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have y’all felt heart palpitations due to your OCD?

Hi y'all. I have posted a few times and shared a bit of my story. I have struggled with OCD for years without realizing, until harm OCD hit me a few months ago. It dropped me to my knees, as it is always focused on my hubby and daughters. I was diagnosed by a local therapist and he has been a huge help in walking me through my childhood traumas that are making the situation worse. But, he doesn't have a focus on ERP. So I am struggling with that. I found Nathan Peterson and have started his online course that goes through ERP. I have noticed as I started going through the course and completing the journals and have got to the point where we create a hierarchy and make exposures, my OCD has kicked into overdrive. I had a terrible night two nights ago and then spent all day yesterday kicking myself and trying to get out of my head. Then when I was feeling so down yesterday, my OCD reminded me that my middle daughter has some anxiety and possible OCD tendencies, so I should kill her so that she doesn't have to deal with this. I am so frustrated, because it caught me off guard and has me questioning whether it is me or OCD. I don't want to see my daughter suffer with this, but I am sick at the idea that OCD would tell me that I really think that is the solution. This has now made me even more nervous to do much exposure work. I would love to hear from anyone that has done ERP for harm OCD, especially relating to family. I am struggling.

I found something useful on “dealing” with this as you may put it which can be used for any false attraction in ocd, like ROCD, POCD or SOOCD or anything to do with beastility/incest. I commented on someone else’s post about it but thought what i said may be useful so here it is. FIRSTLY, stop calling it false attraction. The whole premise of this makes people with ocd want to figure out wether they are experiencing a REAL or FALSE feeling which is just going to make people ruminate and pay attention to these feelings which will make it worse. So what are we gonna call it instead? Intrusive feelings. This allows us to work towards the goal of disregarding and habituating to these uncomfortable sensations and feelings rather than work out if it’s real or not. Secondly, I will tell you now that if false attraction gets to a strong point and is distressing you a lot you WONT be able to figure wether it’s a 100% true or not otherwise u wouldn’t be here. False attraction that is fleeting is obviously a strong indication it’s false but after lots of ruminating and worrying about being attracted to something it can lead to ur brain being even more confused. You need to stop all compulsions towards figuring this out: no checking, no ruminating, no testing! Also, if u respond strongly negatively to these emotions as in go into a state where u show ur mind how upset these feelings make u, it’s also a form of reacting and u don’t want to do this because it tells ur mind u care. You need to act like it doesn’t bother you to over come this. Thirdly, aesthetic attraction is different to sexual attraction. For someone with ROCD it’s okay to appreciate that your friends, coworkers, strangers may be good looking people not in a way that makes u want to act on or fantasise about. A girl suffering with HOCD may be worried she is attracted to her girl best friend because she thinks she is pretty. For someone who doesn’t suffer with this can understand they think they’re girl best friend is pretty but doesn’t make her attracted to them, it’s just having an awareness that your friend/ that person isn’t ugly to look at. For people with pocd it’s okay to find a little kid adorable/ cute in a completely innocent way like a puppy without it meaning anything else. There is a huge difference between aesthetic and false sexual attraction that ocd does a good job at blurring the lines inbetween. Fourthly, people who’s ocd use this so called false attraction against them, end up saying it FEELS real and it just can’t be anything else because it FEELS real. It’s hard to comprehend but this is also just a feeling, lol! and you have to learn to sit with it no matter how hard it gets because it’s just gonna get worse if not. and sitting with it, will also help you deal with it rationally if maybe over time u realise that it wasn’t “false”. Also, OCD is a doubting disorder. It can inflict such strong thoughts, urges, sensations, feelings and will use everything in its power to convince u of ur fears. Remember it can even fabricate fake memories so Please don’t forget that u do have OCD and it can be powerful, u can’t give up hope Finally, ik how scary this feeling can be as i’ve dealt with it myself and it is the milestone of sexual related obsessions as it can make u believe this is you but ocd is a liar and i also believe if you 1) label all ocd as intrusive feelings 2)stop all compulsions towards this. and stop ruminating on wether feeling is false / real. feeling is feeling. 3) understand different types of attraction 4) understand that *feeling real* is also a feeling and u MUST habituate to it You may be able to deal with this better. I’m not going to reassure anyone that it will dissolve but this is how u can learn to overcome this as a form of ocd. If you act as if this is ocd, as it’s best to label uncomfortable feelings as ocd to begin, those who are experiencing this intrusive feeling would eventually get to a point where the ocd knows you don’t care about this feeling and stops using it against you and regular attractions would reappear. But don’t do this as an end goal, the goal is to not be bothered! I hope this can help anyone dealing with this, hang in there and DISREGARD!!!

Curious to hear how other peoples intrusive thoughts come up in regards to this theme? I constantly have an “I’m gay” replaying in my head and it’s the first thing that sometimes plays in my head when I wake up. I can’t tell if this is an intrusive thought or if I’m just in denial with myself. It doesn’t really give me anxiety anymore like it used to. More sadness/ state of depression and just overall annoyance. I’m in a relationship and when I started to date my current bf is when all of this came up for me. Curious to hear other people’s experiences with the kind of thoughts they have. Granted I have been dealing with this since about Nov of 2022 or maybe even earlier and it feels like I’ve had an array of intrusive thoughts. Quite frankly I also don’t have an OCD diagnosis but a previous therapist I had(not an OCD specialist) told me that I just have GAD with OCD personality and traits.

I’m on zoloft, and started about last week. I’ll get straight to the point. I do not want to be gay, bi, whatever. I’m a christian. But I keep experiencing thoughts and keep having sexual feelings. I’ve looked at pics of guys at my school to see if I feel anything and then I do bc my mind makes everything sexual, i’ve been stuck in a hole of looking at pictures of people and I started looking at it more then girls. I feel so trapped and medicine is helping, but I feel like I’m losing my mind. I love girls too, and I can’t see myself dating a dude. It doesn’t do anything for me, in fact it bothers me a little bc I just couldn’t do that. But the sexual stuff is so powerful and feels so confusing. Anyone got advice or anything to help me out? Please!!

My ex and I broke up a few months ago.I learned his license plate number while we were dating as it was silly, and I had some joke about it with him. Anyways now I find my self checking license plates as cars drives by ( as I live on a small island ) worried I’ll see him. But like even cars that aren’t his make and model. Also… what does this even mean.

So I'm fairly new to OCD and Intrusive Thoughts. It all started about 8 months ago for me. I had health anxiety and generalized anxiety and got put on meds for that. I read side affects of meds could cause su*cdal thoughts and it freaked me out and lead me to think what if I started having thoughts of harming others too and instantly for the last 8 months I've had horrible intrusive thoguhts about harming others. Now the other day I ran across a post about how ocd can lead to psychosis, reading about it freaked me out so bad that I'm now scared I'm gonna get psychosis. Paranoid thoughts is a sign of psychosis so I started watching myself I guess to see if I'd become paranoid. And now every thought I have seems paranoid. I'll think things like what if I start becoming paranoid of my loved ones and think they're out to get me? That leaves me questioning if I am paranoid and if I actually do think that. Anyways, I guess I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this happen to them? I pray someone can relate because I'm terrified.

Hi, pls someone advise me on this. I am in a loving relationship with my partner who has OCD at the beginning when he confessed I didn’t give much thought because all I knew about ocd was people checking the locks and stove 20 times. But his ocd takes different themes such as ROCD, moral scrupulosity, and last night he confessed me an incest ocd where he felt that his sister looked attractive he also told me that he’s had this thought before which has been followed by guilt and shame. We do an exposure exercise every night about his OCD even things where he constantly doubts his love for me finds another girl attraction and many others. I always deal with it because I know it’s his OCD and not his true feelings/intent. But since he has told me about the incest OCD I wanted to throw up I felt absolute disgust look I know it’s his OCD I know which is why I feel more disgusted on my self that I would feel this way about my own partner. But I find myself having sleepless night nightmare of him doing that to a family member I am in distress but ofc I love him and I wanna help him but I feel very drained. What should I do how can I help him without being drained or grossed out by some of the ocd thoughts he has had. Pls advise me. Ofc he does not know about of this. And I am just pretending to be normal infront of him. How do partners and parents of kids or partner having OCD deal with it?

All day every day I worry about throwing up and make sure everything I eat is “ok” or making sure I don’t get to close to people in case someone is sick. Anyone else struggle with this intrusive fear? I feel nauseous almost every day and I’m exhausted.

i think today has been the hardest day of my whole life. i’ve never ever felt this way before. i’ve been posting on here a lot recently which i feel bad about but i don’t have many people to talk to. my anxiety is worse than it’s ever been before. my entire body fills with dread any time i have a thought about something that even slightly bothers me. i had a five hour long panic attack that lead to me using the SOS button and just hyperventilating and sobbing while i was trying to pay attention. something needs to change. i was thinking of doing my free consultation on here today, but i decided that i wasn’t in a good enough headspace for a simple consultation so i’m going to do it tomorrow. i keep reminding myself that it will pass and it’s all temporary, but it’s so hard. i’m also with drawling off of my medication so that’s making things worse. i feel like if i stop talking i’m going to cry again lol. but maybe i just need to sit in that

I had my first therapy session today and I liked my therapist but she confirmed to me that I do meet the criteria for ocd. I was hoping that it wasn’t ocd but maybe just anxiety. I’m heart broken because my life will never be the same. I lived 38 years without this and now I’m have to deal with this. I don’t know what to do or how to tell my family and if they are going to judge me. I don’t know if my days will be bright again and if I will be happy again. I’m so scared and don’t know what to do. Sigh.

Does anyone make little bets with themselves to ease their anxiety ? For example I’ll be driving and I’ll say “if I make this green light without it turning yellow I’m not my intrusive thoughts”

Been feeling horrid lately ,OCD "neutralising" all the happiness I have been feeling...it interfers with my relationship SO MUCH. I love my boyfriend more than anyone else but OCD keeps obsessing over this one thing he did that my friend and also people online said is okay but OCD is saying it's outright immoral or at the very least morally grey and is forcing me to break up with him but that is the very last thing I'd want. So, as a punishment, it keeps ruining my feelings for him and making it near impossible to enjoy my days, I feel quite depressed to be honest. Any tips?

i have been so scared of my partner cheating and we have been with each other for almost 2 years , it went to the point where i would randomly check his phone and i would find nothing. i don’t have any intuition about this just anxiety. also because he cheated in the past with his past relationships but he told me it was because he was younger, didn’t love them and didn’t stay with them for longer than a few months. he says he truly loves me and respects me too much to do that to me. but those are just words. and i used to find comfort in not finding anything in his phone. but now i realize is someone is texting you , you can delete the messages as soon as they come. also i used to find comfort in me being all over his social media and his whole family knowing us. but some girls are okay with being side pieces. and some family members could cover up for their blood. so i’m freaking out , not knowing what or who i could trust. i love him to death but theres no way for me to know what he’s doing. but i guess what i’m really asking is , is it possible for someone who used to always cheat to not cheat in a different relationship with someone they love? for me i have no doubt he loves and cares about me but if he cheats then he doesn’t respect me and thats not the love that i want. and i am scared to death. thoughts pls?

Hello, im feeling very anxious and need someone to talk too. I’m wondering if anyone has experienced this type of ocd. I’ve had many different types of ocd through out my life. I’m a 21 year old female. I am in school for child development and work at daycares in the summer time for my resume. However, my ocd has been based around my work recently and its ruining my life. I constantly have thoughts I will lose a child at work, and they will run off and die under my care. Or I’ll hurt one of the children by mistake or on purpose. I’m scared I will do something wrong and the kids will get hurt because of me. I really love working with the kids, however I feel these daycare jobs are overwhelming for my ocd. But I cant stop working at daycare cause I need the experience for when I graduate and try to find a different job in the field. And I also do enjoy the job to some degree so I don’t want to leave the job, it’s just ocd that makes it harder. Has anyone had this type of ocd and is a childcare worker it would be really helpful to hear from other people?!

Any tips on how to regain sex drive/libido while suffering OCD? I have been suffering with sexual orientation OCD for around 3 months, and have lost complete grasp of my identity whatsoever. Constant sexual thoughts about guys creating a uncertainty in whether I am straight or gay. I have tried accepting that I am "gay" which in a way makes the thoughts feel justified to there existence ,however it doesn't sit right when i try place the thoughts of my actions on the people. The existence of these intrusive thoughts feels to have created a complete crash in my sex drive, creating more uncertainty in my life which I feel incapable of actually dealing with. How do I even know that it is OCD and not me just struggling to accept myself? Apparently that's something il never know, but coming to terms with this feels very scary and confusing. The fact that I have a girlfriend doesn't make this any better. Life truly flipped upside-down. And all I crave rn is to get my life back to a place where ik who I am.

I’ve been struggling with intrusive thoughts for the past few weeks, now it’s also turned into depression. I’m trying to fight through it but tbh it’s been kicking my butt these past few days. I just feel so hopeless. It’s like I lost all hope for the future. My ambition is gone and I was the most ambitious person I knew. Making it through the day is a struggle. Just want my old self back.

Hello everybody, I was wondering does anybody else get migraines from their intrusive thoughts. Let alone even just thinking? Id literally just think any thought and my head is full of anxiety and migraines . If anybody knows a good remedy or a technique please let me know. Love to hear your thoughts/experiences.

Does anyone ever have moments where they try to take a step back from their themes and don’t even recognize who they are when they are in their fear cycle? For example I’ll have moments where I notice I’m obsessing over something irrational and I’ll notice that and then I’m the very next moment I’ll fall right back in trying to find certainty… Just curious if anyone else relates 😎

Just ate three bites of a sandwich and noticed the cheese in it was smelling odd and now I'm paranoid thinking I'm going to have a food poisoning or v0mit and I have emetophobia so...