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How can I get over the feeling of needing to confess everything? Even private thoughts & situations … nobody’s business but my own. But I feel like I’m doing something wrong and keeping big secrets. Thanks!

Hi! I have OCD and am thinking about starting a family. I have been married for a few years (through some pretty sever ROCD) and starting a family has come up more than once. Every time our “this is when we will start” time comes around I have a HUGE spike in OCD including ROCD and OCD around having sex with my husband. I have a history of sexual assault, but that’s another story. ANYWAY…I was wondering if there are any folks on here with OCD and thinking of having children, pregnant, or went through it all with OCD. Really just looking for community and any resources that might have helped you- books etc. I am in therapy and on medication so really looking for anything supplementary. Thanks for reading!

This is a big problem for me which makes me feel shame and alot of guilt, the feeling of denial is really misunderstood, sometimes i feel like they mean for certain ocd themes like harm or something when you feel like you did something bad and by ignoring you feel like youre in denial. Those times its normal that you ignore it. But i experience something different. Many times i tried to ignore ocd thought or emotions or even emotions or thoughts cause many times i couldnt decide if its ocd or normal problems, and this is why i experienced that im in denial, and this became stronger when i realized im still afraid of the content and it still comes back after time and i react the same way, they i use this fake positive reaction to it (i choose thatbits ocd, its not a real problem) which quickly makes me feel good, and then i get hit by the feeling that im avoiding im in denial. I watched a video about shame and denial, and the bad thing was i saw myself that im really in denial, that i avoid the problems, i react to the problem as its not a real problem, its ocd and i dont deal with it, its not real. But this limits me to see other problems. So realizing im actually in denial feels bad. And i dont know how to recover cause one people say do this, ignore every thought, dont listen to it, dont give any attention to it, and the other one says if you say this to every thought youre in denial. You do it as a cooping mechanism.. Just to give you an exemple, im christian so i will give that, i felt shame over doing something bad, and i was so afraid to admit it cause it comes with shame that i felt like i cant accept. I was so afraid cause shame said im a bad person, full of sin, im a shame for christianity, and because of this i didnt wanted to accept that what i did was bad and a sin cause then all of this is true. Then this made me feel like then i dont want to accept that i have flaws and im not perfect which is bad again, everyone has flaws, then i was worrying i dont want to accept that im not perfect cause i want to avoid shame, and this is where denial comes. Then what i heard that helps ocd is to ignore, i choosed to ignore it and be sarcastic with it, which made me feel more like im in denial. And after i watched the video I started spinning, cause it showed me im actually in denial to cope agains shame... so that would mean i have to accept that i did a bad thing and its okay, but that doesnt sound good to me and again i feel like im in denial, cause i should accept that what i did was bad but bc of shame i dont want to so im in denial. Im spinning so much and i dont know how to get over this denial thing. Expecially that the worries always come back and it makes me feel that i didnt worked with them as o should, i just avoided them i was in denial so thats why they come back...

Does anybody else’s intrusive thoughts come in the form of “delusional thoughts”? I’ve been in a terrible episode of hypochondria or ocd for the past 6 months where I have FULLY convinced myself I am developing schizophrenia, it started with becoming really easily overstimulated and not being able to concentrate and now it has spiraled out of control to where I am constantly getting intrusive thoughts center around demonic stuff, which i have never ever believed before, I have always been a skeptic. But now i get these thoughts all the time like “what if this song has hidden demonic meanings?” “What if your wife is a demon” “what if nobody is real and your just in hell” “what if this political figure is being controlled by the devil”, the typical kind of delusional thoughts you would expect from a schizophrenic. Keep in mind I am a literal atheist and all about facts, science and evidence, I am a skeptic. Not only does the fact that I’m even having these thoughts in the first place scare the life out of me, but I have to constantly battle with these thoughts in my head if I believe them or not. I feel like I have to constantly hold myself back from fully going off the deep end, I feel like I have to constantly disprove these thoughts and stop myself from believing them, but they feel so real and it’s scaring me so much. One part of me is like “why can’t we just stop worrying about this, this is delusional” and another part of me is like “what if I actually do need to worry about if these things are true or not, they FEEL true” and I’m just like “wtffff I shouldn’t have to worry about if things like this are true at all in the first Place!” I feel like I have fully lost my mind, and in no time I’m going to lose this little bit of insight I have. I hate these thoughts so much, I don’t want to think about them, but now that they are here, I feel like I can’t forget them. My dpdr is already making everything feel so off and weird and unreal and I feel like it’s only giving these thoughts more credibility and realness. I feel like this could also be partly a terrible form of existential ocd that’s being thrown into the mix with all these “what if thoughts”. Ugh I just want to be normal again ): but I don’t even know what normal feels like anymore because I’m constantly on the lookout for symptoms that I can’t even be normal anymore. Btw: yes I am seeing 2 therapists and a psychiatrist and all of them do not believe I am developing schizophrenia.

Is it common with OCD to have intrusive thoughts that are delusional in nature and disturbing because you realize that they’re delusional?

hi all, does anyone else feel like the ocd battle and instrusive thoughts are like a roller coaster? some days/weeks i feel like im overcoming it and some weeks im completely losing it and breaking down again. i really don't want to be on medicine because ive had bad experiences with ssris but just kinda looking to see if anyone on here had the same experiences but got on something else that really helped? im having a hard time pushing through right now.

I always come on here to read but never write. Sometimes tho, I think life reminds you to be grateful for how far you come. So I thought I’d share some things that have helped me with my journey of understanding ocd if anyone needs that glimmer of hope. - Supplemention not for everyone ofc but when I was dying on the floor last year. A supplement called Sam-e which had studies showing it can help with ocd has changed my life. It helped me separate my thoughts from myself more and made me feel sane and very stable. Highly recommend also gaba and Nac have done wonders. -Overstimulation This big them for me lately but when I’m scrolling on tiktok or constantly on electronic. I feel like it makes me very wired and super overstimulated which makes me get more worked up when thoughts and feelings arise. Anxiety is caused of overstimulation of body when too much energy is present it starts producing thought. So when I limit it and try to keep present in what in my day, I find myself stable. -Sleep This goes hand with overstimulation, your body and mind work best when it’s calm not when it’s over energized trust me. -meditation I find this very overlooked. Buddhist thought meditation has helped me in those moments where I feel myself spiraling. 10 to 15 mins can make it all go away. -present This one changed so much of my perspective. I never really understood when people would say look at what’s real around you, I even doubted that. But one day I was going thru tough theme and I remember saying I’m in a car right now with my legs crossed starting out the window driving thru my town listening to Fred again having thought about ***** and it’s making me feel ****. Something about naming as many things as you can and really grounding yourself can sometimes snap you back into reality. A good book called untethered soul really dives into understanding of presence and thought being observed but not absorbed. -Let it be I never really understood the when ppl said tell the thought if it happens it be ok. That one never worked for me. But letting it be did. I could have a really scary thought, to me it’s more like a mind wired thought it feels like. That’s where the need to fix or solve is and I just let my mind repeat the thought and do absolutely nothing. I’ll be very conscious of doing nothing back and really feeling those body feelings get anxious and worried and they learn to let themselves go. Nothing always the best. Well I don’t wanna make this post too long so I’ll stop there atm. But remember that everyone journey different, be patient and walk in strength and pride. You are loved even if you can’t see, feel or hear it. Just know.

does anyone ever struggle with intrusive thoughts and even feelings of your spouse or SO dying suddenly? it’s been a theme for me the past few weeks and i’m not sure what’s causing it. he’s perfectly healthy and fine but it’s been so intense that i’ll just sit there and cry and cry and feel such intense grief.

i think what’s keeping me from getting better is that it feels too real and i desperately feel like i need to get rid of the thoughts and prove them wrong so i don’t become them, but like, it never made me feel better. and i saw a lot of stuff on reddit with people who are miserable because they didn’t try or get treatment and it makes me want to change so i don’t become like those people on reddit. reddit in total is so triggering and negative and so many cynics and losers spend all their time there and now i think im ready to just not become that. so im gonna try. as im writing this the thoughts are bombarding me telling me that im wrong or im in denial and these thoughts are the truth and i am lying to myself. but i know ocds tricks and im ready to feel better. ima have hope.

I have had ocd since I was about 11, but just recently was diagnosed with it. My current obsession is that I could be a narcissist. I do have some narcissistic tendencies, but I read that everyone does. I would say I have empathy, I get incredibly sad whenever my family fights, I can't see people cry… I have the urge to hug them. I love listening to people and helping them … but then I also snap at people and I sometimes get jealous, I don’t think i am better than everyone, not in the slightest, I genuinely feel like I don’t deserve the life I have, but the other day I basically had a thought that I was better looking than my cousin. I am so scared to be a narcissist because I don’t want to hurt the people I love and I also don’t want to be manipulative, I want to be a good person. l

I really hate being forced to socialize with people, specifically family members who genuinely do nothing but gaslight you with their narcissistic behavior. My OCD comes with anxiety.. I never feel like I’m enough, I always have this need to prove I don’t need help because anytime I came across vulnerable, I was treated like I was a problem but I feel like I’m forced to baby feed my own MOTHER who refuses to get help with her OWN OCD. I just can’t rn. I don’t know if I’m venting or having ruminating thoughts about having to mask how I feel when I’m CONSTANTLY feeling like my feelings don’t matter to a person that thinks her feelings are the ONLY ones that are relevant. Someone please read this so I can get a better understanding of how to deal with being overstimulated by being FORCED to socialize in a FAKE environment.

I feel like giving up. I don’t want to but it’s so hard and the only person that can make it better is me. But I’ve given up so many things that are important to me because of my OCD. I’ve isolated myself so much and given up on my dreams because of all this fear. Sometimes I feel like I need to protect everyone else from me and my doubts and insecurities. I feel like I’m hurting everyone or have the potential to let everyone down. I hate this.

I've always had my intrusive thoughts follow me into my dreams but recently the WORST intrusive thoughts literally play out in my dreams and I don't know what to do with myself. I can't tell anyone what the dreams were about... I can't even write it down its so bad. It's just stuck in my head forever and giving me more reasons to hate myself.

the obsession got so bad that i just cant tell if i am still ocd or just accepting my fate and becoming what i fear most. i cant tell whats going on anymore. im numb, i dont feel like this is a dire situation for my morals anymore, im just so apathetic now. i dont even know what im feeling, if i want these things or not, i dont know

My ocd always makes me think the worst and tells me that the only explanation for things is that I did something horrible. I had an incident years ago that has made my life miserable. I guess it’s a real event and possibly false memory as well. When my son was little he would crawl into bed with me sometimes. One morning I got up and he was still asleep. I put my daughter on the school bus and went back upstairs to my room and he was awake sitting up wrapped in the blanket. I said good morning and told him to come downstairs with me and get breakfast like I always did but when he got out of bed he didn’t have his underwear on. I yelled at him demanding to know why he took his underwear off. He was 2 or 3 and he pointed at me and yelled “You!”. My ocd immediately kicked in and made me think the worst that I must have done something horrible to him in my sleep. Why would he say that? 😪. I don’t want to live thinking I could have done something so horrible. It has made my life so hard to live. Now all these years later since my memory has faded my ocd brings it back up and tells me maybe I was drinking and did something to him and just don’t remember. People without ocd probably wouldn’t think much about these kinds of situations and would just shrug them off as weird things kids do and say or that happen in life and parenthood but my ocd makes me believe I did something horrible and makes me hate myself and living. 😞

Has anyone who started ERP therapy felt that your ocd or anxiety has gotten worse (at first) before it gets better?

I’m crying as I’m typing this and drinking because my ocd has convinced me I raped my friend 5 times. She doesn’t believe me. It’s because she was asleep for 4 out of the 5 times and it’s killing me. It’s strangling me that I might’ve done these heinous acts. I feel sick to my stomach. I’m scared I’m so scared because I DONT WANT TO RAPE ANYONE. And my brain is telling me I did it and I believe my brain I believe it I believe it happened and I’m scared I’m so scared please please please help me I’m so scared

Ive been struggling with keeping myself from not snowballing bad thoughts and memories since a night ago and rn i was having such a good time with my family :( i was playing games with my sibling and watching game play of a game we like i was talking with my other sibling i was having such a good time but then my brain reminded me “hey you cant have fun you’ve done so many bad things you shouldn’t be having a good time” and i felt so sad-i still feel sad-i feel gross and ugly and disgusting-why cant i just be happy? To the ppl that some how worked through this kinda thing how did you do it? How do you cope? how do you remind yourself to be happy?

I cry everyday thinking of things. Please help and share if this is truly what OCD does. I keep thinking in my past I was pregnant. I remember being paranoid but i do not remember taking a pregnancy test. Ocd keeps putting things in my head such as “you did a pregnancy test” or “you had a miscarriage” I tell my mom this and she is my biggest supporter but I feel like I was because i’m starting to believe it and give up.

how did y’all resist confessing things and reduce feeling that nasty deep pitted guilt and shame?