Welcome to
the NOCD Community

Today I feel Stressed, un-worthy, ignored , and forgotten. What’s worse when your feelings are invalidated.

i don’t want to be gay as i’ve always imagined life with a husband and have been attracted to guys since elementary. i don’t think i had any ocd tendencies before this. i just woke up one day and was like what if im not straight. i just want to know for sure if i am. does this sound like ocd

i hate starting with a new therapist. i obsess over my trauma and then when it’s time to go to therapy it’s almost unbearable to talk about. last therapy session was on friday and was my first ever appt with this therapist, found her through my job’s employee assistance program. i was telling her how i feel like a bad person and sometimes have suicidal thoughts. she was not warm or reassuring. she asked me how i would do the deed and i explained to her and she did not say much at all. i left the session feeling worse. i have another appt at 3 today and the roads are icy and i’m just dreading it. and if i cancel i will feel like an irresponsible piece of shit. i already told her so much so i feel like i need to keep going. but im depressed and it is so hard for me to think about leaving my house. what do i do?

Has anyone just not had the anxiety stop, now If I don’t feel the chest tightness I think about it and it just comes flooding back in… anyone have any good tips to bring the anxiety down ?

For as long as i can remember i have always been boy crazy. I have always had crushes on men, had sexual interactions with them, etc. I’ve never thought about a woman in that way. I remember around 2021 I had a “what if I were gay?” thought but after around a week it went away. Now the thought is back but 100x worse. Mid December 2023 i suddenly got the thoughts again. I can’t really pinpoint what triggered it, but it may have been the TV show I was watching. In the show a woman around her 30’s dated men and even married one but then all the sudden ended up marrying a woman later on. I starting to think “what if that happens to me?” I couldn’t fall asleep for days and would cry throughout the day. I eventually told my mom about this as I kept having anxiety attacks and she said well if you don’t only like men then that’s ok. But the thing is that I want to like men. I’ve always imagined my life with a husband and kids. I don’t understand how something like this could happen basically overnight. I used started therapy for my anxiety but how do I bring this topic up? Does anyone who has soocd/hocd think this sounds like ocd or could I really just be in denial. My days now consist of these persistent thoughts. I’m always on here or reddit/quora looking up my symptoms to see if anyone else feels the same. i don’t wanna feel like this anymore. i wanna go back to november when i didn’t have these thoughts. I’m still having the thoughts about a month later but the anxiety isn’t as bad which is making me feel worse. i feel like i should be more anxious considering i want to be straight. this isn’t me.

Hey, so my therapist missed our session yesterday and isn't answering any of my messages, could she be in holidays and forgot to tell me, or do you think I should contact someone in case something happened?

Can anyone share any success stories from doing ERP therapy and anything else that may have helped you? I understand now that I've probably had OCD most of my life, but getting started and seeing the light at the end of the tunnel are two completely different things. I really want to recover from this. Mine stems mostly from real events, but I have other themes as well.

Hello , I’m diagnosed with OCD as well as ADD and anxiety and short term memory issues . It’s so much sometimes, I don’t even like going out in public because being around people gives me me anxiety, if I see something out of place wherever I go I have to fix it because it will bother me . I never pick the first thing g from the shelves at the grocery store I will literally reach for the third one from the back . Sometimes I feel crazy and no one understands me . Just want to feel like everyone else .

i was extremely scared today, a bunch of little kids were around me and i was scared to be near anyone because i would do something horrible. i feel like a terrible person that no one would want to be around. i don’t deserve this support, i just want to be rid of these terrible disgusting thoughts.

I experience OCD in what feels like cycles. I have a couple of good days or weeks and then something out of the blue will trigger a flare up. I’m just wondering if anyone else goes through the same thing or if it’s kind of a constant state for you.

i keep getting thoughts of molesting/ doing sexual things to people (that i’m close to) and children, every-time this happens I extremely disturbed and have panic attacks bc i’m a horrible person. i’m honestly just contemplating just k*lling myself because i feel like a disgusting p3do who doesn’t deserve anything in life. i’m already diagnosed with anxiety and depression but i’m not sure if this is OCD or not. i hate my self so much- this thoughts won’t stop happening and i never want to do anything like that ever. :/. i’m not sure what to do, i’ve talked to my therapist but none of her methods worked on how to stop these thoughts.

Its currently 6:53am, woke up around 6:00am in a panic from a nightmare and I can’t fall back asleep. I have contamination ocd and emetophobia. At night i have a hard time falling asleep because every time ive gotten sick its been in the middle of the night while im sleeping. Before bed i usually get bad anxiety its going to happen again, even if theres no reason for it to happen. This obviously can trigger dreams about it, which then make me feel worse. Through out the day Ill overly manage my eating habits (no chicken certain days etc), take certain routes home to avoid getting sick, wash my hands when i can *feel* the germs on them, do certain tasks so it doesn’t make me sick etc. Its really getting to a point where i feel like its consuming me , and I need help but I am so scared to get it.

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

I have them constantly. About my loved ones leaving me forever.. and it will hit me when I least expect it, and it’s like a an emotional truck just hit me! I have tried everything my therapist has suggested and these thoughts keep coming. Does anyone have any suggestions on what they do? I have methods when they occur.. but I want methods to keep them away. Thanks.

I feel alone. I don’t know. I just feel alone. Why does everything feel off vibes right now? I just feel icky and I feel I’ve hurt people in some way. What can I do to stop feeling this way

From this app, I got reported for asking for reassurance. Sorry guys. That wasn’t great. I will try to do better for self care

As a disclaimer, I'm still very new to understanding everything here. Also, please be nice, I've seen some rude comments on other posts. I guess my question is, has anyone here had a problem with cats before? My OCD started (or started to show strongly) around the time my BF and I moved in together, about 2yrs ago. I know there are likely a LOT of other contributing factors to the onset, but the one I've found most prevalent in my... flare ups?... is his cat. I'm allergic and haven't spent much time around cats which plays a part in it I'm sure, the cat also isn't the most socialized and has a high prey drive (I can't wear my hair down or he'll try to attack it). My biggest issue nowadays however is that he will jump on countertops and tables, will try to drink out of our cups, and the fur is EVERYWHERE. It triggers me SO much I've cried about it, and will even shut myself in the bedroom for days just to avoid thinking about it (our bedroom is a cat-free zone). The thing is, everywhere I look online it seems like cats are these amazing and clean creatures. Even some of the helpline sites I've browsed through will villainize anyone who has an issue with cats cleanliness, saying that dogs are the ones to worry about. I've had dogs my whole life and even have a career working with them, and they've never been as triggering as this cat is? I feel like some evil person for hating this cat and being disgusted by the cleanliness aspect of it, but every time he jumps on the counter I feel sick. Any cup I see him try to drink out of, I don't use ever again (even if it's been washed). I feel like it's tainted so much of my household, and I'm becoming a shut-in because of it. (And yes- we've tried spray bottles and offering other outlets for him etc). Does anyone else have an issue with cats and their cleanliness? Or any pets in general? Do you have tips on how I can work through this? It's driving me to a point of wanting to give my BF an ultimatum (me or the cat) because I just can't keep living like this... which btw, I would NEVER do because thats his baby and I wouldn't take my issues out on the cat.

After many years of thinking I might have ocd, it’s official. It is nice to feel seen and to have an answer finally but it’s also really scary, mostly because I’m about to start Prozac and I’ve never taken any mental health medications. Anyone have experiences to share? I’m so scared of the side effects but I know I need to start something. My provider suggested finding a support group as I have no family and friends to support me during this time, right now I’m feeling very scared and alone 😔

Does anyone else obsess about having another panic attack or scan their body constantly for how they feel and if a thought or feeling about a panic attacks comes on, you’re more likely to start to feel panicky?

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?