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I have lived with OCD forever but I haven’t had a major flare up since I was like 8 years old… I feel like I will never be normal again. I’m a mom to two kids we just bought a house and I have my dream job and I just got a new car and I can’t SNAP out of it… I keep obsessing that I’m going to be stuck feeling like this forever. It originally started with “what if” I harm my kids because I snap and not it’s basically turned into I’ll never be or feel normal again and this is it. I will never be able to care for my kids alone again, and this is the new me. Can anyone relate? I want to take SSRI but I’m so scared I took it for 2 days and I had immense depression where I wanted to like run away from myself… Please help, I’m also spinning on the fact I need to go to an in patient facility to be normal and I feel so guilty since I have 2 kids, any insight would be greatly appreciated!

I really need help understanding what I’m going through. For a long time now, I’ve been struggling with thoughts and feelings about women that confuse and scare me. Sometimes I feel this strange emotional or mental ‘pull’ toward certain women — it’s not exactly sexual, and not clearly romantic either, but it feels like something, and it triggers deep anxiety. When I see a beautiful woman or a WLW (woman-loving-woman) couple, I feel something that I can’t explain — sometimes I think it’s just admiration or aesthetic appreciation, but OCD keeps telling me: “You felt something, so you must be gay,” or “You’re hiding something.” I get stuck in endless loops, trying to analyze these moments and label them. Even when I feel physical or emotional reactions, they don’t feel natural or aligned with who I am. They feel like a reaction to the idea of women, not real attraction. I try to be honest with myself — I even told a friend I might be bisexual at some point, just to test if that felt more comfortable. But it didn’t. It made things worse, and I felt like I lost touch with who I am. I don’t want to lie to myself or live in denial, but I’m exhausted. It feels like I’m being mentally forced to feel something that isn’t mine. I’m 14, and I understand that things might still be developing, but I can’t help feeling like I’ve always been drawn to men, and never naturally wanted women that way. Still, I keep doubting everything. Is this real attraction or OCD feeding false feelings and thoughts? Can OCD create emotional or mental sensations that feel like desire? I’m so scared that I’ll lose myself, or find out something I never wanted. I just want peace and to feel like myself again.

Not long ago when I was 14 almost 15, I felt attracted to this 12 year old. I even m@struvated to her… people said a 15 feeling attraction to a 12 is predatorial. Now I’m wondering if she was younger than that. Please help me. I don’t wanna be a p@do.

Have u told ur partners about ur intrusive thoughts? I know you dont have to..but I am curious..And if you dont do you feel guilty ? And like you hide from them? If u do, how do you deal with that?

hi guys i added to list. i’m freaking out i just need some help. signs of comphet (comphet is when lesbians who don’t know it and just follow norms and believe there straight) ive felt: “I never felt anything when kissing boys and totally thought that was normal… I talk to men, go on dates, but I think it’s to keep my life ‘interesting’ and have something to talk about with friends.” • lack of deep, natural emotional connection • • talking about my boyfriend to other people made me feel “cool”, “worthy”, “interesting” and felt like a way to prove myself • being able to clearly articulate all the reasons I liked a guy crush/my boyfriend (he’s smart, funny, kind, handsome, etc) whereas with a girl crush I can’t exactly put my finger on why I like them but I’m just naturally drawn to them • never missing my exes or feeling heartbroken about them (i would feel sad from being lonely and no longer having that daily routine of having someone to talk to, but didn’t necessarily miss that specific person) • i was always very hesitant about “becoming official” with a guy i would be seeing and would make him wait before deciding to date because i “didn’t know if i really liked him or not” only being aroused by their the man’s desire for me • Thinking I was cooler than other girls because I didn't spend any time thinking about how cute boys were or being "boy-crazy". I was under the impression for a while that I must just be less shallow than other people because I didn't really take looks into account when I had a crush on a boy, I only factored in their personality. chasing the ego boost more than emotional closeness agreed with friends or mom about someone being attractive even if you didn’t feel it—another big flag being bored, ditching serious commitment, chasing the drama again it also feels like i’m acting a lot of the time to make it more romantic cause i cringe When you fantasize about men, it is mostly just enacting a kind of narrative. More focused on movement than features- the men in your fantasies might be faceless or blank-featured or their bodies might symbolize some emotion. you might not even be in the in the fantasy, but instead another faceless woman might be. You might even imagine yourself as the man. The narrative follows the sexual script, but the details are more vague and abstract and might even shift and change throughout the fantasy. i dont care about like what guys looks like. like my sister saw a video of a guy working out and was like got damn omg gotta like that. if i saw that i would prob be like damn to try and prove something to myself but i don’t really understand what i should feel it feels like i relate to so much comphet after i read it on reddit and it doesn’t even make me want to cry and die anymore. it feels like i tolerate men or have done it for attention or because i thought it was going to happen at some point cause it was what was happening around me like sister and friends. i’m scared ill never find someone i want to marry that’s a man it feels like it’s all just comphet and i don’t want to actually be with a man the more my meds work and anxiety lessens the more the fear feels real because i can’t get myself anxious about it anymore. i can about other stuff but not this. i always told myself i don’t chase i attract. maybe thats cause i never wanted a big badly enough. maybe what im missing is a girl what if that ends up feeling more real Straight people don’t need to talk themselves into what’s hot. like during the hocd break i would try and like see what was “hot” and and be like yeah that’s hot. i also i refused to masturbate to women and not think about it because i didn’t want it to prove that i still liked it but i mean idk if that was left over hocd

Does anyone else find it hard to make eye contact with people? (it makes me feel like they can somehow see through my brain, and read my thoughts, ) that’s something I struggle with especially when I have flares ! And does anyone else feel like their OCD spikes when they’re experiencing there period ☹️☹️☹️

Fuck it I'm tired of the ruminations, I'm tired of the constant mental reviews and false memories, I'm tired of the feeling of existential crisis, I'm tired of feeling fear that depression is gonna get worse, I'm tired of the intrusive thoughts, the relentless depersonalization/derealization If one day I end my life so be it. if one day I go insane so be it, if one day my relationship ends with my gf so be it. I'm tired of having these what ifs, I'm tired of shutting my mind and creating prison after prison mentally. Fuck it if my life is meant to suck then so be it I'll take it to the chin. If one day I end up broke and end it all oh well that's just what my life was meant to be. But I'm not gonna suffer over somthing that might or might not happen. I'm tired of it. I keep emphasizing my weaknesses instead of my strength I am a strong person, I was the man that put my self thru nursing school while helping my mom financaily, I was the man that kept the household together and supported my mom when she had a TIA in march, I was the the one that gave my mom money to pay for lawyers, I was the one that my mom rellies on, I am the man of the house I am him. I am a loving boyfriend that supports his girlfriend, I am the nurse that won the award of the year for the best nurse at the department I work for at my hospital. I am the man that has touched so many lives with my profession, I am the man that held the hands of countless people in their times of need, their times of struggle, their times of death and the man that gave those people guidence and support to people in their toughest moments of despair, death, confusion, grief and so on. I am the man thag comforted family members when their loved one was gone. I am the man that's been told time and time again that I've saved peoples lives. Why do I belittle my self and I deminish my accomplishments so easily yet highlights my deficits and mistakes so hard. I've become the judge, jury and executioner of my head creating prison after prison. I'm tired of it, I am bigger than this disorder, I accept it and I will get better with it. I accept that I take drugs to correct my mind , I accept that I am seeking therapy to help my self, I accept that right now I am not In the best place in my mind. But I will get better

I dont want this anymore. I can't do this every day, 24 hours a day. I even have nightmares of it. I feel bullied by my own mind. I am convinced it's a demonic spirit, or a stronghold. I am not sure. Whatever God is speaking to me I'm not getting it. I feel sick and depleted. I am afraid of loosing my teeth or something because of grinding so hard in my sleep. I gain weight even though I'm eating right and taking steps purely from stess; I never knew a person could be so stressed. My eyes are twitching, my skin is horrible, my thoughts never stop. I have intrusive thoughts of "giving my ..... to ". I'm not going to fill in the blanks because my mind won't let me. I dont understand what God wants and what He is saying to me. Does anyone else with Religious OCD experience the same thing? I bring this to Christ daily but I'm so so desperate and alone and scared. My whole body is in pain from stress, like it's clenched. I know Christ is in control, but dear God in Heaven just answer me already. Set me free. I'm turning 22 in a week. God just set me free.

My chest is aching from the stress of it all. I haven’t felt this bad in years. Please any words of advice would be most helpful. The fact that I’m going to die one day and I have no idea what’s going to happen next, possibly nothingness, and I lose out on all my memories of everyone I ever loved, everything I ever did, is messing me up. I’m 27, and idk how I never felt this way before. I never had these fears before. I never even thought about death like this before let alone it scaring me. Now it’s just stuck in my mind 24/7. The other thing about death is I have to do it alone! :( I love my mum and brother more than anything, I have to leave them one day. I can’t believe it. And they have to leave me?

This post is to someone who just deleted their account, whose username was dallia, in case they find this post. Dallia, if you see this, I'm sorry things have been rough... You can respond to this post and we can still talk! I hope you didn't feel like you were bothering me at all, I promise you weren't -- I enjoyed talking, and I want to talk again! I know God loves you, no matter what the thoughts tell you, and I'm sorry about the struggles you've been going through. I'm praying for you, and I want the best for you. I hope to talk again, @dallia 💗

I have an ocd over food. I can not feel full if i don't have the last grains of rice and I should count. Before, I got a real bad stomach ache and nausea so I should eat on track. But one of my weirdness appears as time goes on that thing I mentioned and how I have to wait until certain time to swallow and digest the food. It's as if I keep myself for not reccuring anymore. It's so strange, if I don't follow it I would get sleepy and can not concentrate. It's like time really matters to me. And my head becomes weird if I don't listen to it. I wanna fight it but I think I can't. There are times even when I got staggered and wanna fall. Anyone here fighting over food ocd and signals in your head?

I’m starting to freak out. I feel like I lack empathy and I was looking it up and I feel like it’s true. It says “Poor listening skills: This can involve interrupting, changing the subject frequently, or not acknowledging what the other person is saying” I do this, it’s so hard for me to focus and listen to people consistently talk, I’m always just in my head thinking about my own stuff. It also says “ Monopolizing conversations: A lack of empathy can lead to a focus on one's own thoughts and feelings, making it difficult to listen to and engage with others' experiences” and “Self-centeredness: People who lack empathy may prioritize their own needs and desires above others” I’ve been so not okay lately dealing with ROCD and it got so bad that I started to really not feel anything like numb. And then he broke up with me and it’s been worse and worse, the one person who knew me the most in the world for 10 years is gone. and now idk how to explain it all, I just feel like something is wrong with me, I had harm ocd years ago and it’s been popping up lately and honestly Im wondering if I’m just a psycho and this is just who I am. And I’m getting so much anxiety that this is how I’m going to think and feel for the rest of my life. Like I’ll never find someone that will know me cause why would you ever share this kind of stuff with someone. I’m so scared there’s something wrong with me. I grew up with an awful relationship with my mom, always screaming and always fighting, I work in the medical field and I absolutely hate it and the patients annoy me and are rude and, I got a dog to make me happy but all he does is stress me out and I feel like a horrible dog mom, I have nothing in my life that is making my happy, my ex was the last thing I had to hold on too. I’ve never felt this low before. I feel like there’s nothing to live for anymore and I would rather not be here than feel or think the way I have been. I don’t want to be a sociopath or a psychopath but this feels like it’s never going to go away. I can’t even remember the last time I felt okay or “normal” like I’ve always been like this or something. I’m seriously so scared. Can someone talk with me about this? Idk what to do

Okay. This might be a little long. Basically I’m just wondering if this is really ROCD or if I officially lost feelings for my current boyfriend. BACKGROUND ABOUT ME: I assume this might help whoever reads this, and that may explain my situation. Long story short I have bad anxiety and OCD about intrusive thoughts. I figured out about my anxiety from a therapist after it started to get really bad when I was in middle school. However I figured out about my OCD this year. Before middle school I started to get anxiety from my dad. My parents divorced and he was an emotional abuser and very narcissistic. So since I was little I was always careful on what I did and said. And then another topic is that I had an ex bf who acted close to him. He was very insecure so he was controlling over me and was narcissistic and also emotionally abusive towards me. Always played the victim, etc. So he kind of traumatized me because we fought daily and just the way he treated me. My current bf is a green flag to me. We don’t fight, he is kind, understanding, funny. He checks all my boxes. Me and him were friends for about a year before we considered being together. 2 MONTHS AGO: this is when it started. It was a Sunday and me and him were going to an event at my school. It was for seniors because we were graduating the Sunday coming up. And we hung out the past 2 days and from what I remember things were like they were. Me and him were about to hit 8months the up coming Monday and I did understand that’s the time where the “honeymoon” phase becomes more.. I’ll say realistic? Anyway, we were close to leaving and something in my gut was off. Idk what it was. Idk if I was nervous for the event or something. But I just had a weird feeling. Again I have bad anxiety and OCD so I was scared about all the kids that were there. I don’t know. Anyway we left and when got to about 3 minutes away from our location my bf turns to me in the car and tells me how lucky he is to have me and how much he loves me. Then the thought “idk if I love you the same anymore” came in my head. And my gut feeling worsened. It was unnoticeable before but after he said that and I thought what I thought it got so much worse. Like it was sickening for me. I I love you back immediately but that thought.. I didn’t let it go. I couldn’t enjoy the night at all. I tried to act like everything was fine but inside I was suffering. Later that night he took me home. And I couldn’t get rid of that thought in my head. We FaceTimed a bit later like we did almost every night but I couldn’t be on the phone. Every time I looked at him I felt guilty and that thought kept coming back that I lost my love for him. So about 5-10 mins later I told him I was tired, said our goodnights and hung up. I cried. I didn’t like what I was feeling and I didn’t know what it meant. It was hard to fall asleep but once I did I remember waking up in the middle of the night to the thought about my bf. I got up to splash water in my face to cool me off because I was sweating. I got ready for school and I was crying I was confused, worried, I didn’t even know. I cried to my mom later and she didn’t know what to say or do. I cried all day at school and my gut feeling was horrible. I’ve never had it as bad as I did the first few days after this started. PRESENT(2months later): I already typed a lot so I don’t want to make entire book. But now, it’s like the gut feeling is there but tolerable. I still get the thoughts and the gut feeling does worsen a bit when my bf texts me and I see his face in photos and such. Or even think about him. My main concern is that we are supposed to go on a trip together next month and before this happened I was so excited to go with him. And now it’s like “what if I’m not better” “I don’t love him anymore to go with him.” Idk what to do. It’s like a chore for everything, when I text him, hanging out, calling him. Everything. Idk why to do. Idk if it’s because I was reck for the event or because of graduation and needed a reason for my nervousness? Idk. He didn’t do anything, he hasn’t done a single thing but be there for me. As much as I’ve been there for him. I don’t want to lose him. There is more to this story so if you want to ask go for it. I know this is hella long so. But I just want the help. Please let me know!!

I’m overanlazing alot of things. My first post on my profile covers everything but I’m so worried and like nervous reck of what my ex boyfriend could be doing. We are on no contact for almost 3 weeks now which is the longest we’ve ever gone. I’m getting so much into my head like if he already moved on, or if he’s talking with some girl already, or letting a girl hit on him. Or even going back to bad habits. It’s been driving me nuts for the past few days. I’m still mad at him for hurting me mentally but miss him too. I keep thinking there’s something wrong with me, wrong with the way I’m thinking, like I’m not normal for thinking these things. That he’d find me weird I wonder those things and that I check on his profile on instagram, just staring at it, blocking and un blocking him. I worry that maybe he doesn’t think of me anymore. And he just. Doesn’t care. I feel like an older version of him would say I’m being too much, that I’m overthinking to so many extents that even tho we are broken up, he’s single and so am I and I shouldn’t care this much about it. But I do. And I’m sure it’s because I’m still in love with him. Even if I’m mad and upset still.

So I do my best to abstain from checking my heart rate but sometimes I think about it and I can feel it beating in my chest. It’s not abnormal or anything but I notice it and it’s all I can think about. It’s usually the trigger or start to my anxiety spiral. How can I mitigate that? If I’m busy doing something I don’t notice it unless the thought comes along and says “hmm ur moving very quickly I bet ur heart rate is fast” I have zero symptoms of anything wrong. It’s a mental obsession followed by an urge to check it and if I don’t I feel anxious but if I do I’m still a little anxious especially if it’s faster than I think it should be. This is some sorta trap that I can’t seem to break

does anyone else constantly suffer from intrusive thoughts? it makes my head ache & i can barely think straight.

When I was 18, my psychiatrist told me that there were two main groups of people out there, psychologically speaking, when it comes to self-harm. The first group, no matter what happened, no matter how bad things got, would never self-harm. It’s not something that would come into their mind as a way to cope. The second group, for whatever reason, finds causing themselves pain, watching themselves bleed, seeing themselves burn, and what have you to be an effective coping technique, maladaptive as it may be. There’s no real reason why, it’s just how they are wired. Unfortunately, I had shown myself to be in the second group. I have been secretly causing myself pain since I was 8 years old. For some reason, at 18, what made me feel alive, what made me feel real, was watching myself bleed. Obviously, this isn’t the best quality to have, but my psychiatrist said that the fact that I know this about myself as a teenager means that I can use it to help me. He could help me by starting me on medications that will help with my triggers to self-harm and I could tailor my therapy to these tendencies. When I first came to NOCD, the first therapist I worked with said that she wasn’t sure if she could treat me because I didn’t have harm OCD. I actually self-harmed. Connecting with a NOCD therapist who understood that my self-harm may only be tangentially related to my OCD and more directly related to my bipolar 1 was really helpful. I’m 27 years old now and I didn’t stop wanting to self-harm at 18 and I didn’t stop self-harming completely at 18. I had relapses and, to this day, I experience physical pain in my urges to harm again, but I haven’t self-harmed in over 2 1/2 years. I’d say I’m getting somewhere. Next up? Dermotillomania! Struggling for just as long, haven’t quite overcome it yet. Habit replacement therapy hasn’t really worked so I designed my own method of habit disruption. There’s nothing I can’t overcome with the right tools.

hi yall im new here but not new to ocd. for as long as i remember ive had tendencies and ive had compulsions. when i was like 6 i remember counting my steps and that started this life long thing. i get looks in public because ive been touching each side of my face for the past 10 minutes because it “didn’t feel right”. about every one in my life knows i have severe ocd and that’s fine but my grandmother told my mom behind my back one night that i was ‘manipulating’ her and that my ocd could be fake. this is because i can’t take the trash out of the track can because i can’t risk getting sick from old food, i cant use cleaning products on my hands to clean them. i have no probably taking the trash out it’s just removing it from the bin. i can’t do the dishes because its not clean and ill have an anxiety attack because its just simply too overwhelming for my ocd. those aren’t the only things but the list is just too long to write out. but we don’t live with my grandmother anymore. when we did my ocd wasn’t as progressed as it is now and i was able to hide most of my compulsions and “rituals” (what i call them) in private, therefore she doesn’t see how much it can affect my every move. this happened a while ago but i keep thinking about it and i get in my head. when im really struggling it’s hard to not convince myself that i’ve been lying to myself and so many others for 18 years. all my compulsions and intrusive thoughts and the goddamn hallucinations i’ve had from ocd are in fact real but how can my own grandmother call me manipulative like i don’t get it truthfully. i cannot imagine a situation in which someone would go through the trouble of washing their hands 4 times, of blinking 16 times before shutting their phone off. rewriting a whole text to their boyfriend because i misspelt a word and so now the whole text is wrong or any other of these things i and SO MANY people who have ocd or ocd tendencies would go through the trouble because it is SO paralyzing. clearly i’m not going to explain myself to her because i don’t have that energy esspecially if she is going to ‘mhm’ me and then go again behind my back and tell my mom (who fully understands and has tendencies herself and knows i don’t make this stuff up) that im a manipulator.

Anyone else wish that people understood what OCD does to us and why its so hard for us to breathe or act or think like them? Its rough.

Hello! I’m new here. Unfortunately I’m not able to afford a therapist but I’ve been doing a lot of research and I think a lot of my symptoms/thoughts align with OCD. I want to share some of what I experience and see if anyone else experiences the same and what resources helped you. I think I mostly experience contamination OCD. I’m constantly worried that something I do/touch is going to make me really sick and/or die. Especially with food, I’m constantly worried that I’ll accidentally have something on my hands when I eat, then I’ll touch the food and get that on the food, eat it and get sick. So I’ll wash my hands every time my hands touch any little tiny thing again and again before I eat, same with any forks/spoons, or I’ll even think I touched cleaner a few hours ago and I’ve washed my hands several times since then and I just washed them again but they still feel dirty so even if impractical I’ll use a fork and if my hands touch the part of the fork that touches the food then I can’t eat the food any longer or use that fork. Also at work I have these thoughts that I know are ridiculous but also give me very real anxiety. Like “if I don’t finish this order before that machine beeps its a sign I’m going to die” and then I have to rush to make sure I finish fast and then I’ll be like ok that’s so stressful I’m not going to think like that any more it’s ridiculous but then the thoughts keep coming back so I have to keep rushing. This is just a little tad bit of what I experience and I would love to hear from others as I haven’t met anyone else like me before. Thank you!