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oh and this is really important! can someone explain to me how what accepting uncertainty for rocd is?? like it sounds like you don't really love them and i get sad :(( when i do :((

I'm having a annoying time with one of my obsessions as it deals with race. I'm thinking that a certain race is bad because of the history associated with them. It's just intrusive thoughts mostly.

So I’m new to this ocd stuff and I feel so alone and like a bad crazy person. I live in constant fear that I’m gonna end up doing something bad when I don’t want to. How do I stop this vicious cycle, my head aches from all the stress and I’m so tired physically and mentally. I just don’t wanna do anything bad I would hate to do that. Pls help me out idk what to do my life is sucking rn and I just want it to get better. I’m nervous around my family and knifes and I can’t enjoy my time with them and it’s pissing me off. Only time these thoughts are gone is when I’m sleeping. Pls pls help me :(

I'm afraid to order a video game console because when I get it, I worry that I'll need to smear soap across it's screen in order to do therapy properly. And because I feel like I'll need to do that, I'll start to wonder if I actually have smeared soap across the screen. Basically I fear that if I buy a video game console, I'll need to smear soap across it. If I don't, I won't be doing ERP therapy properly. I'm in a lot of distress, not over a video game console, but just what I'm supposed to do therapy wise if I were to order one. I know it sounds like first world problems and it really is, but it's not just a video game console, it's everything. If something bothers me, I automatically feel like I need to expose myself to it until it no longer bothers me anymore.

Am I the only one who feels everything in life is just so dumb? Like I just don’t feel the way I used to feel about things anymore and just don’t give a shit about nothing anymore. I mean I just want therapy to see what I like and what gives me meaning in life cuz I’m pretty sure the therapist I saw today thinks I have some intent to end my life and hurt others but I’m like and?.. is that a bad thing? It’s not like I care about anything anymore. Everything I do is just pointless don’t see how me thinking about ending my life is any different than how I feel about life. I mean it’s not like any therapist I’ve met care enough to show me what I actually care about anymore or what gives me meaning in my life. I try to meet with therapists to show me what I care about but they end up not responding to my emails or return one email and not get in contact with me so it makes me just not give a shit if nobody else does.

Does anyone have any comorbidity including bipolar disorder or depression? How can you differentiate the depression caused by OCD from potentially another issue entirely?

I made a huge mistake in the past. Going into it I didn't know at the time how bad the mistake was until a long time later. I so badly wish I could go back and fix it and change it. I hate myself and I feel like I deserve to die. I talked to my parents about it and they told me that I need to just let it go and stop beating myself up and that I've punished myself enough but I can't seem to shake it off and move on. I'm a Christian so I do believe Jesus died on the cross for our sins but why do I feel so bad. I feel so guilty. I would NEVER make the same mistake again knowing what I know now. Do I deserve a second chance? Is it possible that OCD can make it worse than it actually is? I need help 😭

ASAP I need to talk to someone

Hello, I have recently been having intrusive sexual thoughts over children. It all started when I looked at my 9 year old sister and I felt like I looked at her in a creepy way because I glanced at her butt. Then the intrusive thoughts came and I couldn’t stop wondering why I did that. Was I a pedophile? Was I attracted to kids? And after trying to figure out why I did that, the awful images came. Anytime I see a kid now I get awful sexual images in my mind. I know it’s OCD because I have every symptom for it. But it’s worse now that I’m obsessing over a real life event that happened with my little sister. We would try and pinch each other’s butts and say, “I squished your toosh!” I’m terrified because maybe I should be worried about this. What if I was in appropriately touching a child? Is this just my OCD talking? I’m so scared. I feel like it’s nothing to worry about because I never had any sexual intent. And while I did start it, I never forced or coerced her into it. I love her so so much and I could never ever harm her. But I’m worried that I did. I feel so disgusted and scared writing this. I’m just curious if others have had a similar situation and if so how they’ve combated it.

I don’t know what to do anymore, I’m failing school because all I have on my mind is ocd and ocd thoughts. I’ll I think is “what If I’m a murderer” “what If I hurt someone” “no no no I don’t wanna do those things I really don’t”. I feel like it’s getting worse I can’t focus on school anymore and I’m gonna fail this quarter. I wake up and I just wanna sleep because I keep having these thoughts, I’ve been getting nightmares too and I just feel so hopeless and I’m always so anxious about being a bad person. Please help me out here

Wow the human mind is a trip. My ocd never ceases to amaze me! It always finds new ways to get under my skin and trick me. I was doing so well. And then the worst thing ever happened.😔 My ocd is centered around “molesting” my daughter. It creeps in during every diaper change, every time I’m playing with her, bathing her, being affectionate with her. Any interaction with her really. Through nocd erp and medication I have been doing so much better and able to lean into all of these activities with open arms and accept the uncertainties and just focus on loving my baby. Friday night I was bathing my daughter after I had a glass or two of wine. My parents were right next to me as I was doing it, just on the couch over next to the kitchen where I was washing her in her bath in the sink. I had finished washing her everywhere except her butt and privates, which I usually avoid altogether or do very quickly. My nocd therapist tells me to make sure I’m not moving quickly through these washes. To do them very thoroughly and slowly and deliberately and to not mentally review anything. Despite his advice it’s still very hard for me sometimes to resist the compulsion of avoidance or moving very quickly. That night I felt avoidant and scared to wash her butt at first, but then the liquid courage came in because of the few glasses of wine I had. I thought okay, here goes, go all in, don’t be shy, wash her! And as I was doing it, I had the thought of “use this as an opportunity to get all of your sinister desires out of your system, think about all of the times you had a groinal and had the ‘urge’ to touch her there, this is your chance” ...and I continued to wash her. It was only 3 swipes of my hand total to her butt area. After that, I couldn’t muster up the courage to wash her vagina 😔 I avoided it all together. But I feel so guilty for continuing to wash her there. I feel like that disgusting thought motivated me to continue the action. I feel like i ran with the thought and almost agreed with it. I feel like it was the motivator and the intention behind my touching her there. Because I was kind of tipsy it is all a blur to me now. And not to mention Ive replayed it close to a million times in my mind. The whole interaction lasted for less than 2 seconds and like I said, my parents were there and it was no different than any other bath, just my stupid fucking BRAIN misfired. I hate how it does this. When I take two steps forward it’s like 10 steps back. I feel now like my worst fear has come true and like I have touched my daughter inappropriately for my own sexual gratification. It treads on such a thin line when the thoughts are mixed with an action. Because then it’s not “just a thought” anymore. I’m in so much distress. Not looking for reassurance. Just wanted to share and potentially commiserate with someone who might be able to relate or who has gone through something similar. Any words of wisdom and kindness would be greatly appreciated.

My partner had a panic about stuff today and i questioned myself saying can I deal with this forever 😞 the thing is I was happy last night spending time with him.. I am starting to believe I am not in love with him anymore that i am just forcing myself.. I don’t even feel forced that’s the thing... I know I love him a lot but i am scared it is truly me... 😞

hey guys, not really ocd related but i need some advice :/ so since my ocd started this summer i kinda stopped talking to ppl and making plans. and during the summer it was ok because i was away so it made sense. but since i jane back in september, i still haven’t really talked to people and made plans. especially with my best friend. i’m not mad at her or anything, but it’s a mix of being introverted, anxious, and she recently came out as bi, so being around her triggers me when she talks about it. about a month ago she confronted me abt it and said she was upset that i wasn’t making an effort to be her friend anymore, and so then i hung out w her that day. but i haven’t rly talked to her since. it’s been a month since i saw her last, and more since i last texted her. i feel so bad about it. i want to talk to her again. and her birthday is at the end of the month so i want to be able to talk to her then. ig i’m not sure how to go about reconnecting since it’s been so long. if y’all have any tips that would be greatly appreciated.

It be cool if we say where we are from caus wwe all from everywhere globaly on this app and thats awesowme. Yeah annonymous fine jut country wise say hey reppin new york etc why cause we sick we aint supoorse to have fun

Please god. I don’t want to be gay. I don’t want to be bisexual. These thoughts are making me think and feel like I enjoy them when I don’t. I don’t want this man. I DONT WANT THIS. Please god help me.

trying to resist the urge to confess on quora

I’m still doing ERP, and when the thoughts come in I try to ignore it. But now it’s feels like the thoughts are natural and the HOCD is trying to make me like it. No anxiety too. Fuck me.

I feel like I have so much wisdom to share after these past 3 years of struggle and transformation, but I don’t have anyone to share this with. I promised myself after I recover from ocd, I would help people in their healing, but now I’ve decided I want to do that now instead of waiting since that time may not be any time soon. Anyone want my snap. Don’t have many friends who understand. Maybe we can help each other.

May Jesus give you rest. Call on his name and lay down for a moment and practice a deep breathing meditation. Breathe in for 4 seconds and let out. Tense all your muscles and then release them. Say as you feel exactly with no filter and ask Him for grace to ride the wave of distress you are currently feeling. He knows you all too well and knows what you need if you just ask and ask for patience to endure and be sustained. Know that you need to be practical as well to aid your health and cannot rely on prayer to become compulsion, say the prayers and let it be, see it as a practice in faith and uncertainty to sustain you in the long term. Uncertainty is uncomfortable but it is needed to let the anxiety lose its hold on the mind. Perhaps try to call a loved one and even better visit them and greet them with love and then ask to speak about your struggles. This allows rapport to be built and not a dependence on the person and joy for future visits! Take a walk or jog and you’ll be amazed at the endorphins released as you listen to a credible science based proven self help podcast or calm playlist. The lump in your bottom throat or the acid reflux, the tight chest feeling, sweaty palms, stomach distress, the pounding heart, panicked running of your feet are all physiological and can make you feel uneasy but it will pass if you just ground yourself for a moment and let it “float”. Your amygdala (brain part responsible for fear and danger) is the main culprit causing a false alarm for danger that you’re experiencing. It’s great how aware our minds can be but let’s not let it become too sensitive to stimulation. By “float” imagine the thoughts (the obsessions) in your head racing by very fast like arrows. You get so caught up trying to avoid the arrows (compulsions to alleviate stress) that you end up losing sight that you were never in danger. The arrows must fly by and be gone for if you pay attention to much to your thoughts and engage compulsions to alleviate your stress the more the fear will hit the bullseye. Be still and know you are safe and all will pass. OCD is a loop that needs to be disrupted and redirected imagine it like a toy stuck walking into a wall and the focus needs to be then redirected to a new direction, new behavior and new beliefs. By constantly giving the OCD what it wants it only gets hungrier and hungrier like bully. OCD is incredibly diverse as you know, so imagine the stress you feel or the “impending doom” to be like an ocean wave coming at you and you’ve yet to get on your surfboard. The wave crashes and tosses you about but you are not drowned but perplexed more so. But eventually the wave passes and the sun warms your skin and gives you peace as you float on the surface. I wrote this post as a form of encouragement and personal experience with OCD for many years now (approx 17 years) that I have struggled seemingly alone but never truly alone. Christ will give you hope to be sustained and I believe He has told me to share his message with others and the world. Emotions are good but they cannot be the basis for your life decisions and well being because emotions change very quickly to be unproductive and misinterpreted. May God bless you and keep you all in His love. I know I will be praying for you all for I know what it’s like. 😊 You will be strong and prosperous. Look up the verse on the Bible Jeremiah 29:11 ( hint: your creator loves you more than you can fathom and accepts you in all your circumstances and condition) he will be with you forever. God love you all

Is anyone struggling with Halloween at all if you have Harm OCD? Would watching horror films be a form of ERP to help face this fear head-on? The past 20 years, I couldn’t watch these films, but since the past 2 months of dealing with some OCD on steroids harm ocd out of nowhere, I want to face it head-on but smart at the same time.