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I used to have this app a long time ago, but deleted it for some reason I couldn't remember. Just tonight, after changing my phone case, I had a breakdown. I remember rubbing my eye while I was scrolling on Facebook, and now my brain believes that the dirt—which came from my eye—are now underneath the case. It may only be a shallow thing for most, but how it itches my brain to give into my compulsion of cleaning it again. It's difficult to explain to people why I would cry over a piece of dirt. Not everyone could or would try enough to understand what OCD really is, unless they're going through it themselves. I drink medications, but I sometimes think it's not doing its magic tricks anymore. I'm just incredibly sad that my symptoms are appearing once again, and I thought I'd share this to all of you who truly understands. If you've read all the way here, thank you. I wish I could hug you all. 🫂🧡

I've never shared anything on here before but I read a lot and I will say I am thankful for this community. I have had OCD my whole life. When I was a child I remember having thoughts in my head that made me uncomfortable, although I couldn't remember what they all were. I would neutralize them with a word. I would have nightly confessions to my mom. I do remember a very specific intrusive thought about God that made me panic and I remember exactly where I was. I would wash my hands until they bled to "prevent" something bad from happening. I developed sexual Instrusive thoughts of my brother being romantically interested in me and it scared me so much, I always fought with him for the imagined fear that played in my mind. I have a bit of harm OCD and my biggest nemesis is POCD. I am in ERP therapy but my mind WILL not let me do what I need to work on because I'm living in constant fear or what if this isn't just OCD. I cut out my compulsive prayer after a thought, but my big one is mental checking. I have to gauge the perfect reaction to a thought to figure out I don't feel any way about it. My mind puts myself or children in situations to check how I feel and it's constant. I can't even call that intrusive anymore, it's an automatic compulsion. One "compulsion" I find interesting and wanted some insights on is when I see an adult on tv talking, I imagine them as a child. Not even sexually. Just how they might have acted as a child that led them to their characters personality. I also have trained my mind to think sexual relationships with adults are "dangerous" because they used to be kids. My mind will not stop ruminating, will not stop trying to show me proof of my obsession. I have dreamed of finding life since I was 9, I identify as a straight female, always interested in adult men. I've struggled with this theme since my early 20s and it started out so little, with just random words and images that I dismissed away with my compulsions but now it has spread and over taken my mind with excessive doubt.

With my OCD I don't know what type of OCD I have but I have really bad intrusive thoughts I ruminate on a lot of things I think of and I am very obsessive especially whenever I am very interested in something or whenever I feel like I did something wrong. When I talk to someone and I think what I said was bad I'll have to try to explain myself to tell them why I'm so sorry for what I said, when I drive the windows have to be halfway down and if it's not halfway down I will consistently keep on checking until they're halfway down and the Radio has to be at a even number, everything has to be in a straight line or neat, but it's only specific things. Whenever I think I'm not doing something at my best potential I'll just keep on asking myself am I doing my best job am I doing the best that I can or am I doing something wrong? When I was younger I used to always say in my head that I love God but then on the other side my brain would tell me that I hate God and I would exhaust my self by saying no I love God and fall asleep. Lol I ruminate and obsessed over these thoughts to the point where it goes to the most extreme and it makes everything spiral. I don't know what this is and I got diagnosed with OCD last month and I'm scared now because this whole time I used to always think I was crazy

There is one Athlete who is a month younger than me and he looks extremely young. Earlier this year I used to like him and his personality a lot but ever since I developed pocd, I keep getting scared over it. Add to that I just searched up on Twitter if finding him attractive is pedophilia or not and there was a tweet which was telling about 19 year old girls lusting over him when he was 15 years ago. I looked at his 15 year old pic thoroughly as a compulsion and he looked young in that but also beautiful/cute like any other teenage boy with pretty genes. I freaked out over thinking that he was beautiful and felt afraid that 'Was it sexual?' Then for a moment I tried to see in replies if anyone says that it is normal for a 19 year old to think a fifteen year old boy is beautiful and not pedophilia. Then I realized that why I was trying to justify a wrong for myself and I'm just so disturbed bcz why was I trying to justify it?

We who live with OCD are really good at one thing. We can ruminate for hours. We can even make up false memories and believe them to be true. But above all, we are good at attaching meaning to our thoughts. Where the average mind naturally shifts forward to the next thing, our minds crave certainty, and that craving drives us to assign significance to nearly every thought that passes through. Whether it is trying to make peace with a thought through rumination or trying to deny it outright through suppression, these are all what we would call compulsions. But beneath that label, they are really just reactions to the meaning we have attached. It is like a smoke alarm that goes off in the kitchen every time you make toast. The alarm is not broken. It is just hypersensitive. It reacts as if there is a fire when in reality there is no danger at all. OCD is like having that alarm wired directly into your mind. Thoughts that are harmless or uncertain set off the siren, and our compulsions are the frantic rush to put out a fire that does not exist. From birth, and more intensely for those with OCD, our minds were trained to attach meaning to every thought, feeling, and sensation. OCD, at its core, is compulsive meaning attachment: the inability to stop assigning significance to thoughts that are uncertain, unknowable, or meaningless. What I have been discovering in my own journey is this: yes, it is important to stop engaging with compulsions. But there is a deeper step too, which is learning to stop attaching meaning in the first place. Letting the thought be just a thought. Letting the toast cook without grabbing the fire extinguisher. I am not here to hand you a 10-step miracle cure. If there was one, we would all take it in a heartbeat. But I am here to share what has been working for me, and how by loosening the grip on meaning itself, I have found a surprising amount of peace.

I’m just realizing I have OCD. I have been diagnosed with adhd, autism and CPTSD but OCD never occurred to me until recently. My OCD manifests internally (pure O) then I seek reassurance for whatever topic I’m fixating on so of course I chalked it up to anxiety but it’s so much more than that. And I’ve been like this for as long as I can remember. Now it’s really messing with my life. Lately, it’s been ROCD that’s been ruining me. I had a couple deep wounds created by my husband a few years ago and I’m constantly fixating on if he’s lying, really loves me, and or he wants to leave me. I’m constantly asking for reassurance and I think he’s getting tired of it. He’s an otherwise great partner but the OCD has really kicked in after I found out he was hiding a porn addiction, he hid it twice and it really ruined my self esteem and trust in him. Now I get triggered by every pretty girl I see, every social media post about relationships, I fixate on how unattractive he might find me or what’s wrong with me. I’m also aging in my thirties so I obsess over if he is getting less attracted as I age . I feel pathetic. Of course he always tells me I’m beautiful and he loves me but I’m always suspicious that he’s not being honest. I’ve always had OCD but this is the worst I’ve been with my relationship. I’m melting down and doubting us often and especially at night. It’s been a few years now and I feel like it’s gotten so hard. When I was younger it was health OCD, then it was existential, and I definitely fixate on if I’m “good” morally too. I’ll confess and overshare to people all my mistakes. And on top of the ROCD, I have pure OCD and get the worst images and intrusive thoughts at work/ random places and it’s horrible because I work with vulnerable people. My biggest nightmare and fear is pedophilia or assault, and I care deeply about my kids and vulnerable people so it’s like my mind hates me and these horrible images and thoughts fly at me l. I would never ever harm my kids or vulnerable people so this is especially disturbing and mortifying. I learned that OCD is ego dystonic and that’s helped but the images still make me feel awful. I also have been the scapegoat and black sheep in my narcissistic abusive family so I will my OCD will fixate on if I AM the narcissist! It’s exhausting. It got worse after I encountered my abuser in my family earlier this year and he brought up a lot of trauma. He is actually a narcissist but my brain will try to convince me that I am, and I will give in to the compulsion then do quizzes and tests and of course they tell me I’m not a narcissist, but then my OCD will make me think I am. I’m very empathetic and terrified of hurting people yet my brain tries to convince me I’m horrible, then the reassurance seeking and anxiety that manifests from my OCD and trauma makes me feel so self absorbed and sick of myself, convincing me I’m narcissistic for thinking of myself so much. I’m so exhausted by this. My brain tortures me. The overthinking is hard to combat. I really try hard to accept these thoughts as just thoughts but there’s always that voice creeping in that maybe the intrusive thoughts are right. Maybe I’m terrible and unlovable. I hate it.

Have you ever felt like you're trying to convince yourself rhat these thoughts are from OCD and not you because you don't believe that you're that crazy or bad? But at the same time you feel panic when you have these thoughts?

It was a really serious situation.I didn't help a kid in danger years ago.Now I just keep thinking what happened and feel like a monster.And I am scared honestly.That I am like that person who hurt them.And I am scared I will be blamed.I am scared that I don't care and just don't want to be blamed.I just keep thinking what happened and how difficult it must been for them.They told me and I didn't help.I can't imagine.I am so mad .And I am afraid I dont care and even agree( it makes me sick when I think that).I wish I can do something..anything..but it might be too late.Apologise but I don't wanna make them remember.I feel responsible

I've been struggling about OCD for a long time and I've only been made aware of it now. It's the cause of all my worrying, compulsions, and all the times I feel unpeaceful. When I first learnt about it I felt really relieved. My kind of "obsession" are intrusive thoughts that contradict my faith and values. I've spent years fighting these thoughts and doing compulsions of seeking reassurance from verses or praying and such or saying "no I don't!!" when they happen. I try to ignore them anduse cognitive defusion but sometimes it just breaks my peace. Another obsession I have is having images in my head about touching dirty things like the rust in my bathroom. A compulsions I have regarding that is imagining myself being anywhere BUT the bathroom but it doesn't stop. Now that I know, I'll try and find a way to heal, and figure it out with myself and God (because I can't rely on my parents, they're not the open-minded kind regarding mental health)

Hey, was hoping someone could resonate with what I’m thinking / feeling. Apologies as it will probably be a long one! Has anyone else had a constant rumination over “consent” me and my partner had a situation two years ago, we were went on a night out, were both pretty drunk (me more than him, but both had quite a bit to drink) had a big argument- we got home and went to bed, in the night, I was half awake, heard him saying my name, I didn’t respond so he rolled over, later on mabye like 10 mins, he said my name again- from his memory, I responded and we were “intimate” how we usually would be, and he said I seemed how I usually would, responded like I typically would and was involved and participating, I woke up the next day, could remember little bits of things, but very very minimal stuff- we talked about it and he was really gutted and listened to the fact I was worried that I couldn’t remember everything, he was so upset- (I don’t think it’s totally unusual for me not to remember intercourse, especially after a few drinks) he totally understood and tbh has dealt with my boundaries perfectly since. At the time I went through a really really bad stage of extreme anxiety and rumination over it (iv also got a bit of trauma with this topic from previous relationships) And it was taking over my life, I posted in a girls group I was in what the situation was, most of the people said that mabye it’s just a bit of boundary setting but it dosent seem like anything was intentional and he seems like a good person who cares about me (which he is) - there was one girl, who replied, and the reply was that I should go to the police, and it was r*p* and that it was taken advantage and all this really strong stuff, obviously being the way I am, my brain has absolutely clung to that comment, and two years down the line, i still cannot shake it off- I know who he is; and I know he’s respectful and is an all round good partner, but the what ifs, doubting, and that comment are still taking over my life to this day. I just don’t know what to think and how to feel anymore 😞 If you managed to read it all, I appreciate it! I know it’s not short so thank you 😊

I have been staring at other men’s faces and in a way that I would not be happy with if my boyfriend did it, at least I think. It’s compulsive staring, meaning that I get anxiety if I don’t stare, but also get anxiety because I look for too long. The main doubt I have is if my vulvodynia would be different with someone else. It’s so painful to be with someone you love and want them, but every time you try your body won’t let you. I don’t want to eat. I don’t want to go out. I used to love the gym but now it scares me. I don’t try to make friends anymore because I’m scared. In the moment when I have been staring, it has felt like a pull that I can’t control. My brain totally shuts down. When this happened next to my boyfriend… No, just no. No one is giving me answers. I don’t see my new psychologist untill more than a week, and I’m going on a trip with my boyfriend. Every time I am with him, I feel guilty. I never wanted to stare in the first place. I think I have made my peace with that my doubt in my relationship is valid, but the staring is just so unfaithful. I’m afraid of getting a job and everything. I haven’t told him the full story, since I’m not sure if it is a compulsion. I’m also scared he will be sad and leave. Please help. I can’t do this anymore

I don't know what's happening me recently, I was lukewarm and this year I've tried to get closer to God I feel distant from God and like even if I pray there's something I'm missing I read the bible everyday and pray everyday but Recently like in the Span of 3 or 4 weeks I feel off. And it keeps changing what it is like before when I would pray I kept getting loads of thoughts every time distracting me and loads of disrespectful thoughts and it was hard to pray and OCD and intrusive thoughts all the time but it was getting worse only when I prayed. And I feel like different things are going on distracting me and I keep failing the past 2 or 4 days I've been even more distant from God im tryna change that today but I feel like something is missing also that I feel God has been telling me possibly unless I'm overthinking that my heart is hardened and I don't know what to do. I don't know if I'm still lukewarm and what to do to be Born again, And I don't know if I'm giving my whole heart to God I want to but if I'm not then Idk how? And also I think my heart is hard in another way too like this distance and me failing God I feel sad but I can't even cry and my dog aswell I feel so bad for him he had had fleas for 10 months and treatment and shampoos didn't work and I think it's kind of my fault for letting him on carpets and my bed since I feel so bad for him because hd doesn't like to be alone and one of my little sisters has so many bites from fleas on her and it's my fault. I can't do anything right, and he is not eating enough because I don't have enough food for him right now and he's not even eating full meals I have no dog food left and my parent said I can't buy any right now but I've been forgetting to feed him sometimes because I've been tryna focus on getting closer to God but I'm failing everything, I don't know what to I feel bad for my dog too he's been my best friend since 2018 but I can't even cry when I feel bad. I also keep worrying if I'm lying to myself that I care or faking everything idk something says that in my head sometimes, But my mum said to me in an arguement in 2024, "Are you really that heartless?" I don't know what to think anymore I think I am. It feels like I have no control over my heart. I'm sorry I keep rambling about random stuff, the way I explained this is probably like a 3 year old sorry. I'm 15 btw

im not sure. i think i might heavily limit screen time. ive been so insanely anxious. it feels like everytime i go on social media, people are panicking or complaining and its so stressful. half the time, im not even scared of the things theyre complaining about, but them panicking is making me panic. also, a lot of paranoid theories online, echo chambers, etc. i used to watch really fun art trends, cosplays, etc, and now people are just being really mean to each other, being performative, or just complaining has anyone else considered this?

So my ocd has caused issues with dating. I'm not sure if this seeking reassurance or not? But my therapist recently told me she isn't going to be my therapist for much longer. She basically got promoted and is unable to see me anymore. It's quite sad and has made me depressed. Basically that is besides the point and right now I feel like I don't have the motivation or energy to try and approach a girl I wanted to just a few days before I had this happen. My hocd also is telling me this is cause I'm gay. Obviously my ocd is trying to basically fuck me over like always. But I'm genuinely curious if I should ignore my feelings of no energy or persuasion and ask for the girls number anyway. Even if I do feel sad or out of social energy. Obviously I'll get out of this rut. As I work my therapist now to transition to a new one. But idk what to do. Can someone give me some advice please.

is it normal to have ocd episodes and compulsions and everything for the entire day? i can't remember the last time i had an OCD-free day where my heart was not pounding. Prozac will take weeks to kick in. what do i do?

I’m about to turn 18 and I’ve graduated high school a year early and I deal with intense feelings of imposter syndrome. I have no clue where my life is headed and not really even sure what college I wanna go to. I know I want to go to college but I just don’t know what I should do. I have a good job that I’ve been at for over a year and thats great, but I look at people my age and feel like I’m not where I’m supposed to be. I’m an overachiever and someone that deals with OCD and the mix of those two is not fun. I think that when I was a child I had a lot of pressure placed onto me to do so well that I’m constantly looking for ways to improve in many aspects of my life. This leaves an unrealistic outline of where I should be and makes me feel so shitty that I can’t even see the good I’m doing. I can’t remember many positive things that people say to me about myself because I don’t think my brain believes it. I often worry if I’m not as smart as other people and overthink mistakes I make so many times a day. Excepting constructive feedback from people is extremely hard for me because I feel like I’ve failed. I feel sad about all of my past relationships with people. I feel scared nobody will ever love me.

(TRIGGER WARNING) To go more in depth with my question, can porn misconstrue or contort your grown up response and arousal, causing you to feel things to stuff you do not find pleasing? The reason I’m asking this is because something happened just now that is bothering me. I was on TikTok and I saw a video where a girl was explaining how her father SA’ed her. It was really hard for me to even get through the video and I kept pausing throughout because of how shocking it was. However, I noticed that I kept feeling groinal responses along with unwanted imaginations of what she was saying. I know, people typically kind of imagine stories in their head when someone else is telling them said stories, but I felt movement and it was bothering me because it did not match how I’ve felt about what I was hearing. Of course, I had to ignore the intrusive thoughts, but it was really hard for me to watch the whole video and I still have not watched it through. I felt like I was fighting with myself, however, when I think about it right now, I feel nothing. I know I probably should stop doing that because checking is only going to make the rumination worse, but I just wanted to see if porn could be a factor in this as I have struggled with pornography addiction as I was exposed to it around six or seven years old all the way up to now being 24.

I feel like today, I realized I’m not a good person at all. I think I am a really bad person. My pet died because of my neglect. I never thought he would pass away, but he did and I can’t believe it was because of me. How did I allow that to happen? He died because he needed flea treatment. That was my responsibility and I failed him. I know I’ve gone through so much the past 2 months. Losing my mom to cancer, being stuck in a foreign country for a month while grieving, coming home and try to pick up all the pieces in our family, struggling financially etc. My depression from losing my mom was so bad that I’ve been neglectful with my pets the past month. I’m even a mom to a little one. Of course I got up everyday , took care of him, fed him, played with him, cleaned our home. But it was hard and I feel so guilty for even feeling like my life is hard. Like everything is so hard to keep up with. I truly feel like I’m an evil person that neglects everything in my life. My cat dying because of me seriously has me viewing myself so differently now. Like what kind of person am I? What is wrong with me? I’ve been cleaning my house everyday, I have two other pets that I feed 3 times a day, I groom them, I got their flea medicine, I’m taking them to the vet next week to make sure they are ok. I took my son out to the pool yesterday, cooked him homemade meals.. got him toys.. i cook for my husband, i try to clean the house so my husband doesn’t have to do so. I still feel like I’m such a bad person. I’m a terrible person and something is wrong with me. What do I do? I don’t know if it’s because I always want to be perfect and everything has to be perfect, that when it’s not.. I feel like I’m a terrible person. What is wrong with me ?

So, I have been suffering from ZOCD for a little over 2 years, and my main fear is that I am into my favorite animal, cats. Recently, the intrusive thoughts and "testing" compulsions have gotten a lot worse. And by "testing", I mean imagining scenarios to see if that would trigger a response or not. I know that that behavior needs to stop ot I'll never break the OCD cycle, but I just feel this need to ensure that I am not attracted to bad things, so I keep doing it. It has consumed my mind, and I sometimes just test impulsively just to make completely sure, and then I end up spiralling. The anxiety has also decreased, so when the intrusive thoughts hit, it actually feels like a real arousal, even though it most likely (PLEASE) isn't. As a result of all this, I cannot look at cats the same way I used to, as this disease has effectively killed any chance of that. My eyes now automatically go to their private area even when I don't want them to and it disgusts me that my brain is like this. Actually, when I see a cat, the intrusive thoughts immediately set in. Is there ever any way for me to return to normal? I do not have access to therapy at the moment, so how can I deal with this by myself?

Can a false memory be based on a real event? Like the false memory is based on something that did happen (there is a time/place/people) but you’re not sure if the action in the memory is real? For example, I’ve been dealing with a false memory and it’s based on the time I went on a vacation with my family and the false memory has a time and place, it doesn’t change and it has a specific action and idk…it just feels like it did happen…especially since it’s based on something that DID happen…idk how to explain it :( I hope it is understandable. Anyways…I hope you guys are having a great day!