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Those who have experience/d sexual ocd whilst in a relationship, how do you or have you handled that? It gets so much for me when it throws sexual thoughts about ANYTHING, it could be children, animals, family, complete strangers, friends, people I’ve had a sexual history with, etc… it’s SO draining. I want to live my life and have gotten better in some ways as in like coping wise, I’m about to start new meds + seeing therapist (not ocd therapist) in January, I have read and am reading books on topic but I find I’m always on discussion forums like reddit etc trying to find answers, I know that doesn’t help long term… but I am just genuinely curious as to how you handle those types of thoughts whilst in a relationship, I genuinely think mine and my partners porn experiences in the past in our relationship has affected me a lot and caused some of this obsession, porn is something we know isn’t good for our relationship and it’s not a desire to do now… it was actually more damaging, even tho at the time I had a different perspective on it sort of… I wish we never did that , but without doing that I suppose I might’ve not come to the realisation of how damaging it actually was/is, if that makes sense. Anyway. Please any advice is welcome. I’m struggling. It hurts.

I’m really feeling awful this morning. I thought I was getting better but now I just feel worse. I keep telling myself it’s not OCD and that I want these things and that something is seriously wrong with me. And I can’t shake that feeling. I feel so stuck and alone because my thoughts are so awful. I am so scared. I have my fourth session today and while it’s been nice to have someone but I feel like yesterdays session made me feel worse even though it didn’t have to. I think my OCD latched onto something my therapist said and now I am running with it. Sometimes I will make every situation about something sexually inappropriate, do you guys do that? and I mean listening to songs or watching shows or just having a random thought? I also feel like a bad person and when people sympathize with me for OCD i feel like I don’t deserve it bc i don’t have OCD and want to do those things and i’m gross and awful and why should my family feel bad for me? Truly am having the toughest time telling the difference. Everytime I say it’s just thoughts I find myself saying no it isn’t. you have the urge to do things. Idk what to do.

I've been fine for months, I had my attraction to man back, until two days ago. I was on tiktok a lesbian couple triggered me and I don't know why, I started to feel like I was attracred to the Masc One, but she's not completely masculine, Just androgynous. Now i've been spiraling and I feel like I like women.

In this camp we Will be 3 girls and 4 boys, thing is, that i don't know who ti spend more time with.. like, i don't want to be near girls because i don't want to fall in love and be gay, but at the dame time, i don't want to just spend time with the boys because i have my boyfriend, i love him and i don't want to do something that might hurt him... :( i'm worry i may be gay because i have not been feeling anxious about them thoughts and they feel as if they were mine..

Does sexual orientation feel like you in the closet?

I have always been a person who believes in signs and everything happens for a reason. This makes OCD even harder because I am constantly seeing everything as a sign that the thoughts are true, and I even set up signs by linking unrelated events. One random example, I will say something like ‘if I go outside and the first car I see is red then it’s a sign the thoughts are true’ or if I browse the newspaper online and the first article I see is related to a car then it means my thoughts are true.’ These are just a couple of examples of magical thinking. A car and SO OCD are completely unrelated. The thing is the law of probability is these things will happen at some point, and if they don’t for a few times and then do, I focus on the the times they happened and see it as a sign from the universe, even though other times it didn’t happen. These are just two examples of many examples. Can you relate to magical thinking? I’m also constantly seeing signs in quotes, music, tv programmes, anything related to relationships or sexuality trigger me. I always think the universe is speaking to me. Please know I’m not homophobic, I have a brother who is gay and friends. Although, they trigger me somewhat at present because of this theme. I actually believe sexuality is on a spectrum for many people, but I am in a relationship with a man who I love, so these thoughts disturb me for that reason. I have had various subsets of OCD since 7. I was diagnosed at 18 with harm OCD and have a history of body dysmorphia and eating disorders which are part of the same obsessive family. OCD loves to latch on to what we value most i.e relationships and sexuality. It attacks our happiness. OCD has haunted me in one way or another for most of my life. SO OCD is by the worst subset I’ve ever had.

This is getting bad. I genuine believe I’m gay now. Feel like I barely have any attraction to girls. I feel like I’ve always noticed attractive guys, more than girls at times but never thought anything past it. Feels weird calling myself gay but maybe because I’m so deep in denial and can’t understand it. Watched gay porn to check and it worked. Sometimes I get off to it sometimes I don’t. This was different like I tried to actually enjoy it and did. I feel lost and hopeless. I don’t want it to be me but it just feels like I’m stuck with it. I’m supposed to marry the most amazing and supportive girl in 6 months and I feel like I’m doing her a disservice. I was actually doing good and it feels like I’ve been knocked to rock bottom. I just want to be happy. I don’t care who it is anymore. I just want these weird ideas of different identities and realities to go away so I can be happy. I’m to the point where I feel like I have to physically be with a guy and test a new live to figure this out. It makes me want to be sick thinking I’ll betray my fiancée like that but I’m so lost. Please help

Anyone with this theme, can we talk please?

*not reassurance seeking* i feel no attraction towards guys anymore but i identify as straight. i feel like im just more aware of attractive women. i i also dont get anxiety from my thoughts. what if its not ocd and im actually in denial? and i get that ocd is a doubting disease but sometimes i have these moments of clarity just for it to go back to hell. sometimes i see a hetero couple and my brain would be like "you want to be in a relationship too but with a woman" and im just like🧍🏾‍♀️cuz wtf or "u can never be in a relationship with a man bc ull be wondering whether or not you should be with a woman" i had one intrusive thought and immediately lost all attraction and before this i had a crush on a guy for mad long😭its like my feelings changed overnight. i also cant be around my friends who r girls bc my brain is like "u think their walk is cute so u must be gay and in denial" or "they did something cute/adorable so ur gay" this theme is also worse bc im a Christian. does anyone else relate with me? i just want to know that im not alone with these.

Yesterday was one of the most challenging days since I was 15. I fell into a rabbit hole and did all the mental compulsions and sought reassurance in various forms. I completely broke down and cried and showered two times and felt alone. I talked to my sister yesterday and shared all my thoughts and what if’s. I needed comfort to know I’m not alone. At the end I asked her one of the greatest ways she can support me is to not reassure me. I was crying when I asked her, afraid that I wouldn’t be a reassured from a loved one anymore. I have dealt with SO-OCD since 15, it was through ERP and medication it became tolerable. Since then I’ve dealt with different themes from POCD, Health, Harm, Death and others. But SO-OCD is always the strongest. The days feel long and the nighttime feels like a battle. But last night I chose to practice mindfulness and to breathe. To not be afraid of my thoughts and what if’s and let them pass by. SO-OCD can feel so isolating, it feels like I’m denying or lying to myself even though I don’t see myself growing old with a woman. My mind twists that I have internalized homophobia or biphobia. And it’s just so tricky. Two weeks ago I was obsessing over a guy crush. And it feels like all my experiences with guys are false and has distorted normal interactions with women as signs. Not seeking reassurance in this section. I even went a long period without using NOCD. I know I’m not alone in this, we will get through this. We need to take it one day at a time. We will get through this. Sending strength and courage to all of you.

So I’ve been having OCD therapy for 7 weeks now and the exposures have not made me anxious whatsoever therefore it’s not really working. I think I entered my therapy when my OCD was kind of in the back of my mind but still there and I found myself pretending it was still bad like it used to be because I was worried she wouldn’t understand me otherwise. I was so sure it was OCD, not any sort of gender identity dysphoria, but now I cannot even be sure. The thoughts aren’t so loud but they’re still there and they come with feelings. Everything “female” feels really against my own personality now and I genuinely feel as if I am in denial. I feel like this is how typically all trans people feel. I still kind of obsessively stalk trans men online but with no objective in mind, I just consume their content.. I was sure that I DONT want to be trans bc my thoughts about gender started really really suddenly and I was so anxious that I barely ate or slept and I couldn’t think about anything else. But now that I’ve had this theme for so long I feel like I have enough proof to prove that I am actually trans. I was quite happy before this and had a strong sense of identity. But I can’t feel at home anywhere now and I’m just so confused. I don’t even have the same anxiety anymore but I get uneasy feelings. I’ve even started to compare myself to other trans men, convinced I am like them, and sometimes ways I could “come out” pop into my brain and I think about it. I can’t tell if those are intrusive thoughts or actually me planning it. I don’t know what to wear anymore because I’m not a feminine girl but wearing my extravagant androgynous clothes makes me feel really uneasy. Ever since this OCD has started I’ve been forcing myself to think of myself as a woman in excessive ways. I never really gendered myself before this but now in conversation I’ll refer to myself in a feminine way more than before because I’m afraid everyone else thinks I’m trans and in denial or something and I want to prove to them that I am a girl. All the thoughts and even actual FEELINGS I have about gender I push straight out of my brain and ignore them in a way that a trans person in denial would. I’ve stopped caring about my body and even touching my female parts is mentally painful and I try not to look at myself much. I have never ever actively desired a penis or a deep voice in my life, but I have desired to look more androgynous and to have a more “boyish” intonation when I speak (like some girls have a cool tomboyish voice that has more masculine intonations and way of speaking).. and I’m worried those things were the BEGINNING of me wanting to be a man, like I progress from there in wanting more and more masculine qualities. I always compare myself to one of my girl friends who was an androgynous girl like me but she suddenly started being hyper feminine. We are very similar but I find myself kind of forcing femininity on myself when I’m around her. I feel like a man compared to my girl friends, and something that worries me is that I’ve ALWAYS felt tall around them even though I’m shorter than most of them and the same height as the shortest. I think this was my mind subconsciously perceiving me as manlier as them or something. I just feel so empty and I don’t know who tf I am. I can’t even be sure that I don’t wanna be trans, like yeah it makes me uncomfortable but being cis is making me uncomfortable too. I feel like I’m denying the obvious but I could never ever bring myself to accept myself as trans, I don’t even know how people do that because I could NEVER. I feel like I have internalised transphobia. I kind of know I had OCD bc of the nature of the thoughts and my compulsions and the fact it started so suddenly and I have always had OCD, but I feel like despite my fear of being trans I turned out that way anyway.

I often get images of disturbing things in my head rather than having a fear that I’d do something to someone else. Does anyone else experience that? Like I’ll have a flash of people’s privates and then it sends me into a panic and I have to move quickly 😞

How do I react? I don’t know how I react. This morning the thoughts have gone insane and I had really bad groinal responses and I just felt…nothing. I felt too tired and exhausted to do anything about it except just sit there not wanting any of these thoughts or sensations. But why would my body react that way to something like that? Why am I not worried enough? Why am I not caring enough about any of it? Shouldn’t I be in distress and freaking out right now? All of it won’t stop and it’s like it’s all normal and I just can’t bring myself to do anything. What does that indicate about who I am and what may or may not be wrong with me? I’m so fucking tired of caring and worrying about any of this at all. When will I just accept that it’s OCD or just the one thing I REALLY REALLY hope it’s not?? Please. I can’t keep doing this.

so my intruisve thoughts have been more quieter, and not rumiating and do far less compulsions and far less time of doing compulsions. However the false attraction and the thoughts are still there and feel very real and impactful. Like my mind likes to call me gay and it feels very real but i feel zero distress or anxiety and when it calls me gay or something like that, it feels like the truth and ive become ok with it, but i dont want to be gay, according to what im typing. I tried to respond to it as,"this too shall pass," or,"just intrusive thoughts" but it feels like im lying to myself when im saying that now im doubting my own intrusive thoughts. And false attraction still feels real like im numb to it.

I am so embarrassed because I have a substance abuse disorder that no one knows about. This time last year, I was going through a breakup. I started hanging out with new people. They smoked weed. I started smoking. A bowl a night. It was the first time in my life I ever felt real peace, real contentment. I guess it wasn’t ‘real’ but I mean that my mind was bearable and I was happy. I felt more able to engage with people. I started smoking before seeing people or with people every time we hung out. I always wanted to be high. I started smoking before class. My grades suffered. I suffered. My anxiety and depression and self shame grew, it feels now the worst it’s ever been. I want to quit but at the same time I’m terrified of getting through this. I don’t know how. There were several times this semester I got high or drunk at random times a day just to feel a sense of ‘joy’. i also have a vaping addiction. this isn’t who i want to be. but i feel like it’s all that i am im so lonely but i don’t get real with my friends anymore because my thoughts scare me and i don’t trust my thoughts or see them as valid because the reason for my breakup was how much i suffered with sexual orientation OCD. I really thought I was questioning my sexuality. I loved him so much. I was so scared there would be a reason I couldn’t be with him. Growing up, I was religious so I was taught homosexuality was a sin. I was not attracted to girls (and didn’t understand why that would be a sin) Nonetheless. I had a best friend who came out to me as gay and in love with me. I started worrying about it, little thoughts, around this time. At first the diagnosis was encouraging It meant there were explanations for this But now I just don’t feel like I can trust myself at all Because it derailed my life before I just know two years ago/every other version of me would be so sad to see where we are now. I have very little hope for myself.

It feels dumb asking this as if I want it to be clarified to prove something, but I was on tiktok and saw something on tiktok (I don’t feel comfortable saying what) and I got a intrusive thought because of it. I wasn’t trying to let it bother me but I couldn’t just forget that that happened in my head. Why would something like that happen? Then I searched up “sexual obsessions POCD” on Google and the first site that showed up basically listed a lot of the stuff that’s been going on in my head. Then I started to feel better and relieved cause I was like “oh good it’s just ocd”. But it still makes me feel like it’s not…I hate this.

I'm stuck in a cycle of checking and I can't stop. I've checked porn, Google images, listened to gay people talk, gay people with makeup I've looked at everything trying to tell what I am but I can't get a conclusion except anxiety and more confusion I also get groinal movements from checking sexual things but apparently that can happen from anything sexual? Im so confused I can't tell if I'm bisexual in denial or just straight with OCD anymore it's so stressful I spend everynight repeating the same thing which is researching trying to find an answer good enough to stop this suffering I just want a girlfriend and my life back to normal bit I'm scared to get in another relationship due to them having to go through me having these doubts and loss of attraction at times :( I need help I don't want to live this life I want this to all go away and back to how it was

At this point I don't care if I'm reassurance seeking. I don't know what else I'm meant to do. I know this next bit is practically another confession but I'm all out of other ideas. In advance I'm genuinely sorry and I hate this. So I'm pretty sure I romanticise like adhd and maybe autistic traits. I'm sickened by myself. I read, and I was reading and this character, while not said to have adhd, in my opinion had the traits that I associate with it. And I feel like I like those traits. Do I find them cute? Interesting? I literally don't know. Only thing I know is that I'm disgusted with myself. I also remember feeling "something", whether that be a groinal response from worrying about being attracted to these traits, or actually being attracted to these traits, I have no idea, it's 50/50. But I'm pretty sure that it's the latter. I feel disgusting all over. I'm going to have a shower because I was going to anyway, but this won't even make me clean again, I know it won't. I just want to apologise, that's all. I don't know why I'm like this. I don't like it. I wish I was different. I wish I could go back to being young when the only thing on my mind was what I was going to have for tea. I knew no wrong. Now look at me. I am the wrong. Also I can't tell people about my worries because all they'll say is that it's intrusive thoughts and ocd. Like, okay, sure, maybe I worry more than the average person, but these are real genuine worries and I hate them. Maybe I'm putting this on the wrong place but I have nowhere else. I'm sorry. I'm just sorry. Words can't describe how badly I'm sorry. I think of what people with adhd would think of me. I'm disgusting. Maybe I'm just feeling overly sorry for myself to make myself seem like less of a disgusting monster, but I genuinely am sorry. I don't want any of this. I just want to be a good person.

I've been having a really hard time fighting HOCD for 5 months know. It got worse and worse, and it ruins my new relationship as well. I had thouhths like what if I'm gay for a few years know, but I always liked girls, I had a girlfriend, had a lot of girls in partyies as well, and I never had any sexual attraction towards men so I could get over these thouhths, but HOCD got really worse in the last 5 months due to some big stress in my life. It is so bad, it makes me question everything, my basic values. I love this girl, she is the love of my life, but I started questioning first weather I like her enough, and then the what if I'm gay question came. I strugge with false attraction, and it is so bad. Deep down I always know I like girls, but HOCD makes me question everything, I get a lot of mixed feelings, sensations and urges as well. I love this girl, I know I want to be with her, but my OCD tells me every type of shit,like: you don't love your girlfriend, you want to be with men, you like men and so on, but I always have so much anxiety concerning everything with my life since OCD and I could not think to the future positively. Not to mention my sex drive lowered, I have ED before going into the sex part, and I have anxiety concerning the whole topic as well, and I always question everything, whether I like it or not. I do ERP for a few weeks now, OCD got better for 2 weeks but it got stronger know then before. I try to do ERP all day, but sometimes my OCD is stronger. Could you please tell your stories or share some similarities to know I'm not alone. Thanks.

Hi! Thankful for this space where I can talk about things that are way too TMI for other people! I’ve had ocd for about 3.5 years now and have always been terrified to start a medication due to possible side effects. My ocd started as sexual orientation/relationship ocd and I was always so afraid that the medicine was going to take away that attraction from me and leave me feeling like my fears were true. I tried 4 separate times to take a med but never took it longer than I week because I got so anxious of the side effects. I’m getting married next year, and we’re waiting to have sex until we’re married. Mentally, I am unwell and probably should be medicated, but I’m still so scared of the side effects!!! I don’t want my first sexual experiences to be while I’m having a side effect from a drug, we’ve been waiting for 4 years and I really don’t want to throw sexual side effects into the mix of that. Additionally, I’ve heard people talk about how meds numb their emotions, and I want to be feeling happy and excited throughout this season of life! I don’t want meds to suppress me, but I need my anxiety suppressed. I feel stuck