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ERP homework: wash hands no more than 20 seconds. ... I just washed my hands multiple times. Washed the soap bottle. Cleaned the toilet. Drowned it in disinfectant. Touched my clothes the wrong way. Wanted to change them. Can’t get them off without them touching my whole body and this contaminating my whole body. Decided that meant I needed to shower. And then—I thought of all the “Face your fears” advice and “Sit with the discomfort!” preaching I’ve done on here. SO I am sitting here, unwashed, unchanged, contaminating my chair, for *you guys.* lol. And for me. I appreciate NOCD and the community on here. Thanks for what you do. ❤️

PLEASE not reassurance but just advice I am scared.. I realized one if my biggest issues is feeling stuck, and purposely feeling this way like as if im some stubborn punk who wont do erp and wont get better then leaving myself in a panic mode of stuckness for life. How do I do ERP or CBT for this, I bounce from harm which isnt as bad because I know I wont do it, to then this obessesion which I cant seem to get around, I know uncertainty is the answer but anytime I try to look into cbt / erp i get thoughts to stop and to not do it etc, I just tried doing research and immediately started to freak out because I cant tell what my persona is and if I will be able to recover.. just due to my own self keeping me stuck.. please help.. I am freaking out because I will never be able to escape my own mind and I am making this way worse for myself

All the Christians on this app, drop your instagrams (if you want). I really need other Christians to talk to who also struggle with religious ocd and doubt ?

i need help, if ANYONE can give me guidance PLEADE. I NEED IT. im a minor, i cannot tell my parents about these intrusive thoughts im having, so i cant get a therapist, nor can u get a diagnosis. im scared i am a pedophile. i experienced a groinal feeling a couple days ago when i saw a picture of a little kid. I DID NOT REALIZE IT WAS A LITTLE KID AT FIRST, and i when i did i freaked out. i even unfollowed the acc i saw the child on. im so scared im a pedophile. i cant live like this. what if i am but im in denial? i cant do this. ive experienced something like this before so i think i might have OCD. i was constantly online looking for answers for the thought. i was constantly confessing the thoughts to my ex (the thoughts were about him) and im just terrified. AND THEN, MY BRAIN KEEPS ON SAYING “well if you are a pedo, its okay no one knows” BUT I DONT WANT TO BE LIKE THIS. I DONT WANNA THINK ALL THIS. i wanna be normal. i wanna be a care free teenager. This whole POCD thing started about a week ago, but the last two days ive been calmer and THATS been worrying me. im not worrying as much and it gives me so much anxiety. i keep on repeating to myself, “im not a pedophile, im not a pedophile”. what do i do? ive also been avoiding children and anything sexual because i dont want to look at then inappropriatly and feel anything. i dont want to see anything sexual because i dont want to think of any kids. it worries me when im not worrying. ALSO, i keep on getting groinal responses AT EVERYTHING. is that my anxiety?? ill even feel a tingle all day if im focused on it? does it have anything to do with actual attraction??? im just so scared. PLEASE GIVE ME GUIDANCE

Does anyone feel like they are getting better like I genuinely feel a little bit less anxious than other days but deep down I feel super uncomfortable with the thoughts but I’m not reacting to them as much and then it’s so hard to not believe them at times because the possibility of them being true is still there and you’re like yeah that could be possible but you know what’s true because before this you didn’t think twice about your sexuality and you just want the thoughts to go away so you can feel yourself again but then you’re like but what if they go away and then I turn into what I fear like I don’t want to “turn gay” because I don’t feel comfortable being with the same sex since it feels wrong for me personally not that there’s anything wrong with being gay and you were never homophobic before and you still don’t feel like you are but basically I’ve just always felt attraction to the opposite sex since forever but your thoughts go “okay but you could’ve been faking it the whole time” and yeah that could be a possibility but then you remember when you used to fantasize about the opposite sex either when you were younger or recently and those feelings felt more real than this because now when I look at the same sex all i feel is anxious and uncomfortable and no attraction just really uncomfortable because my thoughts are saying “what if you are attracted to her” with less reaction from me lately and then you’re like that’s ridiculous I can’t just “turn gay” because normally when they go away your true self would remain right logically speaking the reason why I’m doubting myself is because of these thoughts right so then you’re frustrated that they are still there but you aren’t reacting as much to them so that’s like a good sign right but then you’re sad that you still have the thoughts because before this they weren’t even a problem to begin with and you’re sad because since the thoughts are still there it confuses you and you don’t really know if you still feel attraction to the opposite sex anymore because even thought the anxiety is way less than before you still feel anxious and worried and then you get frustrated again bc if you were to encounter a thought like this in the past like “am I gay” you would answer no or dismiss it and then it would fade away and you would go back to doing whatever you were doing because this was never even a question to begin with it was meaningless because it was like asking yourself something so basic about yourself like if you had brown hair “what if I don’t have brown hair?” That’s seemingly a dumb question at least for me it would be and this wasn’t even a big deal for me personally before because I was never “boy crazy” like I never felt the NEED to have a boyfriend and that is a common thing my brain likes to use as fuel for my doubts but I’ve had several crushes and fantasized in the past about men and male celebs but now you feel like you’re stuck even when you’re doing things it feels like you’re being held back and in the end you just feel sad because you really don’t feel yourself and I don’t know if this is just me sorry for the rant needed to get this off my chest lol

Morning y’all! My main themes are perfectionism, relationship and pure OCD. I’m seeing a new therapist who is GREAT and has finally recognised my problems as more OCD-like rather than generalised anxiety. She is helping me work through my OCD with Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I’d like to try and introduce some ERP using this app but I’m struggling to think of some exposures. I’d say my main issues are: • thoughts of what if I chose the wrong partner, what if I’m not actually attracted to him, what if I don’t love him • an overwhelming feeling of things ‘not being right’ eg sitting in the ‘wrong chair’ makes me feel uncomfortable/unsettled, and feeling calm and rested when things feel ‘just right’ • perfectionism to a ridiculous degree • worrying about being a ‘bad person’, upsetting and offending people, the idea of making mistakes makes me feel SUPER guilty and distressed • thinking that if I’d made the ‘right choices’ my I would be happy all of the time, and never question why I sometimes feel down & anxious I feel like the mental compulsions are the hardest to stop...half the time I don’t even realise I’m doing them (mentally reviewing etc). Hope this sort of makes sense! Hope you’re all doing ok ??

So, this is really unorthodox, I know, and I am in no way advocating for this AT ALL, this is what I’m doing while I can’t afford therapy (thanks US for not guaranteeing healthcare as a human right) since I know how my own mind works, but I just wrote out in great detail why, exactly, my existential intrusive thoughts are inherently paradoxical, and cannot, therefore, be taken as fact. I realize this really goes against the whole “don’t give intro he thoughts” idea but... the whole point was to write it out, one huge fleshed out logical argument (a “last hoorah” if you will). The point of this is to realize and materialize this logic but NOT allow myself to read it after checking for grammar/seeing the finished product, NOT allowing myself to reassurance-seek by reading it. I realized that for me, and it’s always been this way, that after writing something down, or discussing it with someone, it feels more solid, and it’s easier for me to stop ruminating afterwards, and that’s the goal- to stop ruminating. Anyway, really, I know myself and I think this will work for ME, but for everyone else PLEASE DONT DO THIS WITHOUT CONSULTING A THERAPIST. I AM NOT ADVOCATING FOR THIS. I KNOW ITS NOT A GREAT IDEA BUT I FIGURED I GIVE IT A SHOT. Just felt like I needed to share, if not only to come back and track my progress later on.

i need help, if ANYONE can give me guidance PLEADE. I NEED IT. im a minor, i cannot tell my parents about these intrusive thoughts im having, so i cant get a therapist, nor can u get a diagnosis. im scared i am a pedophile. i experienced a groinal feeling a couple days ago when i saw a picture of a little kid. I DID NOT REALIZE IT WAS A LITTLE KID AT FIRST, and i when i did i freaked out. i even unfollowed the acc i saw the child on. im so scared im a pedophile. i cant live like this. what if i am but im in denial? i cant do this. ive experienced something like this before so i think i might have OCD. i was constantly online looking for answers for the thought. i was constantly confessing the thoughts to my ex (the thoughts were about him) and im just terrified. AND THEN, MY BRAIN KEEPS ON SAYING “well if you are a pedo, its okay no one knows” BUT I DONT WANT TO BE LIKE THIS. I DONT WANNA THINK ALL THIS. i wanna be normal. i wanna be a care free teenager. This whole POCD thing started about a week ago, but the last two days ive been calmer and THATS been worrying me. im not worrying as much and it gives me so much anxiety. i keep on repeating to myself, “im not a pedophile, im not a pedophile”. what do i do? ive also been avoiding children and anything sexual because i dont want to look at then inappropriatly and feel anything. i dont want to see anything sexual because i dont want to think of any kids. it worries me when im not worrying. ALSO, i keep on getting groinal responses AT EVERYTHING. is that my anxiety?? ill even feel a tingle all day if im focused on it? does it have anything to do with actual attraction??? im just so scared. PLEASE GIVE ME GUIDANCE. anyone with OCD, does it sound like OCD? im just worried because im not panicking anymore. my brain is trying to tell me i am, but i cant be. i dont want to be a pedophile. im too young. ANY GUIDANCE IS APPRECIATED.

I can't relate to any of the other symptoms that I had initially anymore. I dont know who I am

Hi, I've realised that I can only survive a day without reassurance. After that, the shame, guilt and disgust for every thought, sensation and urge I've had and for every bad thing I've done come back to haunt and cause me more pain. I'm not saying that I don't deserve this pain, but I just don't know how to leave And deal with it. I'm nothing without reassurance. Nothing. Without it I'm drowning in my own sadness, emptiness and loneliness deeper and deeper. I was doing slightly better yesterday but now I'm back to feeling like the worst human being ever. I want to cry but apparently I can't even do that. Yep. It feels great.

Hey, this is my first time posting and to be honest my first time really openly talking about my ocd so I’m just going to talk into the void and see if it helps. I’m having a really hard time right now and I’ve seen that for a lot of people here that NOCD has a good community of people. There’s a lot overall to unpack but right now the thing I’m really struggling with is contamination (particularly focused around death and what objects might have come into contact with people who have died, basically.. my wife’s grandmother just passed and I’m having a really awful time. My mother passed a few years ago, which caused me to get really sick and this is the first death I’ve dealt with since and with everything coming into the house that belonged to her (she died in her house.) I keep feeling worse and worse. (This plus covid has been.. awesome.) Multiple showers, hand washing, changing clothes.. I feel really frustrated with myself and completely ashamed because I’m obviously not being a good enough partner. My wife has been there.. she’s trying, she’ll shower or wash her hands if I ask but not without getting furious with me first, she acts as if I’m lying if I say she touched something that really bothers me. She takes it very personally and tells me that I don’t trust her enough (if I’m Anxious and need something repeated.) tonight I got called crazy and honestly I just feel like an ass of a person.

I have a question about jump cables to the car. I have OCD fear about battery acid and I think that maybe there is some acid on the cables. I know this is an obsession, but I dont know where to draw the line. My husband and I have discussions about this. I want to put the cables in a bag or some kind of cover. Do you mind give me some of reality check? My therapist has told me to do like ordinary people do. Do you have the cables loose in the car together with other stuff?

Sometimes this app feels slightly unwelcoming towards lgbt. Not in the sense where I don’t feel like I can say anything, but in the sense where I feel like people forget we exist on here. I understand that people struggle with religious ocd, but sometimes i feel like people forget that LGBT people struggle with ocd too, and it does not help when you see a bunch of people talking about going to hell for being gay on this app. Again, I understand having religious OCD and these fears and I’m not trying to censor anyone, but it just makes me feel like there’s no place for me sometimes on here, and it’s really hurtful to see these type of things.

I need some help here. I have HOCD and my brain has been telling me since the start that I am attracted to a new friend of mine( I am a female and she is a female). I know I don’t like her that way, but I just noticed her because she is sexy and very girly and also she attract a lot of man. This weekend I am going to the beach with her and some friends and I am going to sleep in the same bed with her, as we can’t afford to pay a single room. The thing is she is very confident, and let’s say self centered and she keeps joking about the fact that I am lucky that I am sleeping with her and everyone would wish for that. The thing is it triggers me a lot and I don’t know how to react and how I’m going to go through with this... She keeps saying like I’m so hot and everyone would want me,and I feel a lot of distress when she says that, sometimes I think I get jealous because she thinks she is such good looking,other times my HOCD tells me that I fancy her. I am soo scared, but I wanna beat my HOCD. Any tips?

Ever since OCD started I cannot daydream about girls without being intruded by guys and I feel like I oblige them a space in my orientation. I've allowed for that hoping it would go away, but it has stayed and now I can't almost imagine myself with a girl at all. It's like I'm going from lesbian to bisexual to straight right now. I do not know what to do except sit with it. It feels the same as I was in denial.

I just read a bible verse (Leviticus 20:13) and now i’m really scared that I am gay and that my doctors were wrong about the ocd (hocd included) diagnosis. One of my driving fears about being gay is that I won’t go to heaven. I really don’t want to be gay and I try hard but have trouble accepting and moving on from the thought.

Dear old life despite the fact that HOCD attacked me during the ending of June and now I just wanna say I miss my old life even though my ex girlfriend/fiancée left me even though I lost my grandfather a month before that and losing my best friend my cousin just three months ago despite the trauma I prefer to stick with the trauma instead of HOCD But life is hard that’s what it is life’s not supposed to be easy life it’s supposed to bring us challenges and obstacles that we must overcome in order to be stronger and be better than what we were before I’m not quitting on the flight with HOCD I don’t know how to give up but I’ll tell you one thing I’m fucking going to fight for my normality Even though that’s not a word but I’m creating it if my thoughts create some thing then I’m going to create something of my own that I want to create and I just created a word fucking Magic. That was real that was me not HOCD I’m gonna fucking kick your ass you wait and see because I’m a beast no need to tease just watch me accomplish this with ease, these thoughts are are just false you can try the assault but you will be lost so go ahead and try to throw me a toss you will see that I’m a boss. I won’t hesitate, Bring it on see if I care now, I know I’m going to decimate, you wait and see because I’m a beast my motivation has increased watch me accomplish this with ease I’m not a tease i’m a beast you you wait and see I am the key no need to plea

Anyone else been stuck, unemployed, at home for a long period of time? How does it make you feel? I'm currently studying from home and my last job was 2 years ago. I left school 4ish years ago. I just feel like shit. I have a small service based business I've been trying to get going, but its difficult and covid ruined most of my bookings this year. It's horrible feeling useless when it feels the whole world is moving, and everyone is graduating, getting married or idk reaching some other milestone and I'm just lost in an abyss of dark confusion.

I’ve been having a really rough two weeks. I’ve been great for months and all of a sudden it hit hard out of nowhere. I’m anxious, sad, and my intrusive thoughts have been at an all time high. I feel like I’m trying to do things to combat the thoughts and nothing is working for me. I’m feeling scared and trapped. Each time I hear something bad on the news or see something triggering I feel worse and the thoughts come flooding back strong. Any suggestions?

Hey everyone I’ve been doing a lot of erp work for sexual orientation HOCD and would be interested in getting in touch with people who are doing the same. Today I ramped up my exposures and had a pretty tough time. Just want to see if there are some people who’d wanna talk ab our experiences in a daily basis. Let me know !