able to function/think clear/etc. The remission lasted until I was 21 and hit me like a train from then on. I have my good and bad days with OCD, but it's there again. Sometimes it reminds me of how it used to be, when it FIRST started; I was 11 or 12. Those REALLY bad days are few and far between. I basically describe myself as "simmering in anxiety" no matter what location I'm in or what I'm doing. The only thing that helps me is church or being around my church family as much as I can.

How do people recognize the difference between relationship ocd intrusive thoughts and real thoughts about your relationship? I have been in a relationship for about a year, it’s my first long-term relationship and the healthiest, I am almost 20 years old, and I believe I have rocd (I haven’t been diagnosed but it’s pretty clear to me). The main thoughts I get are “what if I’ll lose feelings for my bf?, what if I don’t love him?, what if I’m gonna break his heart?” (it’s never about if he’s cheating on me or anything like that. He is a really great boyfriend and the best person to ever walk into my life, he isn’t toxic or bad in any way towards me or the relationship). Usually these thoughts occur before my period (luteal phase/pms) but I’m on day 6 of my period and I got these thoughts, which usually isn’t the case as I’ve said before. So I went into a spiral cus I believed that since I got these thoughts at a different time in my cycle, they must be true. Deep down I know I love my boyfriend so much, it’s just so hard to navigate whether or not these thoughts are just fake rocd thoughts or what I’m really thinking. Can anyone else relate?

I have been facing the end of my relationship and the need for a job for a year now. Every moment of every day it’s there hanging over me. But instead of spending every moment working or finding work, I spend every moment frozen about it and feeling unable to do anything! I have OCD, of course, and a rare sleep disorder (KLS) that messes with my circadian rhythm, has no treatment (“just wait it out” for up to several years), and causes me to sleep 12+ hours and often 20-36 hours at a time. I wake up still feeling like I barely slept. It really sucks. I’ve tried so hard to establish a routine around a shifting sleep pattern, to reduce or manage stress, to listen to everything my doctors have asked me to do… My partner of almost 10 years moved out two weeks ago. She paid the rent for this past month but I’m on my own now. I just ordered pet food and am out of money. She had been covering about 80% of expenses this year til she moved. I had covered all of our bills and more for a few years before that, but she had to leave for her own sake, and I understand. 😞 I’ve never been this isolated and alone before. My family is going through a lot. My car’s been broken into and disabled twice recently (thanks Kia Boys) and I haven’t been able to afford to fix it this second time. This is a lot already so I’m going to post about my work search in the comments. I’m wondering if anyone can relate and, heck, if anyone knows somewhere hiring remotely right away.

Hello guys i have religious Ocd almost 3 months now, could you guys give me some advice on how to deal with this? Its so distressing that i feel everytime i could possibly blaspheme Jesus. It really feels like im trying to think or recall a specific blasphemous thought intentionally.

I started my period yesterday and I'm stuck on the thoughts of being poly and it feels to real like I had to confess. I always been monogamous and committed to my online boyfriend. I don't want to be with someone else. I don't want us to be with someone else. Why doesn't my head get that. It would make me think I want other boys or something poly related and it hurts me. I don't want poly or open relationship at all. I'm happy me and my boyfriend both promise to stay just the two of us. But my thoughts make me deny that makes me feel bad makes me feel like I want "poly" Please help me please please I'm sorry but please. I'm insane this is worse than before.

I'm struggling. So a while back my son was sitting on my lap. He was sitting against my chest. But then I kept getting these groinal things. And I don't remember if I stayed there for a second and that trips me up bad. But what also makes me anxious is it got so intense that I moved him quick. Almost like I was worried I was having an "o" from the sensations of my chest and sitting on my lap. Then what makes me question the "o" thing is when I moved him away I got these weird like pulse feelings that I don't usually get with just a groinal and it happened at least 4-7 times or so. Like back to back. I hate this. I need to know it wasn't. And I also need to know I didn't keep him there for a second. Has any other mom felt like you kept them there for a second because of the feeling? And did you ever worry or question an "o" just from them sitting on your lap, etc. I'm so close to beating this monster 3/4 of the way. But this feels too real to let go of.

A few months ago I had a bad episode where I was sitting next to my mum having intrusive thoughts and I disassociated and put my finger in her vagina. Atleast I think this happened. My mum says it didn’t happen and it’s all in my head. It took me months to get over this happening and now my ocd has latched onto something new and is saying that I raped her again. I don’t know if this happened and I’m trying to practice radical acceptance but it’s hard. I just want to figure it out. I want to know if this definitely happened or didn’t. It hurts me to think I might’ve done something this awful. Please leave any tips on dealing with this in the comments below.

I’m always waiting for the next horrible event to happen, and it’s sapping the joy out of my good days. I’m just waiting for the next time the house needs a major repair, or I’m waiting for the next family member to die horribly (even though no one is sick right now). I’m waiting for the next time my relationship takes a dive due to miscommunication. I’m preventing myself from making art my career because I’m convinced I’ll just mess it up, or I’m convinced no one would pay actual money for something I’ve made. I won’t go back to school because I’m convinced I’ll fail again, or worse, I’ll be too focused on myself to take care of my family. I’m so sure that everyone I’m close with in my life secretly hates me, and I know it’s the OCD but some days I’m just waiting for them to tell me I’m right, or I’m waiting for them to all leave me. I know I’ve felt joy, love, and acceptance at one point in my life, but those warm feelings don’t reach my heart when I’m stuck waiting for the next moment life kicks the chair out from under me.

I struggle with information and memory hoarding if that’s a thing. I very excessively buy books, I save interesting bits of information I come across online, I take an excessive amount of photos and screenshots and have tons of articles and info saved in a huge Google drive. I have many journals and logs. I back up things to multiple places, I save multiple versions of files I am working on, I record long notes after meetings, Doctors appointments and phone calls. I keep photos of all sorts of keepsake and nostalgia types items. I feel like I need to constantly archive all sorts of info. It takes up so much time and I have no sense of what’s actually important to keep, so I keep most things. Has anyone experienced this as an OCD theme? I don’t see much written about this anywhere. Other than books and journals, I don’t seem to hoard any other physical objects, but I have endless collections of digital content and files of all kinds. I have a lot of anxiety around losing valuable bits of info. For example,I just got diagnosed with OCD and I have already bought around 15 books on the topic (that I really can’t afford), have watched several documentaries and took notes, saved tons of articles and made playlists of tons of videos all of that I have read or watched over and over but I never feel like I have learned enough. I am not even sure what drives this. I would love to hear any similar experiences as I feel pretty alone in dealing with this.

I am struggling a little on pinpointing my OCD. In the past I struggled with relationship OCD, getting awful intrusive thoughts about my ex boyfriend, feeling like I had to tell my current boyfriend who I love dearly every sexual encounter I’ve ever had, or really any memory I could think of with my ex boyfriend. One thing that bothers me is that my ex gave my brothers some clothes for them to wear (years ago) because he didn’t wear them anymore. Overtime I have found multiple shirts that were my exes, at first I didn’t even think to throw them away, but as I got more anxiety over this, as I found them, I threw them away. I usually would tell my boyfriend when I found these shirts bc I felt bad and it upset him. I understand why he would be upset, because if I put myself in his shoes I wouldn’t want him to have any clothes of his ex girlfriend at his house. I found a shirt lately but I didn’t tell him this time because I have been good mentally and thought, “this shirt doesn’t affect our relationship or how I feel about him. It’s just a shirt. It has no meaning.” But tonight I am having a bad night, and feel like I need to tell him because if I don’t I’m not being honest. I know it will upset him if I tell him, and that’s why I feel like I have to tell. Please help me. I love him and just want everything to be okay

How did others do after first getting diagnosed? Did the diagnosis cause you to spiral initially? It feels like all the symptoms have become so much worse since, maybe because I am noticing them and focusing on them. I have been stuck on looking back through my whole life but now through an OCD lens and it’s been incredibly overwhelming realizing how much OCD has impacted me my whole life. I had previously assumed all the symptoms were part of my having ADHD and Autism, but I am now realizing a lot of my struggling was actually OCD. I’m 45 and I was diagnosed with severe OCD a week ago. Tomorrow I start ERP and I’m quite anxious about it. I feel pretty unfixable at this point, but I’m trying to be hopeful. I have my doubts that I will be strong enough to do this.

hello! i just wanted to introduce myself. my name is amanda, i'm married, and have 4 cats. i'm unable to work, so my husband takes care of the bills while i take care of our house. it actually works very well for us as i have agoraphobia as well as severe generalized anxiety, social anxiety, panic disorder, and excoriation disorder(skin-picking). i haven't met anyone with my particular disorder (TOCD) so i was hoping to meet someone who could share their experience! some of my tics are making my body 'even' (if someone touches one of my shoulders, i have to touch the other one. blinking to make my face feel even. etc). some other tic-like behaviors i have are always stepping over cracks with my left foot first, as well as stepping onto a new surface with my left foot first. these are only a few of the many tics i deal with along with OCD symptoms. hope everyone is doing well today! take care!

Moms who have pocd and groinals. Can anyone relate? Intimacy is a very hard thing for me because I'm always worried of intrusive and groinals. I actually was sort of contemplating with my husband later and I wanted to. Then we ate dinner and then my son sat on my lap and it's like I was waiting to feel any feeling in my body. And I kept feeling like I was feeling something. So now I feel like it will have to be another night since I don't want to do it just in case I had some sort of groinal response. I guess my question is has any other mom dealt with this exact thing and how did you escape from this? Ugh it's been years I've been tormented by this. But I can't just go do it anyways because I'm afraid the groinal could have been real and then I'm acting on it somehow. Ughhh

Having ocd makes me always think the worst. I have had 2 incidents over the years that have made my life miserable. I guess they are real events. When my son was little he would crawl into bed with me sometimes. One morning I got up and he was still asleep. I went about my morning tasks. When I went back upstairs to my room he was awake sitting up wrapped in the blanket. I said good morning and told him to come downstairs with me and get breakfast like I always did but when he got out of bed he didn’t have his underwear on. I yelled at him demanding to know why he took his underwear off. He was 2 or 3 so he could talk but not fully yet and he pointed at me and yelled “You!”. My ocd immediately kicked in and made me think the worst that I must have done something horrible to him in my sleep. Why would he say that? 😪The other was years later when my daughter was younger she used to crawl into bed with me at night alot. One night I woke up to her saying “mommy” and I was really tired so I just remember saying “sorry” and moving over and going back to sleep. I know it was probably nothing more than I just rolled over on her or something like that but my ocd keeps telling me I must have done something horrible. I don’t want to live thinking I could have done something horrible. It has made my life so hard to live. Now all these years later since my memory has faded my ocd tells me maybe I was drinking and just don’t remember doing something horrible . People without ocd probably wouldn’t think much about these situations and would just shrug them off as weird things kids do or say or that happen in life and parenthood but my ocd makes the worst possible scenario out of everything and makes me hate myself and living. 😞

I feel like i want to scream and run with im on the phone with someone. I even got scared of the jake from statefarm commercial, like every thing has made me paranoid and scared. Making me feel like im schizophrenic or something.