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I feel like every person I see who has recovered from OCD doesn't have my theme. I feel like I woke up in a nightmare I can't escape and it'll never end. Do people actually get better from this?

I don't know if this is exactly a compulsion, but for a few months I had this mindset of "I have to be anxious so that nothing bad will happen." It was mostly when I went out in any way. Sometimes it was for other people too. For example if my mom went to the store/to get food without me. This was mostly during the time when I had been staying inside constantly for a little over a month. Idk if it was an exact cause but I had seen someone who FOLLOWED me last year, hence why I was staying inside. I guess I just want to know if this is common? I know that the whole "if I do this, then this won't happen" thing is common in ocd, but idk how common it is to somewhat force yourself to be anxious.

How do I know if I’m being convicted by the Lord or if it’s just my compulsions and intrusive thoughts

does anyone know if ocd and chronic stomach issues have a strong correlation? 😭 I havent been diagnosed with any stomach issues but I have also never checked. Plus ive had ocd and like persistent and painful stomach aches since i was like 5 and still do get them. I think i may have ibs.

Whenever I get my in the morning i feel so scared and fearful I cannot even tell. I am suffering from religious and blasphemous thoughts and these things just come in my mind fear of hell and abusive words are killing me inside all such thoughts just come in my mind and now even on tongue but in silent words I am dying but I have no money for the therapy my family just think that try to remain busy you will be okay but I am unable to focus now i cannot tell them as they have notime to listen to me as how they can listen same stuff all the timen these things and my anxiety making things more worse. I need someone to talk who have same issue i am uncle to attend religious gathering see posts on social media and funerals all are the triggers this morning I just miss a religious gathering due to this and my family is not happy due to it I feel cutoff in everything. I am weeping. I am doing this I am sure even now it become worse if someone say bad to me or even no to anything abusive words just came out against them I am unable to control.

I’ve always been straight my whole life and I’ve never considered being different nor have i ever had attraction to women but lately I’ve been going through a lot of different thoughts that definitely feel unlike me. When I was a kid and I don’t remember how old I was but im sure like 7 or 8 and my cousin that was I very close to had me do inappropriate things to her that I didn’t really know anything about at that time. After that happened to me I knew it was wrong and I felt so bad and disgusting and scared but at the time I didn’t really know anything and I remember when my mom would drop me over my grandmas house while she would work, I’d take my grandma’s phone and I looked up kissing videos and I saw the kissing scene from Jennifer’s body and looking back on it I just feel so much shame and confusion bc it certainly feels embarrassing. My cousin always liked girls but I never did. I loved sitting and watching Disney movies preferably princess and the frog and wanting to be a princess getting married to a prince just like in all the movies. I knew who I was from a very young age and that never changed about me. When I learned what porn was at an older age, I started becoming hyper sexual so I watched tutorials videos of women to learn how to pleasure myself. When I was a kid and to now I’ve never looked at women in that way. I’ve had best friends and sleepovers it’s never been anything sexual, romantic, or intimate. Just simply innocent friendships and hangouts. When I got to high school that’s when i started remembering what happened to me and i remember how the girls would talk about their first kisses and i remembered my sa and how I felt so scared to say anything to anyone bc I didn’t want people to think badly of me simply bc my first kiss was like that so I would simply just not say anything. Lately I’ve been having obsessive thoughts out of nowhere wondering if my sexuality has changed or if im bi or is it just my thoughts? I’ve always had ocd and even in school, the kids would pick at me because I always eat my food in order and by the lightest color. But lately it’s gotten worse. It’s like I’ve never had thoughts like this nor have I ever been like this. Not even when I was a child. And humans question themselves of course but this feels like something different. I’ve gotten distant from my best friend who’s also a girl and I’ve just cut off social media and female friend relationships at all because for some reason my brain tells me that it’s “gay” to even hug your friends or hold their hands anymore like you used to do when you were kids. I even got to a point where I would watch women porn and try to masturbate just to see if I was attracted to it or not like that’s how bad the thoughts got. It felt like an evil voice was in my head trying to convince me and sweet talk me to do and enjoy those disgusting things even when my body didn’t want to. I eventually had confided in my bf about it because he was also a victim of sa and so he helped me through it and I stopped doing it but then and my bf (now ex) broke up a couple days ago and now ive been dealing with this alone which feels like the hardest part for me. So I’ve texted my bff a lot to catch up because I’ve been distant dealing with this and I was just checking my phone awaiting for her responses to my texts because she tends to type slow and usually I never think anything of it because I used to check my phone all the time when I would await my boyfriends reply or simply just a text from him and so now im having thoughts like “why am I awaiting her texts” “do I like my friend?” Its just so many obsessive thoughts and so much overthinking that I am getting tired of because It’s been going on for months so I know this is a lot but please if anyone can please help me I beg, it would be such a great help appreciated bc this has became a really big impact on my life and not in a good way lol. Thank you !!

Hello last year I had gone thru a very rough time In my life where I needed to be put on Zoloft 50mg around march 2024. I was diagnosed with anxiety, depression and OCD. Ive been suffering from OCD since I was like 11 and depression since I was 19, but I never sought help until last year Im 27 because I knew I needed it to help me get thru life. I was on 3 months on Zoloft and I went to a trip to Miami which honestly helped me so much, I honestly attribute that trip to Miami in healing me more than the Zoloft it self. I met my current girlfriend there. After coming back I felt like a new person. I still kept taking the Zoloft 50mg until late April (2025) this year when I decided to tapper down to 25mg by my self without a doc recommendation, I didn’t feel anything during the month of may this year until like may 30th when I woke up in a panic and I felt like I was back at square 1 before I started Zoloft. Mind you ive been thru some life changes, I recently graduated RN school and my gf moved in with me. Ever since the end of may I’ve been very anxious, my OCD is on high gear and my depression too. I went back up to 50mg I’m seeing a new doc, my questions is has anyone gone thru a similar situation? If so what helped you and how long did it take you to stabilize ?

*tmi warning* I'm so worried im a P. Ive been crying daily unable to do anything else but ruminate over my real events. When i was 14 (before ocd) i was watching adult content and it was censored. The woman had similar features like hair and skin color as my niece. I remember noticing that and saying "huh i guess I'll imagine that as the adult version of my niece" and I did and after i was finished i moved on and didnt think anything was wrong. I dont know if i ever thought about that again? Its so blurry ocd keeps saying i did it again in a different time but i dont remember its too blurry and its scaring me so badly! I didnt even remember this till like literally last week and i wanted to die! Im 20 for context. When I remembered i immediately broke down in tears. I vaguely rmemeber this other thought i had of her when self pleasuring when I was 16??? I think it was a testing thought out of distress? But im not sure at all! It was extremely vague image and unrealistic i dont think I liked it but maybe i did?! Im so distressed its like i remmeber 2 versions of this particular event which is why I think its ocd false memories from there. Ive been ruminating and spiraling for almost a week. I keep crying i havent ate well at all in days ive been honestly dehydrating myself and i cannot sleep. I feel like a monster. I did the mistake of researching last night and kept comparing myself to the "criteria" of those sickos and like I felt so distressed. I also have been asking ai for hours on end everyday. I feel so distressed im literally crying rn as i write this i cant calm down i feel like this sick individual even tho I dont even like thinking of that at all i dont think I meant ill intent when i was a teen but its killing me inside. I would NEVER harm anyone nor want to or plan to, deep down i know I would never act out in those evil ways but like whats killing me is what if im attracted?! Is this a sign?! Am i one of those people?! Am i attracted to my niece bc of those 2 maybe even 3(??)thoughts years ago?! Did i mean ill intent?! Am I an actual danger?! Am I a monster??? I have so many urges to confess to my mom im so scared what this all means or could mean. I feel so alone and scared. Like legit whenever i get intrusive thoughts about gross stuff i feel disgusted and anxious and push it away. Those thoughts do not bring me pleasure whatsoever but this real event is making me doubt my own identity 😔

I'm new. I've written one post and read several. I have a question about seeking or giving reassurance. I had the instinct to respond sympathetically to a post expressing distress that sounds similar to mine. However, I stopped myself because the guidelines say to not give reassurance, as well as not to seek it. I don't understand this because it's so natural to go be reassurance. Maybe I don't understand what is meant by reassurance. If we're a community we should support each other by showing sympathy and affirming that another is not alone in having their specific struggles. Is that reassurance, as this a way of saying, "It's ok. You're ok."?

Terrifying thing happened 17f I work at the restaurant and my boss said that I need to clean the bathroom I heard some childlike voice nearby and I couldn't open the bathroom door easily so I got scared that a child is in here But my boss insisted that it's not occupied so i had to open it my boss was looking at me and I was supposed to clean so I opened it I was scared but I still did it It wasn't occupied BUT why did I open it?? What if there was a child there??? And there is already a chanse that I'm a P, how could I do that if I know there was a chanse I'm a P I just didn't know what to do my boss was looking at me I had to do what he said but now I'm a monster

I posted here before but I picked up a kitten like a week ago on the road. The kitten is completely fine health wise and I can’t stop thinking I have rabies. What’s happening right now is I’ll take a drink and since I looked up that ppl with rabies have a hard time drinking I convinced myself I’m having a hard time swallowing and then that makes me panic then when I also read it makes ppl hydrophobic I’m turning that panic of thinking I have rabies into thinking I’m scared of water which furthers my obsession that I have rabies. I told my mom about all this and she told me I definitely do not have rabies just like she told me yesterday and it’s not helping and it won’t help. I’m thinking of doing the rabies shot that you get before you show symptoms in case i haven’t actually showed symptoms yet. I’m so scared I don’t want to die. I keep drinking water to prove to myself that I can swallow it. And the fact that you cant have a definite answer if u have it until you die is rlly rlly rlly freaking me out.

The thoughts are real? I have so ocd I really think I’m gay.

Please how can an intrusive thought be distinguished from our own thoughts ?

I saw a Tik tok video randomly of a woman petting her cat at the base of its tail and it making a funny noise. I read the comments and random ppl were saying she was turning her cat on…which is not true. Anyway, one day I saw my sweet cat and decided to sit on the floor and just pet her and love on her. As I was petting her, the intrusive thought of that video came in and I still petted her near the base of her tail literally for like 2 seconds and now my ocd has been questioning intentions and I’m having the hardest time of my life. 😭😭😭 I just need someone to relate to. 😭 Any advice?

I’ve had off and on fears and thoughts of being a narcissist but at this point it doesn’t feel like a fear anymore it feels true and it feels like it all makes sense the more I learn about narcissism. I’ve even put the label on myself and have been monitoring all my social interacts and motivations. I don’t know if telling myself I’m a narcissist causes me to act more narcissistic either. I have some specific examples and factors to talk about that might be too long to post, so if I can talk about them to anyone on here I’d appreciate it 😭🙏

Got a message yesterday that my therapist is taking leave for a few weeks and I don’t have therapy again til the 29th. During this time my wife is going on a trip for work for 5 days and I’m gonna be alone with my son. I’m really worried about having a panic attack in front of my son. Normally my wife is my safe person and helps me so much.

I think I have mild OCD. Maybe that's why I can't relate to many of the difficulties experienced by other posters. My OCD is more on the compulsion side performing certain rituals at key transitions or points during the day. I honestly cannot figure out what the underlying obsession is other than some kind of weird mental hoarding to acknowledge and cherish a moment but also to protect my family and even my pets. I get little or no anxiety (I used to when I was younger). Even mild OCD absolutely sucks and is debilitating to an extent.

Something I don’t really understand and it grinds my gears 🤣. I am a 110% certain on something that will never happen in my life time but my ocd won’t accept it? Like my heart feels yeah that’s never happening ever I a million years…. But my ocd is like nope I’m against your values and morals! It’s draining 😴

Can I get some tips on how to not seek reassurance I have HOCD and had it for three years now unfortunatly. I’ll have times where it’s not as bad then I’ll get a spike again and I rlly need to put an end to this but I can’t seem to stop seeking reassurance I’ll go thru phases where I’ll stop seeking for a while but then I’ll always come back. Tips would be appreciated

For context, im going to college for 6 years (less than 2 years away to graduate college) to focus on fixing my GPA, volunteering, and MCAT studying... as well as graduating... My parents keep guilt tripping me and asking me questions like "did you know how much we've spent to keep you in college?" And telling me the amount they've spent on my college education... my mom keeps saying that "shes not trying to make me feel guilty, but it's a fact you have to accept..." I know they've spent a lot of money to help me... my mom claims she spent over 70k on me... and I know they're suffering... but them constantly telling me the same thing and saying things like I should drop out to focus on making money to save is honestly degrading my mental health... My mom is the only one who knows the full extent of how extremely horrible my extremely awful and terrible POCD real events when i was either 13 or 14 were... so it feels like im indebted to her for helping me throughout... but her constantly asking me these kinds of questions and then saying "im not trying to make you feel guilty" is counterintuitive... UPDATE: when I called my mom just now... crying about how much I l0athe myself every time she guilt trips me, she kept bringing up her own pain, and that I didnt keep my promises... to the point where I genuinely asked her if I delete myself, will she be happy... she at first compared me to other kids who graduated in four years, then asked if I thought I had suffered more than she has... and if i did, that I should "stop talking to her"... I genuinely cant take this anymore... I cant take this from her anymore... I cant take life anymore... she makes me feel like I shouldn't be here... I genuinely dont want to be here...