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will i ever be free or is this all there is for the rest of my life

Its been a long time since ive had spoken to people online. Ive liked socializing since i was way younger and i miss it so much. So-does anyone wanna be mutuals? Exclusively on nocd😭 it be nice to have more friends that have the same struggles i do, more to relate too. 🙏Preferably 19+ people since i just turned 20. 🙏I like a lot video games and like to draw and im in college so we can talk about whatever! :) comment if you’d be up to chat on here sometimes.

Ever since I found out about relationship OCD, I’ve been researching non-stop. Google, Reddit, ChatGPT, this app… I regret it deeply. Before I knew what ROCD was, I still had disturbing thoughts, but I didn’t spiral like this. I didn’t question reality this deeply. But now… it’s like I’ve implanted in my mind that I have a disorder that’s “unfixable” or that only gets better with time. And even though I struggled before, since I started researching obsessively, I feel like I’ve completely lost control. My boyfriend told me that I’ve gotten worse ever since I began searching. And I see it — I used to be able to express love. I used to say “I love you” a lot. Now I can’t even say it. And when I did say it before, I think I was using it like a compulsion — like if I say it enough, maybe the thoughts will stop. But they didn’t. Now I can’t even be intimate without feeling this horrible discomfort, sometimes even disgust. And I remember telling my therapist that — and she said it’s not normal to feel disgust when your partner touches you. That devastated me. It stuck in my head. And now? It all feels real. Not like “just thoughts.” It feels like I’m denying the truth, like I’ve ruined everything by digging too deep. I’m not myself anymore. I’m not the girlfriend I used to be. I feel like I’ve lost everything — even my ability to feel love. There’s a constant pressure in my chest, like a weight I can’t describe. And no matter what anyone says — whether it’s hopeful or scary — it doesn’t bring me peace. I feel completely lost inside my own mind. I don’t even know why I’m posting. Maybe because I just want to feel less alone.

I don’t know what to do with this bs anymore. I’m crying again and again and again and again. I cannot describe how painful this is. I’ve recovered from every single OCD subtype expect this one. HOCD is so scary and it’s so incredibly scary how it feels so real. The issue with this subtype is how intertwined it is with feelings and sensations. I hate how it keeps latching onto the past and uses the past as proof. I don’t want it to be the truth. I don’t want to accept any possibility.

Does anyone else feel like their safety mechanism is to avoid bad/painful feelings? I am so deeply rooted in this habit and I’m having a very tough time breaking it to create healthier actions. I feel like I am stuck in a repetitive cycle and I always have so many intentions to be better, but consistent failure makes me and my partner feel insane. I always want things to feel good, I’m terrible about having difficult conversations about painful topics, even when I know that they’re important to have and could facilitate deeper bonding feelings afterwards. For example, my partner and I are struggling right now due to cheating mistakes I have made and my R/SOCD. I have all of these intentions to be a more supportive partner and help him through some of his pain. Understanding my ocd and seeking help was only a small part of that, it can’t erase what’s been done. Even when things feel good, I know he is constantly fighting off a lot of mental anguish that I have caused him. Still, I will let things feel good without saying/acknowledging anything. I know that it’s a good thing to have good moments together amidst working through bad, but it’s more detrimental for it all to feel like avoidance. I have a hard time giving him the support I want to because I feel so inadequate at having hard conversations. I worry so much about not being able to effectively communicate my feelings after I ask about something and then it will make the situation worse. I know this is all a false reality/ worst case scenario my brain is creating, but it is still so hard to catch and overcome. I can genuinely convince myself it’s not necessary. Because of this, he has serious doubts that nothing will ever change and he won’t receive the support through challenging times that he needs in a partner. Has anyone gone through this and figured out how to change? Seeking some advice/tips/encouragement. Thank you.

What’s everyone’s experience with loss of attraction to their preferred gender? (Not looking for reassurance, and I know people say stop trying to get it back) When I see a good looking woman, I feel sad that I can’t get feelings like I use too. Like the very bottom of my stomach feels heavy like it’s depressed… I know I want to be attracted to woman but this SOOCD and false attraction is destroying me.

My boyfriend is telling me every time im anxious, that if i didnt like him (i always think that i dont love him) i wouldnt suffer this much over my thoughts, and i could have just leave him. Its very true but i dont feel better at all and im thinking that i dont want to hurt hum or that im used to him and dont want to accept the reality and thats why i suffer because i am a good person???? im so sad and scared and anxious.

I’m definitely having an episode right now. A few times I’ve thought about coming onto this app and writing something but then I spiral further and further and I forget about anything except what’s triggering me. Then I think about this app again and intend to write a post… but again I’m spiraling too hard to focus on anything else. But I finally ended up here because I got an email from NOCD. I opened it and read about someone who ‘overcame their OCD.’ It made me spiral harder, because I genuinely don’t understand how someone can control this. How do I stop? How do I silence my brain? I was told to sit with my thoughts and not try to divert them, but if I do that I have an extreme episode so bad that I feel disconnected from myself. I looked at myself in the mirror and it felt like my eyes were seeing someone standing in front of me and not my reflection. It scares me to think that I will be experiencing these episodes forever. I literally just put my phone down twice because I thought my cat was choking to death because he had a hairball (he’s fine) I just feel like I can’t see a way out of this. It’s not curable, and I don’t understand how someone can ‘conquer’ something that feels so out of control Obviously it’s possible, but unfortunately that reassurance doesn’t always break through the most awful thoughts Sometimes there’s nothing that can make me calm down, I just have to ride it out I hope there’s never a day where it’s so out of control that I can’t keep it in at work, and I ruin my own life by having a severe panic attack while I’m there and being fired. If I had the type of episodes at work that I have consistently at home, I would be so humiliated. It scares me. I’m trying so hard to be normal like everyone else. I just want to be happy. I just want to live.

Hey! Just wondering if anyone else has dealt with something similar. A bit of background: I have POTS and had a horrible flare up in March which led to us calling ambulances; I started on meds which didn’t agree with me; the POTS flare passed and left me with horrific anxiety on a level I’ve never experience before. I was still able to go out and do every day things like grocery shopping and see my nan but nothing more. Fast forward a few weeks my uncle dies and the grief and stress triggered a massive migraine, and bc I’ve never had a migraine before it scared me and I thought I was having a stroke or something. The migraine passed but my brain latched onto the fear of it and how it felt to have one. Long story short since the beginning of the year it’s been one thing after another. A few days ago I had the worst panic attack ever downstairs in my house (felt like I couldn’t feel my arm or face) and it sent me into a spiral. I am now terrified to leave the house in case I have a panic attack outdoors, it just feels so unsafe. I went to the shop with my dad yesterday and felt so bad, but i managed to do it and I was proud. Tried again to go to a different shop closer to home because I was already feeling bad, and it was horrific. I started having a panic attack, felt faint, my arm and face went tingly, so we went back home. I’m trying to challenge myself every day but I am really really struggling and not sure what to do at this point. I tried fluoxetine but had horrible side effects (which included a horrific dip in my mood) so I had to stop them. I’m seeing my doctor tomorrow to tell her everything and explain how difficult it is, but I’m just SO scared all the time. It’s like my body is constantly scanning for danger. It’s got to a point where it’s been going on for so long I’m just desperate to try anything to help me feel just a little bit better. I’m not asking for much, I just want to be able to go to the shop without feeling like I’m going to die. My question is has anyone else dealt with anything like this? The panic attacks are terrifying, and even though I know they’re “not dangerous” it does not help because they’re still so so scary and even worse when I’m out of my bedroom because if I’m by myself I can kinda lie down, do some breathing and talk myself round. I just don’t know how to get over this and I’m so so sad because I’m 31 and scared of being stuck like this forever 😭

I keep wondering if I’m attracted to this kid I saw a week ago or not, it keeps happening, I can’t figure it out, what I hope is false attraction is feeling too real, I don’t wan to like the kid, I never wish to like kids, I genuinely feel like I’m just in doubt, I can’t figure it out, it feels weird, I don’t feel any guilt, shame, disgust, or panic, idk why but ik that I’m supposed to feel that, it makes me feel like I’m a real p. I barley get any negative emotion from those thoughts anymore, even when these thoughts started I didn’t feel shame or guilt, but I think I did feel worry and panic, I’m not sure anymore, I don’t remember.

I’m going out on a double date tomorrow with the guy I’m speaking to. I’m deathly afraid of peeing myself. Last time I went out with him and my friends it felt like I was going to (the feelings/sensations weren’t there all the time, only when I wasn’t distracted) and recently the feeling that I might pee myself is worse than ever before. It’s like with my anxiety nausea (I also have a fear of being sick in public) but instead of just nausea, it’s the sensation of possibly peeing myself too. The sensation of it is scary even if I went to the bathroom 10 minutes before. I keep getting images in my mind of me accidentally peeing myself and the guy I’m speaking to leaving me because he thinks I’m a weirdo😭 Does anyone else experience this? Or have any tips on how to manage it?😭

18+ so, i just had this memory pop back into my head after suppressing it and now I’m obsessing over it and cant suppress it, it feels so weird that i dont think i can even tell my therapist. so a few years ago, i was high, and laying in bed and my dog was laying in front of my face back to me and i kissed his back like mimicking making out, and dont get me wrong this is not a zocd concern it was not attraction im not worried that i touched him sexually im just really weirded out by that memory like someone gauge how weird and immoral that is for me and like i was not a kid, i was an adult its freaking me out like??? tf i do not know how i manage to suppress shit like this like i didnt think it was weird when i was high and i think i remember waking up spiraling about it and then decided to shut it down bcs i had what felt like bigger ocd shit fish to fry and it just popped back up and im spiraling

I’m not diagnosed with ocd but I feel like I might because I relate to a lot of the relationship posts on here I know I love my boyfriend and I know I can trust him but I get so anxious for no reason I have his location and I can go through his phone without a problem but I get so anxious about being cheated on or him leaving me and it makes me feel like a bad person because I trust him but it feels like something else is telling me like he’s doing something but I have no reason to think that and again I have his location we work at the same place and I’m with him whenever he has off so I don’t get why I do this but it feels like obsession like I stress about upsetting him because I get anxious about upsetting him because it feels like he’s gonna leave me if I do anything to upset him and he’s never done anything to make me feel like this so I don’t get why I overthink like this

Does anyone ever feel like you know you have OCD, but at the same time you think it might actually be you connecting to a higher consciousness or vibration that is trying to control your decisions so that the outcome does not turn out bad kind of like the butterfly effect. It drives me crazy because I know I’m conscious that it’s OCD but at the same time I overthink and feel like it might be a higher power trying to warn me that I’m not doing something right, like example; if I flip the trash can lid a couple more times it’s going to pervert something bad from happening and that why I’m sensing I’m not doing it right, because if I spent a little more time there and if I would have left earlier the outcome would’ve been different. Or say I just fight through it and choose to ignore it, but then I’ll carry that negativity/worry of not feeling like I did it right and will project it out into existence because the thought won’t leave my head and in a way your seeking it out into existence since you keep thinking about it, kind of like an affirmation?

I am having an appointment with my psychiatrist this afternoon and I am obsessing about what to do with my medication. I think it’s also very ocd like obsessing. I am currently on 30mg mirtazapine. Ive been on this for years (because of insomnia, anxiety and depression) (15mg) and after we tried to switch to another (amitryptiline) because of nerve pain, I went down the road of insomnia and later on ocd again. So I am back on mirtazapine, and weaning off of the amitryptiline. This is/was a very traumatic experience. Because the switch caused a mental breakdown. Now my psychiatrist has mentioned to up the mirtazapine to 45mg. And my obsessive self has done a lot of research and a lot is saying that the higher the dose, the more you can experience anxiety. And for ocd it’s obviously not the first choice. I am obsessing all morning about it. I am too scared to go up. But I am also too scared to try another and to wean myself of off mirtazapine. I feel stuck at this point. Taking two meds is also not something I want. I could really use some words of encouragement right now I think. 🥹

what do i do? do i tell him? their marriage has been loveless for years and she hates him, it makes us miserable, and i just found messages of her and a past relationship that shes been talking to since march (but im betting its been since before that) do i tell him? it would cause a lot of chaos, my mom wouldn’t trust me anymore, im not sure what to do help please

I was first diagnosed with OCD at the age 19, the same time I first entered treatment for substance abuse. At that time, practitioners were focused on treating my SUD; it would be another 14 years until my parents and I, with the help of Dr. Whelan (UCLA, PANS/PANDAS Specialist), discovered that my OCD is (at least in part) the result of Pediatric Autoimmune Neuropsychiatric Disorder Associated with Streptococcal Infection (PANDAS), a condition that went untreated since the onset of OCD-like tics that I had developed after repeated strep infections ages 6-8. Throughout my 20s, I struggled with constant feelings of inadequacy and shame, and would often turn to substances to manage the anxiety and hopelessness that lay in the wake of unmet expectations of perfection. My symptoms would fluctuate greatly as I got older, but about 3 years ago, my OCD took a dramatic turn for the worse. I was living with my boyfriend (now good friend), who helped me the best he could as he watched me decline mentally and deteriorate physically. I would spend 8 hours rearranging a bookshelf, or begin wiping off the bathroom counter, only to realize 4 hours later that I was still cleaning and had moved to the kitchen. There is a palpable sensation in my body when recalling the moments during compulsions where I was so unconscionably angry, exasperated and physically exhausted and starving, but I couldn’t stop. “I’m almost done!” I would cry out to my boyfriend, who knew that meant anywhere from 30 more minutes of cleaning to 4 hours, moving room to room as I discovered more “dirt.” My ocd had become completely debilitating. I couldn’t cook due to fear of contamination, I struggled to sleep, I NEVER arrived on time to anything, and I was at constant ends with myself. Finally, about 4 months ago, my therapist, boyfriend, parents and I made the decision that I should move home. I had been seeing a complex disease specialist who discovered reactivated CMV, requiring me to be on aggressive antivirals, and exposure to toxic mold, necessitating a long detox protocol. Within 3 days of finally agreeing to start the antivirals, I went from physically ill to waking up and suddenly realizing I was habing a clear thought. My mom noticed that I hadn’t hesitated or gotten side tracked, and arrived promptly - within minutes - following my typical “I’ll be right there” (aka in 2 hours) response. I hadn’t even noticed it, but ever since that day, I have been noticing small improvements; even my tolerance or threshold for discomfort has increased. A week ago I told my parents it was the first time since high school that I was able to execute a task from beginning to end, without distraction and with a relatively clear mind. I say this because I want others to know that no matter how hard things get, don’t ever give up hope. There is a light at the end of the tunnel, but in the words of Winston Churchill, “if you’re going through hell, keep going.” I believe having OCD has also made me incredibly resilient. I feel a sense of responsibility to share my story in hopes that it might help someone suffering from OCD, or a family member struggling to understand a loved one with OCD. NOCD is a great resource for those with OCD, as well as family members and loved ones struggling to accommodate or understand. My parents are currently going through SPACE, a program for family members to help them better understand how to navigate and gradually reduced accommodations that may have been a point of contention. I have seen huge growth and my parents in it has been beneficial in helping us set goals and objectives, as well as having an open conversation about what I’m going through and what they are going through. Thank you to NOCD for all of the education and support you provide the community for free!

i feel the need to say sorry because i’m posting yet again. i’m having a REALLY DIFFICULT episode of ocd that i haven’t had for a few months now. i experience contamination ocd everyday and have constant anxiety attacks, however because that’s so normal to me and doesn’t affect anyone but myself, it doesn’t affect me in the same way harm ocd does. i haven’t had to deal with really bad harm ocd thoughts for a good bit now so i’m struggling so bad right now. if anyone has seen my previous posts (which i’m sure you have), this came about over a small change that happened a couple weeks ago. it’s now blossoming into a full episode. it’s making me feel paralyzed and not want to do anything, but i know in the past i had to force myself to distract myself by actually doing things. i’m supposed to hang out with my friend tomorrow, but i’m so close to cancelling because i feel like i can’t do it. my physical symptoms are also worse than what i feel like i’m used to and it’s terrifying me into thinking i’m gonna get sick. i just don’t know how to get through it. it feels like impending doom and constant panic. i just want to feel like myself again and happy

I’ve been feeling a little bit better these past few days but today it’s been very stressful for me having a lot of hard thoughts and unable to release tension mentally giving me a headache and feelings of panic. Having a hard time connecting with reality. Any ideas or suggestions on how to grab myself and release tension?

TW: SEWERSLIDE WARNING I’m scared to continue living because I don’t want the worst to happen. The worst being me discovering I’m a sociopath, pedophile, ephebophile etc… I have people I don’t want to disappoint. I keep looking for an excuse/something wrong with me so that I can decide whether I want to continue living or just end my life and save myself from the embarrassment of my loved ones finding out. At the same time I’m afraid to die. I feel like I’m not making a lot of progress in therapy. The only thing keeping me going right now is the thought that maybe one day I will find out that I’m not a creep, a sociopath &/or an ephebophile. At the same time living everyday is hard with all this looming over me. Some days I feel like I can continue no &’s ifs or buts. Other days I feel like im my own cheerleader & i am actually this bad person i think i am. I am so confused. Yesterday this thing came up where i suddenly find myself thinking a 17 yr old actor is attractive mind you im 21 yrs old.. idk if this is arousal nonconcordance or what it is honestly..I’m just afraid that it says something about who I am.. maybe that’s why I like guys my age with smaller bodies because it reminds me of a younger person??? Idk