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I cant stop focusing on my breathing. Its affecting the way i eat, drink, talk , Sleep etc. any pointers???

18+ Is there just not a way to actually deal with with this? I get it ERP breathing “being in the moment” I can’t I can’t freaking do it my POCD is making it so hard to live life I see kids and now I think I gaslighted myself into thinking I’m attracted to them when I watch movies TikTok’s, go outside and see kids everywhere I just can’t take it I feel groinal responses I’m imagining them without clothes and doing sexual things like a sicko and feeling like I like it or my brain is trying to make me become that??? Why is it bc of guilt from my real event is it bc im checking if I am??? I can’t live like this it’s literally like I have the eyes of a pedo now sexualizing children this is absolutely insane… I have a boyfriend I want to have intimate time with now I’m so scared too because i KNOW im gonna be thinking about children HOW am I suppose to get turned on I try too “not focus” look around ect DOESNT WORK I have dreams where it’s sexual with children WHY IS THIS MY LIFE I’m in therapy and doing erp but nothing is helping me DO I NEED BRAIN SURGERY SOMETHING NOW?? please I just can’t keep living like this ANYONE PLEASE HELP ME it’s so hard not to cry I don’t care if it’s just thoughts I’m so terrified I messed up my life because it is effecting my life my sex life my relationship my love for myself And all I’m suppose to do is just “sit with the thought” I still don’t even know what that means I don’t want to end my life my partner my family loves me but I JUST CANT DEAL WITH THIS I miss having loving dreams about my boyfriend instead it’s harmful and sexual dreams with children I’m so upset can anyway please… give me some advice on what to do please I’m begging.

16+ only !!! :( Sorry that I’m posting a lot, I’m gonna try to make an effort to stop posting as much as I can after I make this. —- Basically, what happened, is that I went in my living room to throw my trash away, since I’m cleaning my room, and I saw my dad, and immediately I got thoughts saying “ oh what if he’s watching this inappropriate thing “ and I got a groinal, but I didn’t freak out because this happens like incredibly often, so I ignored it. But then the disgusting thought of me and my dad doing horrible things came to my mind, and i was like “ yeah I’d do that and cry after” ,, and I immediately started panicking because I said that, because I’m scared that it means I want to do that, or I meant that I want to do it, but that’s not what I meant??? I was trying to say yeah if I ever did that, I would cry after, but a part of me feels like that I felt like I would do something like that while saying it, but I don’t wanna do something like that. But why did I feel like I would do it??? as I was saying it? I mean this happens all the time. I don’t know why this is the time it decides to make me freak out. Sometimes I have thoughts about doing bad and I’ll be like “yeah, I will do that and then feel like shit after, so why would I ever do that?” Idk, please help :(

Hey today I’m feeling very tired because of my OCD I’m just so tired of it. I feel I’m doing everything to get better. I disregard the thoughts, I’m trying to do things like I don’t have ocd but it doesn’t want to go away. I was doing fine for a long period of time and now I feel like I’m back a square one. It’s been almost 2 months now I’m battling with OCD and I’m just tired. Sure I have moments where it’s better than others, I also have days where I barely have OCD but I also have really bad days like today where I just don’t want to get out of bed. Last time I had a relapse it took my 4 weeks to get out of it I don’t understand why this time it takes me more. I’m starting believing that I will never feel better again. Anyway I’m gonna try to find the strength to get out of bed and to start my day. But I just wanted to share. It’s such a horrible illness.

Hi all, my ocd has been flaring up lately and I’m not sure why. I think it may be due to stress and anxiety involving school and the hurricanes (I live in Florida) anyways I keep having random intrusive thoughts involving my real event and a lot of false memories are popping up, they feel so real it’s like I can feel everything in them even though I haven’t actually felt them. It’s so weird, like sometimes I will watch a movie and be able to feel the texture of snow or a piece of clothing even though I’ve never felt it before. I have noticed when I get those “phantom” ? touch feelings that they cause a lot of false memory intrusive thoughts. I’ve also been having intrusive thoughts that because no one interacts with my posts on here that everyone hates me and knows about me and thinks I’m horrible and disgusting or that someone is talking about me behind my back and telling people to stay away from me and then I’m a horrible person. I hate OCD so much, I hate that I ruminate constantly on little things and mistakes I’ve made and things I can’t let go. I just hate it so much. Does anyone else struggle with these thoughts or even the “phantom feelings/touches” I’m not sure what to call them sometimes I also get them with certain foods or smells even if I hadn’t had them before or smelt them before. It’s so weird

I keep having intrusive thoughts that I am in love with my ex. I’m so afraid if I don’t sort through the thoughts then I’ll get in touch with him? I don’t want to hurt my bf so I feel so sick and just overwhelmed.

I was doing so well last couple of years, then out the blue I got hit recently with an old theme. It’s so crazy that I’ve had nearly 2 years realising that the theme wasn’t real, now I’m back in it, it feels so bloody real, like 1% could happen through the ocd filter means it’s defo gonna happen and my life will be over

I would like some advice for something that happened to me yesterday. I was on a call chatting with some of my close friends, and while on the call I was playing a video game. So for context, this game is called Rune Factory 5. It is a game in a series I have been playing since I was a kid. I continue to play the series because I have not found any other game like it; it is a fantasy farming RPG. Even with all these new farming games, none have the crafting system, in depth story, or monster-taming system that Rune Factory does. Now, another part of the game is that you can romance and marry one of the characters. Rune Factory does have some young looking characters, of which I’ve always stayed away from. I have POCD so I have in the past gone over characters potential ages multiple times in my head. So while on the call with my friends, I decided it would be fun if I sent them the two characters I was thinking of romancing and letting them vote. They are anime nerds like me. I sent them a photo of one of the characters, Scarlett, and they got kind of quiet and really didn’t like her. I was confused. Eventually they said that she looked too young and started making pedo jokes that made me uncomfortable. I went quiet at first because it was a trigger for my POCD. Then I did explain that I myself have a flat chest and a very young looking face, and so I didn’t think that automatically made the character a kid. I am almost 25 but often get mistaken for being much younger. I couldn’t think of how to explain further at the time, but the character’s voice lines and how she speaks also makes her seem older. (She’s not one of those Lolli characters that is actually 100 years old either btw) I did clear things up with my friends where they said they didn’t actually think I was a creep and they were just busting on me. But still it was very uncomfortable. Now when I think of playing the game and interacting with Scarlett I feel like a creep. I know I need to do some exposures with this and I don’t want reassurance but I also want a second opinion on what happened. I hope that makes sense. 😭

Hey no need for reassurance( please ) just wondering if anyone feels the same or just that I’m not alone. Please be kind It was really hard to write this thank u <3 Ive been struggling with severe severe depression and ocd and frequent panic attacks and the what ifs , I’ve had trouble recently being kind to myself because I just feel so weak when I have panic attacks and vulnerable I feel like I’m a failure somehow if that makes sense , it’s just so hard sometimes I’m really hard on myself often and I just don’t know what to do I have been feeling an increase in anxiety maybe because I’ve been struggling to let things go from the past and I am struggling a lot with anticipatory anxiety with ocd, I just hope someone has some words of compassion ( : I would really appreciate it thank u kind soul 🫂❤️

Im getting anxious because I kept staring at someone and then I got an intrusive thought what is a way to overcome it please help!!

this is probably gonna be all over the place so sorry in advance but lately my intrusive thoughts have been driving me up the wall and i feel so exhausted because of them. i recently pinched a nerve in my neck and its causing me a lot of discomfort (some dizziness & a little bit of stiff neck) and because of this, my intrusive thoughts have been so loud because i keep thinking i’m gonna faint every time i stand up since i’m a little dizzy (not enough to actually pass out), and i also keep worrying i’m gonna get paralyzed because my neck is stiff (i can still move it just fine). its like i logically know i’m worrying over nothing, but i can’t help it. its getting to the point where other symptoms are popping up like i cant sleep or relax, my stomach can barely handle food, and my muscles are tense at all times. i feel so exhausted. im disassociating so hard that i havent felt like ive been present for the last three days and its making me basically bedridden. its moments like these where i really wonder if itll get better. sometimes i feel too tired to even fight off the thoughts and i let myself panic. last night i had a small anxiety attack because i was so concerned about this pinched nerve and it made me feel so sick. i just want these thoughts to stop. how can i even teach myself to accept them and combat against them if i cant stop fixating on them? everybody says you need to stop giving the thoughts power and i fully agree, but god its so difficult to not worry. sometimes i dont even give the thoughts attention and they still give me physical anxiety symptoms. its just so exhausting. i guess all im wondering is will this get any better? i know it probably will, but i dont know…just moments like today make me really worry ill be like this forever. i dont even know what step to take to get myself back to normal at this point. ive been taking care of my neck to make sure i dont injure myself any more, and itll probably go away in a few days, but im afraid the mental affects will be longer lasting. i just feel lost and confused. my head hurts and i want to figure out how to relax myself again. i dont like seeing myself stuck in bed, forcing myself to focus on every thought and worry i have. im just tired

I was watching the news where a boy k*lled his sister and buries her and I got a thought that what if I do that to my family however I didn't feel anxious in fact I didn't feel any way about it and now I'm wondering if I would actually do it and end up in jail and now Im wondering if it's an intrusive thought or it's me thinking and I'm so scared that I might k*ll someone.... Now I just feel the need to stay away.

One fun thing about what I’ve experienced is that even if I go to people for reassurance, more often than not it doesn’t help and makes things worse. I see how from an outside perspective it looks like denial and the moment I open my mouth to talk about it the instant thought is “you’re faking it, you know it’s true and you’re faking it”. And it’s great when people say maybe you are this or that like it’s no big deal, …but it is? And then again it’s like maybe they see something I don’t?

When I was a little kid, I used to be horrible. Every time I thought an animal was too cute or something, i’d get violent, terribly violent. I regret it so much and wish I never did anything like that. It follows me in my mind and I hate it even though I was a child. Then a year or two ago, I got upset at my cat and tossed her onto the bed very quickly and hard, and pushed her down. I remember feeling like I didn’t want to hurt her but I didn’t want to let go. I cried after it happened and gave her many treats. Around the same time, my dog got me mad i just smacked her nose but I still feel sick to my stomach thinking about it. Idk if i was 14 or 15 at the time? I would never do anything to hurt any animal now, but why did I ever do it back then? It makes me so sick thinking about it and now I can’t STOP thinking about it. I still never wanted to hurt my cat, but she got on my last nerve at that moment and it happened multiple times and I threw her pretty fast. I can’t believe I’d ever do that. I’ve been hating myself for it ever since i started thinking about it again. I can’t forgive myself and Idk what to do. I wish I could go back in time and never do what I did. She was still only about 5 months old at that time. She means the world to me and we have a very close bond, but now I feel like I can’t love her because what I did. I feel like I can’t have friends, or anything really because I feel like I don’t deserve anything. I feel like a terrible monster and I hate that I ever did anything to a little angel that didn’t even do anything wrong. Idk how to forgive myself. I hate that I did that and I wish I never did. It still wasn’t as bad as it was when I was little, but it’s still not okay at all and I can’t go back in time and change it, so now idk what to do with myself. I feel like I don’t deserve to be around my cats babies even though I love them with all my heart. I’m 16 now and not the same ragey person as i used to be. I had a lot of anger built up from an ex that I was with at the time, but still WHY would I take it out on my beautiful cat. The more I think about it, the worst it gets, it’s sucking up all of my happiness.

Hi i’m a teenager in high school and I don’t really remember when it started but I’ve been having really bad compulsions for the past few years. I think it started small with just little things like touching the light switch a few times because if not there’d be a house fire. But lately I think for the past year it’s gotten progressively worse. I haven’t been diagnosed and I don’t think i’m ready to talk to my parents about it so I don’t really know if I even have OCD or how to combat it. So i’m just gonna list some of the things that have led to me to believe I might have OCD: My number is 4, I have to touch things, do things, step on something 4 times. This has been happening for a while. The consequence of not doing it varys from the situation. If i’m home alone and I get scared I need to do everything 4 times perfectly and sit there until I do it right or else i’m unsafe and might die. I also have this “bedtime routine” you could say. Every night I need to check under my bed and look at each 4 legs of the bed and then say the number as I look then I need to take 4 deep breaths as I check too. After that I need to check in my closet and make sure the black hangers don’t touch the white hangers or else it’s contaminated and I might get sick. Then I need to fix my curtains to the way that I need them to sit. There’s a little more detail to each step that’s just too confusing to explain. Another big thing is stepping on something so it touches the middle or my foot and do so 4 times. I can’t explain everything because this is already too long but that is just some of the things I have to do. I also sometimes question myself and it scares me. Like I convince myself that I’m a psychopath and I am going to hurt my friends or family - but I am an extreme empath and can’t hurt a fly? It’s really scary and I just don’t know what to do anymore. So I guess moral of the story: Do I have OCD? And if so what can I do to try to combat it alone for now without alerting my family.

Hi this is my first post! My biggest thing is that im scared if I don’t do something something bad will happen. The consequences vary depending on the situation. Like for example one of my biggest fears is throw up so when my stomach hurts I have to touch something or do something or step on something in a certain way 4 times and I have to get it perfect. If not I think that I’m going to be sick. Thats just an example but my mind has fully convinced myself that these repetitive acts have actually worked and protected me. I don’t know how to stop or fight against it because I find comfort in thinking I have control over things. But sometimes doing these things can take so much time and it happens all the time. Certain rooms in my house there are certain things I have to do. It’s just becoming really overwhelming as a teenager especially. Does anyone have any advice?

I recently learned that the situation I am in could indicate a form of OCD, so I’m writing this wondering if that seems accurate based on the description I wrote. Basically, I spend a large amount of my time worrying about my loved ones or myself dying. I find myself keeping everything that connects to a memory with someone I love. I’m obsessed with taking photos, and not in the way that people my age are because they want to post on instagram or something, it’s because I’m constantly worried about wishing I had more physical evidence of a relationship if I were to lose that person. Whenever I have a happy moment with somoene, my brain jumps to “you’ll want to remember this if they die” or “make sure you write this down/ take a photo so you can look back at it if something happens”. I’ll look through photos with my loved ones and decide which one I would make the wallpaper on my phone if they died. I don’t even intend to make that decision, it just kind of happens. I have awful thoughts and images pop into my brain of the people I love being dead and thinking about what I would do if that actually happened, or how I would care for my loved ones if they lost someone important to them. I just feel like I’m constantly preparing for another loss and setting myself up to be left with lots of photos and other things just in case. I lost my best friend to cancer a few years ago, and I never dealt with this before that, so I think it’s all in response to that trauma. I get stressed when I know I took a photo with someone but they didn’t send it to me and worry I forgot to write down something that happened with a loved one that was important to me. I give handwritten notes and photos of us to people I love very often because I imagine they’d be important to them if something happened to me. I check my pulse and lymph nodes often and spend time googling or stressing about symptoms I have that could lead to something being wrong with me because I’m so scared all the time of getting sick and dying. Could I have OCD?

On here I read, that OCD is trying to keep us safe. It brings thoughts to our attention, that might be dangerous, so we are aware and are able to deal with them. I first thought it makes sense, but after a while, I asked myself, why, if OCD is helping us, does it force thoughts, images etc. on to use which we made clear, we don't want? Why does it cause physical reactions, feelings and sensations that massively scare us, if its purpose is to keep us safe? And what about OCD coming up with new themes, not only, but also often after we got a little break from the other theme(s) that terrorized us before? OCD is definitely not our protector/friend. Our brain bringing a possible dangerous thought to our attention and accepting our ruling on the importance of that thought is helpful. But that's not what OCD does, it's bombarding us with those thoughts relentlessly and adds feelings, emotions, physical reactions and sensations to the thought to make it as convincing as possible. That's not helpful at all, it' mental warfare. So my question stands? What is OCD/my brain trying to achieve with constantly attacking me? Isn't it in our nature to fight for our survival? If so, my brain is working hard to achieve the opposite, which doesn't make any sense.

I've just started dating this really great girl. She doesn't know about my ocd which is fine but I've noticed that a lot of my intrusive thoughts and worries about not following routines now revolve around losing her or her believing I'm a bad person. I just don't want this relationship to make me so paranoid. I also know have this where if I see a girl on my Instagram or on the Internet, I'll feel an overwhelming urge to clean myself and the device I viewed it on. This is part of a moral reaction and I also worry I'm not being loyal. I feel I should try and not follow through with these compulsions but as they now revolve around keeping my girlfriend I'm not sure. Any advice?

Been doing amazing the last few days…then today boom…my ocd tried to pick a theme ..it will pass though…so I’m just gonna ride it out ..