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New here...son was diagnosed OCD at age 6. Now he is 16 and has POCD and he is absolutely spiraling right now. I feel helpless because I cannot relieve his anxiety. He is convinced he is a sick person no matter how many times i tell him this is the OCD not him. He is physically sick from the worrying. NOCD therapist cannot see him until next month and i have no clue what to do. Any advice on coping mechanisms?

Struggling a little lately with what I’m 80% sure is ocd (I’m undiagnosed but working on it). Somehow I’m worrying about being a lesbian (who’s into sex lol) and ace all at once, which probably indicates that my worries aren’t very realistic. For years my bi friend has jokingly said I look like a lesbian (the first time being when we were around 12) and the most recent being a week ago. I guess it’s just thrown me for a loop because it’s made me worry I somehow inherently look lesbian? I know that’s ridiculous (literally the last time she said that another girl said I looked straight so idk) but I just got curtain bangs and I’ve started dressing in a way that’s more vintage inspired which could be interpreted as lesbian if someone wanted to go by stereotypes? As for the asexual thing, I questioned if I might be - likely as a compulsion against intrusive thoughts - right before my first big episode and confessed my thoughts to my mum instantly, which makes me think it probably wasn’t valid. Now I worry constantly that I actually am because I’m not crazily horny and haven’t really felt a desperate need to have sex with anyone even though I’ve never been in a relationship at 18 years old. I don’t begrudge either of these sexualities at all and it’s annoying me that I constantly have to think about these things. Sorry to vent but I’m on holiday at the moment and these things have been on the back of my mind. Hope you’re all having good days :)

So I need advice I constantly have ruminations of cheating on my partner. We barely have been having problems anymore yet a friend of mine (who I was never into) we recently crossed paths over his mom dying of stage four lung cancer, and I knew his mom liked me very very much, way more than my current boyfriends mom could ever. His mother always had problems with me for reasons unknown. I recently dreamt of sleeping with my friend after crying about his mom possibly dying after finding out. I’m wondering if this is me trying to escape pain of my boyfriends mom and sister not loving me that much. I was always looking for love from an older adult since my moms a druggie and my dads a recovering abusive alcoholic. I’m not looking for reassurance. I’m not even sure this is OCD. I’m kinda of just looking for help. My boyfriends a wonderful guy But he comes from a shitty family like mine, very mean spirited

Hey, I haven’t been on here in a longgg time and this isn’t necessarily OCD related but I want to tell someone how I’m feeling in the hopes that maybe someone else sort of relates and then maybe we can talk? I don’t know, I’m just a little scared at the moment and could do with some comfort I guess. Ok so the best way to describe how I’m feeling is empty. I’m not sure that I actually feel emotions much anymore. I’m not happy or sad and it’s scaring me, but obviously at the same time it isn’t because the only proper emotions I’m experiencing right now are hopelessness and emptiness. I just want to be able to feel again and I really don’t want this to be a big problem. Does anyone know if it’s even possible for me to get my emotions back? Can I back to normal, although I’m not too sure how normal feels anymore, or how feeling feels anymore. Also, I’m not even sure if that is what’s going on with me. I can barely feel things but at the same time my brains like nah it’s probably nothing, you’ve just not got any reason to feel anything right now. I feel exhausted and without motivation everyday. Thank you to anyone who’s read this, I hope nobody relates but please tell me if you do. I just want to talk.

I feel like such a horrible person. I forgot how horrible this theme makes someone feel. It was retriggered over me saying something bad about an old friend, as well as my hocd. Cause i had this one friend (we aren’t friends anymore she dropped me) where like it felt like she forced sexuality down my throat and would be like “i think your demisexual” and i was like “uhhhh i’m straight” and she was like “fine straight demisexual” and she would say things how i “just convinced myself to be that uncomfortable with the thought of kissing another girl” And I feel like a horrible person whenever I tell my three close friends about it, cause all my mind can say is “your being homophobic towards her in order to hide your sexuality” when really i never cared that she was pan, it wasn’t until she started making comments about that and i found out that she’d talk about my body / boobs with like others guys that I began having a problem And then with my other friend. I’m white and we were talking about implicit biases and she said “every time i see a blonde hair blue eyed lady i think she’s a trump supporter” (i’m blonde hair blue eyed and i told one of my friends she said this and i feel horrible now that i did) And atop that, one of my old best friends really wronged me and I had to take some time apart and focus on myself and finally allow myself to forgive, because I never fully did. And so we hung out recently and reconciled, and I told her how i felt (i had before) and she just has a hard time accepting that what she did really hurt me, and now she’s not talking to me again and saying she needs time to process and I’m back in the position of bad guy again. I can’t keep doing this. I feel like such a horrible person and i keep asking myself why i mess up and i feel absolutely horrendous.

My intrusive thoughts tell me my partner is lying to me, even though they are a very honest person and I do actually trust them. I've been doing ERP for about a week and it's helpful, BUT after doing sessions where I repeat to myself over and over again that my partner is a liar, not to be trusted, etc., it becomes very easy to start believing those thoughts. Yes, I say to myself, "She could be a liar or she may not be, there's no way to know." But having that uncertainty in my mind makes it really hard to develop trust with my partner and bond with them. I have no idea how to handle this. Does it make sense to anyone else? Open to suggestions! Thank you.

Any other queer people not feel safe on this app? I just saw a whole long post where someone proclaimed being homophobic multiple times... as something that helped them. Am I even wanted here?

Happy Friday everyone! Here’s a question I have for today! What’s one place in the world you really want to travel and see one day?!

TW: Drugs/psychedelics I’m not sure if this is the place to ask this but does anyone with OCD have any experience with psychedelics? I’m taking shrooms tomorrow (probably going to microdose) and I want to know what other people’s experiences with them are. Do they help with OCD? Make symptoms worse? Any tips?

(TW is for POCD and discussion of pedophilia) Tl;dr I did actual bad things as an older child and young teenager, idk whether I even have POCD or I'm just actually a pedophile I'm questioning if this is OCD or I'm actually a pedophile. And I know everyone with POCD thinks that but I think I'm actually the odd one out. My POCD interacts with real event, specifically stuff that I did when I was 11-14. I had a fetish at that point, or at least I think that's what it was bc idk what else to call it. It wasn't sexual to me or didn't seem that way at the time, but I think that must have been the enjoyment I was getting out of it bc there's no other explanation. And I would write stories related to this fetish about kids way younger than myself without seeing anything wrong with it, bc again I didn't see it as sexual. And look up images related to it as well (not CP). But it's a relatively common fetish, and it's pretty obvious that's what it was. I really don't see how I could write that off or pretend it's ok. I would do literally anything to change the past but of course I can't. Ever since realizing the stuff I wrote was bad I panicked and that started the anxiety and it's spiraled to the point where now I think I'm a full on p, and idk whether it's true. I don't want the intrusive thoughts, but sometimes I worry I do, and now I get groinal responses to everything, not just thoughts but real people as well. The groinal responses only started after I read a reddit post that said that's the way to determine if you're really a p. I try to avoid children, I avoid everyone because I don't feel deserving of human interaction. I have absolutely no desire to do anything to a child but I'm scared I must be repressing it bc why else did I do the things I did when I was younger? I can't move on from this it seems. Idk if I deserve to. I'm not trying to ask for reassurance I just can't do this anymore, I can't do ERP if I'm convinced I'm actually a p, because why would I want to stop being worried about something that's actually worrying? Please don't be scared to tell me if you think I'm a pedophile I want to know. I want to know what you do if you can't trust yourself enough to try to heal?

I can't stop comparing myself to others and wishing for things I don't have. I don't recall this ever being a serious problem for me. Where is this coming from? On one hand I know it's going to make me miserable, but on the other hand I feel like I'd be lying to myself by pretending or ignoring the fact that I want more. I try writing in a gratitude journal, but can't help but thinking other people have better things to write.

i barely thought about it all day. barely did any compulsions. barely felt any anxiety and barely ruminated. i thought this was ocd??? shouldn't i be more worried??? i don't feel like this is ocd anymore :(

was doing so good for weeks, i felt i had control over my emotions & i wouldn’t let the thoughts bother me. suddenly tonight they’re attacking me so much & grossing me out & i keeping getting waves of anxiety & uncomfortableness run through my body & i wanna cry & scream & just have a normal brain. this is torture, pure torture. i cant express how frustrated i am that these intrusive thoughts even cross my mind because they’re so far from who i am & they just don’t stop. i feel like my skin is crawling & i am just overheated & grossed out. i am crying & at the same time i feel numb because i don’t know what else to do. :( i thought i had such a good grip on it, i was positive & now i am just suffering again like old times. i would never think these kinds of things, i would never want to, i would never be what my ocd tells me. i just want my life back.

What does recovery for harm OCD look like?

I told my new therapist I have HOCD. I told him I am sexually attracted to men, but I had a couple gay fantasies and got aroused at them when I was a teenager. He then said I should watch/read about people being bisexual. Why would he he say that? Trying to say I might be bisexual? Is that normal for an OCD therapist to do that kind of thing?

Could this be rocd? In April of 2020 I had my first run in with rocd because I obsessed over it I was in love with my boyfriend, then it switched to does he love me, then retroactive jealousy and even real event ocd. In December I got really bad sexual orientation ocd , with the core fear behind it being that I’d have to leave my partner and that our love wasn’t real. Finally after months it’s calmed down but I’ve slowly noticed myself obsessing over our relationship again since June/July. We’ve been long distance for 10 months since he joined the military which naturally brings its own doubts and fears but I believe my ocd really amplifies that. I also worry that the “spark” isn’t there and that I’ll only feel one with women even though I really don’t want to be with a woman at all. I follow this with compulsions such as checking my feelings, listening to songs I know make me think of him, reviewing past memories, reading old messages, etc. I also obsess over whether or not I’m truly attracted to him and whether or not I’ll still feel the same when he visits again next month. It’s really been getting in the way of my relationship and making me feel less enthusiastic. I don’t want these doubts and fears, the only thing I want is to be sure of the love for my partner again. The only thing that makes me think this isn’t ocd is that there’s no anxiety, well sometimes the thoughts make me cry and they cause me distress but after months of anxiety with sexual orientation ocd they just run wild in my mind. Could it be ocd even without the anxiety ?

Adults only! I had a horrible intrusive thought last night and it’s bothering me so much. It was about doing it with two family members and I feel sick! My mom and my grandma. They mean so much to me. I would never want such a thing!

Hi everyone, I’ve been struggling lately and been reading up on all the different types of OCD and reading others posts have been comforting to me that I’m not the only one. Here’s what’s been going on lately: My boyfriend and I were together for 5 years consistently. Broke up for 2 years but we’re still on and off but remained single. We are now back together and suddenly I have been obsessing over the things I have done in those 2 years that may have been disrespectful to my boyfriend. My boyfriend forgives me for everything but I can’t stop obsessing over every detail. I am trying/forcing myself to remember every bad thing I’ve done in 2019. And once I think of something I obsess over - why would I do that? What was I thinking back then? We’re those my true feelings 2 years ago? Is that how I feel now? And when I think of something I feel the need to confess to my boyfriend. These thoughts and questions make me have tremendous guilt and feel like I don’t deserve the relationship we have currently. I’m new to all this and have an appointment with a psychologist next week. Any advice until then?

I’ve been struggling with OCD as long as I can remember and I’ve built up a very good tool belt of ways to cope, but I barely find any information or coping strategies for somatic OCD. The worst somatic OCD is when I feel like I’m suffocating. My brain hyper fixates on my breathing and no matter what I do I rarely ever feel like I got a good breath. I take so many deep breaths to the point my chest will hurt from it or I force myself to yawn because for some reason that also “helps” but it’s really just a compulsion. It lasts for up to months and months at a time and I feel like I’m going insane. I can’t focus on anything or even enjoy spending time with my friends, significant other or just enjoy any activities. I also have Health OCD so I start self diagnosing myself with health issues when the somatic OCD starts and it feels like I’m drowning in this crippling thought process lately. I’d love to hear about anyone’s similar experiences and how you found peace and how you coped if you’re willing to share.

I have a date Thursday with a guy I went to school with and it’s giving me a lot of intrusive thoughts. I don’t find him extremely attractive (although I haven’t seen him in about 4 years), but his personality was always amazing and he’s seriously funny, so thought I’d go out with him to see how things go. However because i don’t think I find him very attractive at the min (only been speaking online for a few days) im now scared this is a sign I must be gay as I see women all the time that are pretty :( Im trying hard to say whatever to the thoughts and go on this date anyway even though everything in me is saying to cancel just incase