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saying guys are hot makes me feel fake or like i am saying it to compensate when i don't really mean it, especially that i have been experiencing loss of attraction

i'm really confused here between hocd and being gay: to what extent can ocd feel real? how much can it make me feel like i desire the thoughts and would be "okay" or "comfortable" with them? see when i read this i feel like i am gay and there's no way for this to be ocd, especially that anxiety has been down and i have been able to brush off the thoughts but now when i do, i feel more in denial, but it doesn't freak me out properly

Sometimes I just take a break from my thoughts and it’s the most blissful feeling because in that moment nothing can bother me and I’m truly happy.. I wish It would last forever 🙏🏼

People who have recovered from hocd? What did you do that worked? Also how did you handle loss of attraction?

Is it possible to only have one ocd theme. I’m honestly just trying to figure out what i could possibly have and seek proper help but I’m not too sure what is wrong with me is ocd rather another illness because as far as I know I’ve only ever really had one theme and it has been a problem since I was 11, I am now 17. I see everyone on here having multiple themes but I only suffer from so ocd so I’m just not too sure what to think.

Can derealization be linked to OCD? I get this feeling of reality seeming “off”. I feel disturbed to everything around me, and I feel like I’m sinking or going insane. It really do sucks because you feel weak and don’t know how to escape it. Can any of you guys relate??

I spent all day today seeking reassurance. And I don’t feel any better.

I’m so scared that I might be misdiagnosed.. what if I was lying to my therapist or something??? Like I’m so freaked out.

Does this app just have me blocked out so no one can see my posts? That's what it's felt like for months

does anyone else feel like their obsession turned “real” after something happens? and they feel the need to recheck and recheck over and over that it didn’t?

Do arguments make your OCD worse even if the argument was completely unrelated? E.g. an argument with a bf, makes SOOCD be like "you should just go with girls" or some other intrusive thought. Also has anyone gone through this thing where they've managed it so there's no anxiety, they don't know how to "human" then a trigger happens and there's no anxiety and you don't know what to do with the fact that there is no anxiety about something that goes against who you are??

I keep worrying that I'm attracted to teenagers and I was watching this cartoon earlier and I kept worrying I was looking at the characters inappropriately which made me panic

Does anyone have spiritual ocd dealing with blasphemous thoughts as a Christian

this hurts me because tiktok is such an exposure especially because everyone is lgbtq there which i don’t mind but it makes me feel like i can’t be straight because people say that if you question something then you’re not 😕

Does anyone here suffer from PTSD along with their OCD? How do you manage both?

why have i never been properly freaked out by groinal responses? i've learnt about them early on and even tested without thoughts (i used to shift my attention to my groin and would get a groinal, so i understood how they work). but why have they never freaked me out? what if i was really aroused and dismissed them as groinals because of denial?

Does anyone have tips on how to stay focused during an online lesson? My brain tends to either get distracted or stop comprehending what the speaker is saying.

Does anyone else get like instant false memory? So for example. I just did a salt water rinse (bcos of recent dentist work)... and my mind is telling me it wasn’t salt I put in🙄

I just applied for my emotional support animal! We’ll see what happens!

Currently really struggling. I feel like everything is so different and idk if things are ever going to feel the same. I just need some hope from someone who is also going through this that it will get better and that I will get my relationship back.

When all of this first started I was really afraid. And I was able to distinguish that I was not my thoughts and that I could never do that but now with all the over thinking. I convinced myself that I am these things some how. I feel like now I don’t know anything anymore. Everyone on here says they know they wouldn’t do it but I can’t even say that. Sometimes if I think about it and it actually happening I feel sick but there’s no anxiety. I also feel like no one has the same thoughts as me. I always go back and forth in my head and I can’t tell if it’s me or the other part in my brain telling me these things. I’m just scared and feel like I should be put away forever. I don’t think it’s ocd anymore and I accepted it. But when I think about accepting I get sick to my stomach and cry. It’s just hard. I don’t know myself anymore and I just want to be alone and be away from everyone

I just tried to do an exposure exercise, and two things beyond my control ended up making it not work right (my men's jeans got dirty and were in the wash, the barista never asked for my name). It's discouraging 😢

Having a tough time with rumination today. It’s shifted from ruminating about my past to more or so trying to ruminate about my future with small hints of my past slipping in here and there. I’ve always been a big over thinker and my brain is really ruminating over a lot of made up scenarios right now. It’s always been hard for me to accept uncertainty and not have total control over the future and my OCD is really attacking that today. These made up scenarios haven’t even happened, nothing in my life has even happened like these made up scenarios and honestly they 9 times out of 10 will not happen in the future either. I’m trying my best to avoid compulsions and to sit with the uncomfortable feelings I have right now. I think I am going to try my hand at another new puzzle today, watch some of my favorite movies, and sit with that annoying yet ‘lovely’ feeling of uncertainty.

Is someone available for support

I feel like I’m becoming closer to the truth everyday and I don’t know what to do :(

Does anyone else get stages where you are convinced that your worst fears have become true?

I don't know if I'm really gay or there just thoughts. The thought of being gay is so distressing to me 😔

what are false feelings? everytime when i think of my boyfriends friend (it’s an intrusive) i’m scared if it’s me being excited or happy over the thought of him or it’s just me being anxious

Hey guys. This is a long read but pls check it out. Have you ever reached a point in your life where the big things felt small and the small things felt big? Recently, a lot of traumas and obsessions that I struggled to recover from no longer take up space like they used to. I never once thought that this would be possible. Life is so weird. It’s so strange. It’s such a bizarre moment where you become worried about how long it’ll take to cook a meal, or whether the weather the next day is okay for the activities you have planned. Or anything else that’s mundane and ordinary and It’s such a beautiful point to reach. Guys. Conquering OCD and being able to manage it. Really makes you feel like you can get through anything. To think a few months back I was on the verge of suicide because I felt to my core that I was a monster and I was a threat to everyone I loved. You guys may think you hate yourselves but you are doing something so beautiful for yourselves by trying to get better. I remember the first slither of hope I had and how I really had to hold onto that for dear life. Sometimes my grip slipped but just keep holding out hope. You will, I can just feel it, that you’ll all get better. Looking back it feels like I experienced the same hellish day over and over again just being alone with my thoughts. Now, sometimes they’re still there but like I was saying,they feel so small. You guys are learning about how your mind works. And once you figure it out you know how to manage it for a life time. And that sounds scary but you know how it operates now. You’re learning more about yourself. And a huge component of OCD recovery is learning how to sit with the overwhelming and unbearable and suffocating feelings. And that is such an asset to have. After wailing and weeping for days on end, it feels like no matter what happens next. No matter how traumatising. I know, I truly know that I have space within myself to feel the hard whirlwind of emotions. I know I can bear the intensity of them. And I know that by feeling the height of these emotions, I can get better a lot sooner. I used to feel like I didn’t trust myself and feel a lot of shame when I remember I used to believe my thoughts. But I don’t think so anymore. I really put all my energy in, to the point I was so drained that I was bed bound, trying to argue and grapple with these thoughts. Trying to win my case. I hope you all get to a point in your recovery where the small things feel big and big things feel small, again. <3

Hi everyone! Any tips for family members and specially husbands someone with OCD, particularly SOOCD (my case) which can be very challenging in a relationship. Thank you !!

What do I do if I get really aroused during an exposure

I’ve ruminated so much that I think I’ve found proof of my fears- should I just accept this is a compulsion and try and stop?

So can this happen because of OCD-Can I get false feelings for someone?not in a romantic way tho.

Do you ever feel that you need to tell your thoughts to someone you trust to feel better? Like a confession or something

Do you ever think and remember things that you did and feel so much guilt?

I feel like I don’t care about anything anymore. I don’t have motivation to do school work/even go to school. My room is literally disgusting. I don’t eat anymore. I don’t enjoy doing any of my hobbies anymore.

I want to start Exposure therapy for HOCD. What would this consist of?

A wave of depression hit me and I feel awful, and it's making my hocd thoughts worse. They're like "what if you're just feeling this way bc you're in denial and the thoughts are actually true" and it's like I had an "epiphany" I feel like crying but I can't, this made me feel much worse. I feel like because im sad its bc I'm denying it and when I get better I'll find the truth or something ugh!

This is an excellent article - really nuanced and helped me understand some things about OCD/ERP that I didn't understand before. "Mistaken Beliefs about Uncertainty Acceptance and OCD" by Jon Hershfield. https://www.madeofmillions.com/articles/mistaken-beliefs-uncertainty-acceptance-ocd

What if I’m not going in-depth enough with my therapist? And now I’m miss diagnosed. What if I lied to her to make myself feel better? I can’t stop my brain from spinning.

Im just here to remind y’all that sometimes it gets worse even when we least expect it and that’s okay you will find your peace again and even though you thought you might not open this app for awhile (aka me lol) you find yourself on it again looking for help and that’s okay it will always be okay, hoping everyone is doing good, sending good vibes!!!

I need advice y’all. I have religious OCD and currently I have bee so worried about my intrusive thoughts about bad words and thinking sinful things. I really don’t want to curse or like cursing. But I keep thinking of bad words that would offend God or be consider blasphemy and every time i pray for forgiveness but i just feel like I’m going to go to hell. Also i have thoughts about the unforgivable sin. I know the unforgivable sin can be a hard topic because many people have different beliefs of it. But I just stress so much about committing it and then my brain will think of the it and like as if i agree with the sin and it stresses me out so much. I really don’t want to go to hell. But i worry sometimes what if it isn’t OCD and I’m just like this. Does anyone have this feeling or relate? Im open to advice.

I’m sobbing on my bathroom floor, and I just don’t know how much I have left to give. I feel like I have no friends. I don’t have God. I can’t have my mom because being at home makes me even more miserable. I am so utterly alone, and I’m losing the best friend I ever had. I don’t know how I can do this. I don’t know how I’m going to do this. I don’t know if I can live. I just want someone to tell me it’s okay. But I can’t even have that because of ocd. I’m so so so sad inside that it scares me.

currently terrified that despite my diagnosis the other day that I don’t actually have ocd. My symptoms have decreased a lot in severity. I feel a lot better. My thematic fears don’t control me right now as much as they did. I feel like I still get the intrusive thoughts and I hate them but I’m able to go that’s ocd and I feel okay. But now I’m scared I made this up, convinced myself I had it, and tricked my psychologist into diagnosing me with ocd. Can ocd wax and wane? Can it be episodic or increase in severity at different times? I can point out probably around 10 ocd episodes I may have had in my life but between them I’ve been mostly fine except for anxiousness and some depressed moods. Is this something different? Or am I just freaking out and obsessing over whether or not I have ocd now? Agh. Crazy. Idk how to wrap my head around my brain b

Check this out. Has some great info about talking to your therapist about scary intrusive thoughts https://www.treatmyocd.com/blog/how-to-tell-a-therapist-your-scariest-thoughts?src=email_%5BClone%5D%20OnlinedERP_vs_InPerson_091021

My neighbor told me to "check out my sexuality" after I told her that I got nervous (not anxious) when I hooked up with this girl. It definitely triggered me a little. Anyone had something similar happen to them?

Question... is this a compulsion? So even when I’m not anxious or triggered I still always look at / read HOCD posts. Ex... I’m just sitting on the couch and in my mind I’m like let me go read some posts from others with HOCD. Hoping that I am reassured because I relate to them & then I feel relieved when I do. I spend minutes / hours doing this everyday / every other day. Is this still a compulsion even tho there was no anxiety / trigger that caused me to go do it? Does anyone else find themselves doing this?

around this time last year my at the time undiagnosed ocd was eating me alive and it feels like in the same place i was rn ughh :T at least i attend therapy and have tools to help me get through it

Anyone else with contamination ocd find it hard to work out? I always hate the thought of getting sweaty and having extra clothes to wash, as doing laundry really takes a long time with my compulsions. I'm currently a little over weight but not obese and I don't want to get any bigger but without working out i feel like I wont be able to lose weight. Any helpful advice?

Is it normal if you really value your relationship and You’re scared of cheating, if your brain makes you think you’re attracted to every other person you encounter because you’re scared of cheating

Some days it’s impossible to believe I even have OCD... like my mind won’t stop doubting “what if you don’t have ocd” “what if you are pretending” :/

I have so much anxiety about my relationship and my future. I love my boyfriend but ROCD makes me question everything and me telling myself I love him and want to be with him gives me so much anxiety. I feel so guilty after this too because I know how much he loves me and I feel like I’m ruining his life.

when I'm anxious I loss atraction to guys, and when I feel ok for a moment, Im naturally attracted, and then I am anxious again and feel like I'm faking it🙄

Not to offend anyone who is religious but my ocd has made me very anti religious. I feel like I’m a decent person, I asked god for help Multiple times and nothing changes. Idk it just makes it hard to believe in Miracles

To all the unfortunate souls suffering from Hocd/Pocd, how did it all start and when did you realize it might be ocd (which you might be still doubting, I know)? Did it start gradually with the themes evolving over time or was it from a sudden trigger, or a combination of the two? Genuinely interested, not looking for reassurance.

i’m so anxious i had a seizure in my sleep. i woke up abruptly. i sleep in the same room as my mom and she said i didn’t.

Just got done my two loads of laundry Had my healthy salad And just relaxing drinking cup of tea Plan is to take my shower later and go work on my car a little bit Bye guyss

Ahhh OCD is so not fun why is mental illness so romanticised. Like what is up with that.

anyone else get their period & suddenly you’re.... super depressed, anxious, with intrusive thoughts coming in at a RAPID speed, constant headaches, and on top of that you’re in pain (cramps & soreness) 😒

I found an article that is very helpful. It is called "The Anatomy of ERP for OCD." It is on a blog called *Reclaim Your Life.* The person who runs it has OCD and is a therapist. She discusses what proactive and reactive ERP are. One thing that she mentions that really resonated with me is this part: "Acting joyful, like all OCD content is irrelevant. This is the essence of good ERP. And because if I don't, I'll be doing the subtle compulsion of acting depressed, like all this is true, and sabotaging everything I just did." This part makes me emotional..

Hello all, new to the group. Today’s been a really hard day of suffering and I’m so glad that I just found this app.

In the cognitive courtroom, shackled, with no key, perhaps the gavel will fall soon, or the jury might break for tea, I resent the judge’s stern frown, his cruel, unhelpful tone, yet under his wig, above his gown, a face as familiar as my own.

I’m scared of never recovering. I don’t know if that’s a sign of OCD.

Does anyone else hoard notebooks then write nothing in them in the fear of "ruining" them?

Words cannot describe how helpful meds are for my ocd

I swear TikTok feeds feel like constant exposures for both my ROCD but especially my SOOCD. I used to anxiously scroll past any lgbt content to avoid anxiety and now I watch the videos at the request of my therapist. But now my entire feed is bi women aka my worst fear LOL I’m truly laughing out loud about how lame ocd is. However, I’m not as scared watching the videos! (Which can sometimes lead to back door spikes, but hey overall anxiety is reducing)

Does anyone have tips on making it easier to get out of bed in the morning?

Interesting quirk I’ve noticed about myself and I don’t know if it’s just a personal thing or maybe it’s an OCD learned behavior but I love puzzles. I love doing puzzles alone, big puzzles just yano just always trying to challenge my brain. I’m currently doing a 1000 piece library themed puzzle, it’s wonderful. Anyways though, I find that when I do puzzles I have this feeling that I have to complete it in one go. That I can’t take a break no matter how big the puzzle is. Don’t get me wrong I do end up taking breaks but it takes my brain a lot of convincing. I’ll tell myself one more piece and then it’s break time and then I’ll put the piece down and think that piece didn’t feel right. It didn’t feel like the ‘break’ piece so I have to keep going. Just makes me giggle to think about how I do that, idk I never get relief from the puzzle until I finish it. Like my brain makes it that the ‘break’ piece has to be the final piece.

Has anyone found that in the first couple weeks SSRIs make them more anxious? I was on meds at the beginning of the year for like 3 weeks then I stopped because they made me more anxious and I just started meds again I think it’s having the same affect but I want to keep going with them. Anyone have any experience with this?

what if what i'm going through is internalised homophobia and i am not able to accept myself? and why am i not panicking enough over this?

Is it possible that intrusive thoughts that can be hidden urges or desires

Intrusive thoughts are feeling so passive... like their always hiding in the back of my mind and it gives me this feeling when I’m relaxed and thinking about things... like it’s reminding me it’s always there and ready to trigger me... and it just did too...

Why does everything involving dating just make me so uncomfortable. Being asked out, flirting, talking. With all of these things I get intrusive thoughts. But why though. I’m not even close to being in a relationship and just talking about it makes me uncomfortable and gives me intrusive thoughts. I don’t understand.

anyone else feel like sometimes they like the thoughts and it gives them no anxiety? i am so convinced i am my thoughts especially that i have 0 anxiety towards them

I never thought I had ocd, but reading your experiences it has helped to make sense about my past mental struggles, and making me feel less alone

So I’m for sure diagnosed with OCD and severe depression. And now I’m pretty sure I have BPD and autism. This isn’t something I’m ruminating about at all. I’m just 97% sure I have at least one of the two.

I don't feel like a girl because I don't feel like I look like one but I wanna look like one and feel like one. I sometimes feel like a boy but that makes me scared and uncomfortable because I wanna feel and look like a girl!

Is anyone else afraid to get better? I’ve read different reasons why people with OCD might feel that way, but none of them really connected with me. If you do, what are your reasons? I don’t know if I can explain exactly how I feel. In this weird disturbing way, I want to get worse. I want to develop more health conditions. But I think deep down I just want my problems to be seen by others so I can finally have some validation. That, or my depression wants excuses for me to give up… eh, I think I found my two reasons 🤣 can anyone relate?

Why do I have anxiety when I imagine myself with girls. I sometimes dont have anxiety with men😭😭😭. I'm straight

Okay ,so yeah I do have feelings I just dont understand them,my head is a confusion,I dont really understand when I miss someone,or if I'm sad or angry... Am I that weird?

super lighthearted question, does anyone know any anime/fictional characters other then death the kid that have ocd? seeing representation in media makes me feel better and im having a bad day rn. hope yall r having a good day <3

Okay so I’m super bored and lonely. Due to the pandemic I haven’t seen any friends or even to the grocery store. I just work and home but I’ve been off for a few days

I'll be honest... I'm really not doing good right now :(. I went to the renaissance festival with my friends and somehow my ex who never liked to do anything was there with another girl. I saw him twice. My ocds been super bad lately, as my period is coming. Especially the hocd. Could someone give me some tips with no reassurance on how to deal with this situation please? 🥲

I read something and it really triggered me😞

What is a good coping skill to prevent the confessing compulsion? Or steer away from doing it.

Does anyone else feel like they're going to go crazy or do something that'll land them in the news like driving the wrong way in the highway?

Anyone else's OCD find memories to use as "evidence" your obsessions/intrusive thoughts are true?

feel like everything is fading but deep down i know i just can’t give up, wish it just felt easier

The only time you should ever look back, is to see how far you've come 👑

Not sure if this is ocd, but does anyone else struggle to read? My mind keeps pausing on each word, and I end up reading the words in the wrong order, most of the time. I also seem to try and repetitively skip through the text I'm reading too fast. Maybe this is just a human thing?

I hate having such vivid dreams about my themes. It always makes me feel like it must be real. Especially if I get any sort of feeling or sensation that suggest I like the content of the dreams. Ugh 😭

How did your So Ocd started?

Anyone ever have obsessive thoughts about your boss firing you? Like for trying to take PTO, or asking a question, etc? How can I work on this with ERP?

Trying to move past something and not seek reassurance but it's honestly one of the hardest things I've had to do

Every girl I come across seeing I feel like I have to say they're pretty/hot/or cute and I say to myself why can't I say hot/cute/handsome to everyguy I see! I just wanna like guys but it feels impossible. Last night I was thinking of a guy and how he's coming back already and then I fell asleep and he came out in my dream and I got up happy but it feels like me liking guys is fake and I truly don't like them but I do wanna like just men.

I hate that every thought I get with a boy it gets replaced by a girl then it felt like if it was with a girl it wouldn't be that bad. It's annoying me It makes me uncomfortable thinking of this with girls. Like I can't even find girl's pretty without asking does that mean I like them?? Or I find girl's more pretty than boys and I don't know why maybe cause I wanna look like the girls I see not be with them I can't even find guys attractive because it feels like I'm lying. I hate this I just wanna be straight. Now I'm thinking what if I am bi or Les and I'm just denying it?! I don't want to lol it's been 1 week and some days since these thoughts came it's frustrating.

Ocd tries to scare us back into our comfort zones, while at the same to it’s slowly shrinking our comfort zone until there’s nowhere left to run. But you actually make your comfort zone grow. Expose yourself to your triggers and don’t fight them off, deny them, etc. do that for as long as you need to, get out of your comfort zone. You’ll see it start to slowly expand while not feeling bothered by things you normally would. And the sense of freedom that gives feels amazing. It’s like your training yourself. And you’ll see results even faster than you ever thought possible.

Can OCD make you believe and genuinely feel that you are someone you are afraid of being? I feel horrible and I lost my identity 😢 Like it’s not the thought that causes so much distress, it’s the real feeling that comes with it which makes me believe it’s true and real. I literally feel like I want to be a transgender although I never thought about it my entire life until June and since then it accompanies me every day!

How to get over a particular obsession?

I’ve been having this anxiety for a good couple months, before COVID-19 I never had contamination ocd or really worried of getting sick but since covid started I began to have anxiety of getting it and it just progressively got worse as the time when on I am cautious and use wipes when I touch things like doors and stuff and wear a mask, and I’m also vaccinated but if I get a stuffed nose or I will have a panic attack and not know it so my chest will tighten I will think it’s covid and I will begin to have shortness of breath. This has been an pretty much everyday occurrence and it’s so hard to get away from it when you see it on tv, phone, and apps. I just don’t know what to do it’s really stressful… I would love to hear advice from anyone or even similar situations I would greatly appreciate it!