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How do you practice overcoming these thoughts? I read that accepting, allowing it to exist without interaction can help, but I don’t know how to apply it or how long it can last

Ok so for a little but of background before my ROCD started I had bad health anxiety/ocd, I was super worried I was going to die, but as well, thought my partner was going to die, and was insistent on them getting checked by the doctor, I was so scared to lose them. Once I got answers for my health concerns, it flipped pretty much over night to feelings of him being a stranger to me, our memories didn't feel real and I was very numbed out. 6 months later I'm still dealing with this, and I'm honestly still in shock about it. My question is, now, the relationship doubts are there, but also I'm starting to notice the "worried about him dying thoughts" pop in, which confuses me, because I never ever want to lose him so I understand being worried about his health but then it immediately flips back to, "why do you even care anyway" Is this normal? Maybe the ROCD started because I was scared to lose him in the first place? Has anyone else experienced this weird flip flop in between being scared to lose them one moment, and then back to numbness the next?

I just recently got diagnosed with OCD. Things are making more sense, but I’m so scared. I don’t know what to do. I have always had horrific intrusive thoughts and compulsions, but I kind of just assumed it was normal and that everyone experienced them. Now that I know for sure that’s not true, I feel so isolated and gross. I feel like I can’t tell anyone. Does it even get better?

How can I sit with OCD?

I just need help understanding that not every difference or disagreement needs to end in a horrible relationship with constant arguments or dissatisfaction. My boyfriend is very words of affirmation and enjoys acknowledging that he spoils me. Growing up my household, was very anti-words of affirmation, seeing it as gloating. So I interpret his self appreciation as throwing it in my face that he buys me things or treat me well. These things don’t mix very well but we know this and work on it. Unfortunately my mind thinks that since we’re not perfect with this it’s going to just cause building resentment and cause huge fights and ultimately end our relationship. Obviously this doesn’t have to be the case but how can I internalize this? When I’m triggered I get so fixated and think this will be the end of us (amongst other themes and triggers) it’s just tiring thinking everything ends in failure, or that I’m the only person in a relationship that is trying to work though something like this and that everyone else just finds someone that is able to 100% meet every need all the time. Any advice or support?

I had a few gay experiences when I was a kid and that would be when I was with my male cousins ​​and a few kids in the neighborhood at least 5-7 times a year... after going through these, I would have a lot of embarrassment and boredom. and I was always ashamed of it. I couldn't talk to girls much until 3rd high school, either we would be friends or I couldn't communicate with them while talking, I was bad and I didn't have a good relationship with my mother, but I was nice to other women to be respectful. my mother used to embarrass me too, I fought with my mother a lot when I was a kid, then passed in high school, of course, this tragic life of mine affected my relationship with women and my god complex towards my father always made me think that my father knew best and he was wrong affected me deeply over time... my very terrible experiences Now, was I trans, was that the reason I loved female main characters and watched teen dramas when I was a kid, or was I gay? It affected me because I was so ashamed of women and because I had a sexual relationship too late. I don't know if it's me I wonder if the thought of dying comforts me in these situations

For anyone with SO-OCD, this gay pride month is THE time to do ERP. Triggers coming out of the woodwork right now.

Does anyone else ever feel like if they get “cured” of OCD or get therapy to learn how to cope and you end up getting better, that you’ll no longer be “allowed” to label yourself as having OCD and you’ll no longer be yourself? I some times get these intrusive thoughts that if I were to ever stop feeling OCD thoughts and acting on them, I’ll no longer be a person who has OCD and I’ll be a poser. If I notice that one of my “ticks” I guess you could call them goes away, I feel guilty and weird like as if I’m no longer part of the group of people who have OCD. Having OCD is a big part of me and I guess I just feel like I wouldn’t be myself anymore. This is also a big reason why therapy is so hard for me :(

I have been in therapy since the end of January and I have made so much improvement since then. I would have never thought that in four months I have made as much improvement as I have. Recently I took a medication for a skin condition that messed with my hormones and set me back a bit but with all of the tools and knowledge I have gained I’m so proud that I was able to come back from that. My main themes are about being in the perfect relationship, questioning love, and over all black and white thinking. It’s still hard because the thoughts are still there and I have an anxious gut feeling a lot throughout the day but I know it will only get better from here. Please don’t give up on trying to heal yourself, it is so worth it. ROCD is not about your partner, it’s about you.

Hey guys! I'm Brazilian, so forgive me for the google translator! I've had some pretty bad days. But I got better over time. I still have obsessive thoughts, but I don't have that anxiety anymore. I researched and identified myself a lot with the OCD of thoughts. I think I've had this disease since I was 7 years old, I just never went back to check. But since my condition got worse, I decided that I needed to know what I had. I started therapy, it's not cognitive behavioral therapy, but I trust it a lot, so I'm keeping it! But today I felt really bad. I went to the doctor for the first time. And even though I talked about OCD, he talked to me and told me that he treated it like normal anxiety. He also spoke in a way that it would be okay for me to be attracted to women, and that I needed to take medicine to see what my internal problem really was. But I don't think I have an internal problem. I actually moved out of my parents' house recently and that's why I started having obsessive thoughts again. I happen to have on several topics, but some are stronger than others. I've never liked a girl and I don't want to either. But when my doctor asked me if I was attracted to girls I said "I don't think so" I can't be sure. I know I don't want and I don't feel like dating them. Finally, a rant. Here in my country, it is a disease that is difficult to treat. I'm starting the medication today, taking Sertraline. If you have words of comfort, I appreciate it! Hug everyone and stay well!

So, I have been so happy with my partner recently. Our entire relationship in itself is just beautiful. We’ve been looking into apartments, we’re meeting each others families, and just spending as much time together as we can since we are long distance. He’s my second relationship I have ever been in and he’s also the first guy I will ever be doing this with like….ever. Every now and then I get the occasional thoughts of my abusive ex and I wish him farewell and blessings because I don’t hate him. I am in a space where even the OCD isn’t even important and neither is the trauma. But, today as I continue to look for apartments and decor and think about babies and every other thing me and my boyfriend have talked about, something in the back of my head keeps trying to… “creep in” (if that makes sense) to try and say but your trauma or what if your boyfriend isn’t even the one? what if you hurt him? what if he hurts you? wouldn’t it be easier to be alone? what if he’s not even your type anymore like what if he begins to be unattractive to me? Then it feels like I’m back at square one. My ex becomes the focus and I become the problem. It even feels like I am trying to insert him in places he doesn’t need to be in. While I recognize thinking of people from your past is normal, why does the person who caused me a whole bunch of pain and suffering get my brains attention at random and god-awfully horribly timed moments in my life where I have moved on and made peace with who I am and what I have been through? I feel so guilty because then I ask myself well do I still love my ex and it’s not true and even when I think about the pain even my ROCD knows it isn’t true. I just feel awful and horrible. I feel like the worst girlfriend and like I don’t deserve him. I’ve been through a lot and it hurts to even think that I may hurt him. I love him. Why doesn’t my mind just conform to that?

My ocd was about loyalty towards my gf every bad thought I had towards her had to tell her or felt guilty for thinking somsones better looking and have to tell her now I’m over that and in my next stage of ocd after help I feel overwhelming attraction towards girls I used to not be able to look at them for a year and now I feel bad and like I should be single if that’s how I feel

About 5 years ago, during my teens i had casual and sometimes unprotected sex with total strangers i met on dating apps and online. I don't even remember their names. I don't know how i could ever contact them since i never kept up contact with any of them, i also don't know how they would ever contact me since i cut contact years ago and literally have zero info about them and they probably have zero info about me. Long story short, since I can't exactly remember what happened in some of the encounters im afraid i maybe got someone pregnant and since i almost immediately cut off contact there was no way to know. Its been 5 yrs and this obsession hit me like a wrecking ball. Now im terrified i may have a kid out in the world that I don't know about, or at the very least that i got someone pregnant and never knew about it. This is eating me alive, help...

Hi y’all sorry if this is an annoying post, but I’m super new to this and I’ve fallen down a research rabbit hole and I just need a second opinion. I’m not officially diagnosed, but as soon as school is over I’m going to my therapist and talk to her about it as I go to school in a different state than where I’m from. I’ve had anxiety my entire life, literally since I could remember and I’ve always really had bad rumination, but since I’ve turned 20 this year I’ve seem to have an onset of some kind where my anxiety has gotten worse and even more obsessional. Now looking back over my entire life I’ve probably have always had OCD or at least some OCD tendencies. So I’m going to share a list compiled of my experiences that I think show at bare minimum OCD tendencies and get a second opinion so hopefully I can have some more direction. Thank you all so much and I hope y’all have a great day. -I’ve experienced really disturbing intrusive thoughts ever since I was a child -I had a really bad religious OCD when I was a kid that caused me to having praying compulsions, when I watched those “this celebrity is a devil worshipper” conspiracy YouTube videos on early unregulated YouTube -most of my anxiety is based on ruminating about my past and experiencing a deep level of shame -i genuinely that feeling shame, anxiety, or that generally having poor mental health is a universal punishment for being a bad person -shame spirals -currently obsessively researching the difference between false memories and repressed memories. Which is causing a real or fake memory research down spiral -currently obsessively researching about OCD wondering if I really have it or not -I heavily relate to the moral or scrupulosity OCD -that time in high school I convinced myself I had a parasite because I ate undercooked bacon so for like a solid two or three weeks I always checked my temperature first thing in the morning and then multiple times a day and no matter how many times I checked my temperature it still didn’t feel like it was “right” or correct -I had a health obsession this time with autism and the constant research and self testing and I felt like I had to do them over and over again to obtain relief -I’m a hoarder -that one time when I was kid I convinced myself I gave my teacher an allergic reaction because I gave him gold fish THE DAY PRIOR

Hi. I’m just really scared and I want to ask questions. I have been ocd and have been really suffering since December. The intrusive thoughts come like I want them now and it’s more of a “ well oh yeah you want to do that, and it’s gonna happen” and I start panicking and can’t focus and it scares the shit out of me. Is that ocd? Or is there something wrong with my brain and I’m actually some psychopath you see in a movie? I’m terrified. Im scared to be around my family, I’m scared to be around everyone. But I’m scared to be alone as well because I’m alone with the thoughts. What if these aren’t intrusive thoughts and I’m actually some terrible person who’s gonna hurt someone or is actually some psychopath who’s crazy? I hate this so much because I use to be so happy and not have any of these intrusive thoughts or worried that I was going to to hurt someone and now I’m so scared all the time. Can someone please answer some of these questions? I just want to make sure that this is ocd and I’m not a terrible person.

how to deal with what ifs 😣

It’s so hard going on through every day life and trying to be “normal”. It’s a constant battle against myself and my thoughts. I feel like I’m abnormal compared to everyone else around me. One of the (I guess) main things I struggle with is dermatillomania and ocd. I could spend HOURS infinity of a mirror picking at my skin until I no longer feel any bumps. My face ends up hurting and so red from all the picking. While I pick at my skin it feels so satisfying, I feel so good to get “rid” off all the imperfections in my skin. But afterwards I feel terrible physically and emotionally. I’m ashamed to go outside. At times, when the picking leads to bleeding I can’t even go out of my bedroom and spend time with family because I feel so embarrassed and disgusting.(my family is really unsupportive about my mental health, they think I’m doing all things for attention or “boredom”). I also suffer from harm ocd and suicidal ocd. It’s so frustrating! I could be having an AMAZING day and be feeling perfectly fine and then all the sudden I start imaging or thinking about ways I could commit suicide. When this happens it often causes me so much anxiety I’m scared to even do or go to places that could be fit for that. I’m also scared of knives and sharp things. Doing dishes is so hard at times because random intrusive thoughts kick in like “what if I cut myself with this knife right now?” Or things like starving myself etc :( I would never do that! I’m sure I wouldn’t. But in those moments it’s so hard to get rid of those thoughts. I also have ptsd and I swear when PTSD and OCD decide to “work” together it’s so exhausting :( it’s so hard to tell what actually happened and what my ocd is making up? I don’t quite understand that to be honest and it’s so scary and frustrating too:( besides of ocd I’m also trying to control my PTSD so they mix up it makes recovery very difficult 😓😪 Not only that :( I fear that my mental health might affect my relationships with the closets people to me! Im not sure if this is my ocd or just regular anxiety. But it’s hard to [continue] opening up to people I’m close with. I feel like if I do so it might be too much for them to deal with and will end up getting frustrated as well and leave me :( It’s so hard too! specially with my boyfriend :( he always reassures me and tells me that it’s okay for me to open up and ask for help or support but I feel like if I do so my bad mental health will affect him :( lately he’s been thinking that i just simply “don’t trust” him. I do! I really do! But I’m scared of pushing him away with my problems :( but I guess not including him in them is also pushing him away 🤦🏻‍♀️there’s SO much more! Ugh thinking about it drives me crazy at times :( I just wish I didn’t have OCD! I know everyone deals with fears and anxiety and stress etc but ocd just makes everything so much harder :(

Hi, I’ve seen in so many places that to help your OCD you can make jokes/ non-engagement responses but I’m really struggling how to do that with POCD. I have a thought about being a pedo/ doing something and I say ‘maybe, maybe not’ but it doesn’t help because I do not want to be one!

Hi again!! Lately I’ve been worrying a lot about getting murdered or kidnapped. Especially since I’m about to embark on a 13 hour drive alone. And I’m a female driving to see my boyfriend. (Who I see all the time and nothing has happened) I’ve been having a very specific intrusive thought. That my boyfriend is secretly a serial killer or is going to become one after killing me one day. He has given me absolutely no reason to think this about him, and I trust and know him very well. But then I think back to serial killers who were married and how their spouses never knew. Then I’m like well what if he’s faking the entire thing to trick me and then kill me. It gets in my mind and it stays. I’ve been trying to get rid of this thought. I know it’s not true, but y’all know how it is. Any tips?

I have struggled with OCD/ROCD in the past when I have been in relationships that have had red flags, and been super unhealthy. Before I was on medication (Sertraline 150mg), my general anxiety and OCD was crippling to the point I would vegetate in my room, watch the same thing over and over so I wouldn't get triggered, avoid certain types of music ect. Of course, being on my meds doesn't mean I don't have flare ups, and they certainly aren't as strong as they used to be - like when I have had niggles of POCD or OCD around incest ect - and I am able to deal with it. Until a couple of days ago... My BF is very intuitive and seems to be able to sense when I am about to nose dive. We have conquered ROCD/anxiety before and have come out the other end. He's been so lovely and amazing and always researches and asks family how to support me. It's important to note that we are long distance, him living in Sweden, and we have been together now for two years three months this upcoming June. We visit each other every couple of months, the longest gap in between being five months. We are hoping to close the gap, and I am anxious at the fact I am even writing that. Both my boyfriend and my Mum have noticed patterns of my ROCD, especially when I've recently come home from a trip to see him. I go over the same thoughts of: - Do I love him? - Do I want to break up?/Should we break up?/Would breaking up stop how I am feeling? - Am I happy in the relationship?/Am I happy with him? I've been reading articles online, speaking to both my mum and bf, not really doing anything when I come home from work besides laying in bed and mindlessly scrolling through tik tok... I even don't really want to listen to music much because I feel like it will trigger me... I've even avoiding my boyfriend, his messages, and even when he calls I am anxious, my heart rate is up and I will talk to him about the same things - even the idea of breaking up - which just makes us both sad and we cry. We have bond touch bracelets, so when I am at work I will send him taps to let him know I am thinking about him, that I miss him ect. It's only been a couple of days but I am already exhausted. I am going to see him for two weeks in July and I'm like what if I am still feeling like this by then? Our relationship isn't perfect, but when you compare it to my two previous relationships, and they really did affect my mental health badly, I feel like I shouldn't be feeling all this... there is no logical reason as to why... Up until these last couple of days I have been happy when I speak to him, have our weekly date night on Skype and watch films and play video games, read together on messenger before we go to bed, send memes ect. I'm just tired and don't know what to do....