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working to conquer OCD
my ocd is being the most annoying thing in the world right now. my intrusive thoughts keep telling me to cut myself and its keeping me from falling asleep. i have to be up in 5 hours. i dont want to and im not gonna but i feel like i have to to make the thoughts go away. this is really hard :(
Hi everyone, I felt a strong need to post and say this. I used to struggle with severe and debilitating OCD for about two years of my life. Iāve always tended to have obsessive tendencies, but 2 years ago it got severe and I was drowning. My OCD affected my relationships (family, friendships, boyfriend) etc. I mean iāve had pretty much every āthemeā imaginable. I just want to let you know that there is more hope than you could ever imagine. I no longer have disordered anxiety nor struggle with ocd. I have never taken any medications and have only done therapy once for a few months over a year ago. You have every single tool within you already to beat ocd because itās so much smaller than you could ever imagine. I know youāre probably waiting to hear how I healed myself so here it is, I left it in Godās hands. Now before you turn your phone off and throw it across the room just hear me out. Take the focus off yourself and Read. Your. Bible. It is that simple. Stop focusing on yourself and hyper-fixating on every single thought or feeling that you get. Let it go. Give it to God. It is not your battle it is His. Healing is so much more simple than we make it out to be. You are not broken, you are perfectly capable of living a regular life, you are always in the center of mental health. January 27th I sat down in my room bawling my eyes out in the middle of a panic attack and said to myself: Psalm 139:14 āFor I am fearfully and wonderfully made, no weapons formed against me shall prosper, For I know the plans I have for you, not to harm you but plans to give you hope and a future. For walk by faith not by sightā I sat there crying with my eyes closed and said that to myself about 20 times out loud and I felt a warm glow in my chest. That was the most peace I had felt in over 2 years. I read my bible almost everyday and I am healing quicker every single day. You are strong. There is hope. God loves you so much you are so amazing. Tips: -Buy a bible ($20 on amazon) or rent it for free from a library. -Pray daily (it doesnāt matter when, how, or about what, just talk to God because heās your best friend) -Listen to Girls Gone Bible (or any podcast about strengthening your faith) -Donāt pay any attention to your thoughts let them pass on like leaves in the fall. -Go checkout @peacefromwithin on instagram ( Iām considering starting my own podcast to share my testimony and give tips on how to manage ocd/anxiety lmk if anyone is interested bc i have so much more to share:) You are SO loved.š
Don't understand ocd, especially so ocd, i'm so sick of people coming in here and saying "well there Is nothing wrong with being gay i don't understand this" yeah i know???? I'm literally in an ocd space so why assuming it's about me being homophobic? If I could stop obsessing I wouldnt give a f!ck about being gay, I hate people so much. There are so many people trying to trigger us on this app, like how evil to want to hurt people who are already suffering.
iām panicking because i remember when i was younger when i was 13 i found porn on instagram and i was scrolling and i was pleasuring myself and was always trying to make sure the videos that i was watching werenāt bad like someone being forced and i remember as i was scrolling while pleasuring myself i came across a video and it looked like a movie but the man was on top of the woman and she was crying but i donāt know if she was crying because of that im not sure but im pretty sure it was a movie or something and i still pleasured myself but not to that video but like just thinking about something else and the video just played in the backs it i had my eyes closed and i didnt watch it but it worried because what if i did watch it and pleasured myself while watching the video, i feel like im going to throw up i cant handle this, i wish i never got exposed to porn at such a young age
Can intrusive thoughts feel like your actual thoughts and who you are as a person the longer you have them? It feels like it is a reflection of who I am but a year ago when this started it was easier to point out. Now I donāt know.
Has anyone here ever been able to get relief from an intrusive thought by ruminating and going over and over it in their memory to try and figure it all out? Is it even possible?
Iām trying my best to resist the compulsion of seeking reassurance with a friend, I really really want to text her and tell her my thoughts to see what she thinks about it, but I know it could be a compulsion :(. Any tips for keep resisting?
I have trouble feeling like I even love my partner. Like I see those OCD memes like āwhen I love my partner so much and Iām so in love but then have intrusive thoughts about our relationshipā Iām like ⦠how do you even know you love your partner lol. I feel so identified with my intrusive thoughts I feel like they ARE the relationship, they ARE my feelings, and constantly feel that lack.
I was fine for so long, didnt have any intrusive thoughts, but i saw something on facebook that triggered a form of ocd i thought i recovered from over a year ago. Im so afraid that there is something wrong with me. Iām so afraid what if i do something super horrible that i donāt want to? What if i go crazy and something bad happens because of me? I dont want to have these thoughts i just want to be normal.
I couldnt word it before but now i can so i write it down. I always feel like im avoiding and now i know why, because people say dont go there, dont think about the thoughts, just notice it then focus on somethinh else. And for me when i try to not go there i feel like ik avoiding cause the urge of thinking about it is so strong that i have to fight to not go there and it becomes a fight then my mind sees that im having a problem so it gets worse. And then when i try to ignore or shift my attention it becomes an avoidance like its just too much power on trying to not focus on it. Also i start to say i dont want to think about this cause i know its ocd and ita bad for me but it gets worse and worse and then i feel like nothing helps cause i still avoid even if i try to do what i should do... any advice?
Is it possible to go a whole 6 years of your life completely normal and then suddenly have an intrusive thought that you may have harmed someone yearsss ago? And upon looking for āevidenceā of this event you start to find things that add up, and then get paranoid itās real when you donāt think it is? Some things add up , some things donāt.. This thought may be getting mixed with other real events honestly I donāt know anymore, but I think maybe checking myself into a ward might be my only solution.
i don't know if I can continue my college. I have undiagnosed ocd and i haven't talked with a psychiatrist yet. My course is very hard, it requires a lot of attention and i cannot give that. I feel like crying, we had our 1st quiz today and I failed. I failed as a student and as a daughter...
I struggled with severe ocd since I was in 2nd grade and now Iām turning 19 so Iāve had it basically my whole life, Iāve had it bc my dad abused my mom when I was little all the way up until I was a teenager and it really hurts me and affects my life. I have intrusive thoughts and images of loved ones getting hurt and I constantly overthink about my relationship and it got worst since I became a mother bc I ALWAYS worry about my daughter and Iām scared and it makes me panic I always think that if I listen to certain songs,take showers,get cute,put on certain clothes,or just take care of myself in general that something will happen and it makes my mental health worse and i have severe anxiety I struggled with pyschosis for 2 weeks and addiction to pills I donāt have money to get a therapist or even health insurance please help me how to stop it bc even when I try to let the thoughts pass through it hurts me and makes me freeze and not even be able to breathe bc of it and I canāt even say certain words bc I overthink that something will happen and it makes me want to take my life
Does it ever feel like sometimes you're "forcing" yourself to have intrusive thoughts? or you're thinking of things you don't like on purpose to make sure you don't like your thoughts? Even in personal or intimate moments with yourself or others? What is this called and how do you stop it?
How bad do you have to be because I would say I am severely struggling right now, to the point where everything is a clue to me. Im borderline dealing with psychosis I believe and Iām terrified. Has anyone actually been an inpatient before? Was it helpful?
I've been having issues with being so scared about death that my mind tells me that I should just kill myself to avoid the fear. The thing is, I love life. I don't want to die and I want to see it out to the end, but there have been times where I felt like I could just *do it* because my mind told me it was the calmer route (i.e., if im dead, I dont have to think about the fact that I will die). It really upsets me that these thoughts come into my head so much because I know they're not mine. Even knowing that they're not mine makes me uncomfortable because, if they aren't mine, why do I continue to think the same things?? Why do I keep telling myself that I should do it when I don't want to. It's so frustrating and scary I don't want to hurt myself (and I haven't for a very long time), but just knowing these thoughts are here is really worrying to me.
What makes me feel the craziest, is that I feel like I know enough thanks to my having to research and Google everything..... like, I'm a sophomore in college... I am majoring in Psychology. Because the human mind (like mine) is so interesting. So like, I will talk to myself. Quietly with my thoughts AND even out loud. What trips me out is that I Swear that I have full therapy sessions with myself. I know my OCD is the cause of me having to keep questioning myself and trying to figure out why I'm this way and how to get better and what can I do to end this hell I live in inside my mind. I have made note of being able to provide myself with suggestions and advice and info on things to do that can help counter and deal with my OCD to where i can be more functional. It really pulls me into an intense standstill Because it's like I know the answer and I know what I need to do... but I have to always end it with how i must not care how insane and crazy I am because if I know what I can do to help manage and keep my OCD at ease, then why can't I? It pulls me into this spiral where I then question what I know. Or if I have some sort of split personality. I'm always checking and researching things that I already know, just so I can find reassurance. I will ask Alexa stupid questions I know the answer to, like "whats the definition of _____" when I know what the meaning is, but I want to make sure. I'm always feeling as if I could be wrong in everything I think I know.... I get stuck for hours replaying events and situations or something said or done and try to think of every possible reason why, or possible outcomes. I can not communicate effectively because I sound crazy to myself, how is the other person thinking I'm normal? I get lost and stuck for hours in my own head... "circling" as i call it, or what I recently read as a ping pong game. My best friend committed suicide in 2019, by "hanging" to where I became obsessed with suicide, learning all about hanging to where I know things like short-drop and either you suffer or just pass out. Not just that but then I want to know how she was in her last moments. (I would hope she just passed out... I hate knowing she was in any pain). This lead me to become obsessed with the spirit world and started doing spirit box sessions again because I want to talk to her. (Which has me confused between I know I might hear some things because I want to... but also feel that because of that, I need clear responses). I am just in constant battle with my own self. I'm always fighting my own self. I'm my own worst enemy... but my own friend and therapist and teacher and etc. This is really really difficult. And I hope I am not alone in this. I don't even know exactly what subtypes and themes i deal with because there's many, and because everything has to be exactly what it's supposed to be, that if one "trait" doesn't fall under that category, that there must be something I am missing. This is exhausting š
It's a stressing period in my life this month. I'm stressed and I can't control the feelings of my thoughts. I mean I know I can't control my thoughts but after all these years of therapy, I'm able to concentrate and not create negative feelings, knowing it's just my OCD. Now that I'm stressed, I feel terrible. My body also is sick, i got a flu and I want to leave to my parents for a week, to get myself together. I don't know what to do. I'm full of insecurity and fear, cause of my thoughts and I can't work properly. Got any suggestions, something to help me ?
I feel like I have become really confused about who I am, mainly when it comes to dealing with these thoughts. Lately the harm thoughts are coming to me like I donāt think this but sort of āfeelā like āimagine you went and didnāt this right nowā like Iām not thinking that thought but I sort of feel it like I canāt explain it and sort of imagine you jsut done it anyways and because Iām not anxious over the thoughts anymore and havenāt been for while I feel like its just made it worse because now I purposely think these horrible thoughts on purpose over and over to gauge my response in hope I will feel anxious so I can then āmove on from the thoughtā so if a disgusting thought or idea comes to me I find it extremely difficult to move on and feel as though I HAVE to examine the thought. I had a really disgusting thought come out of no where, basically I was in my room and there was clothing on the floor and my foot hit it when I walked past and I had a thought like āit felt like a animal/catā and then my highly active horribly creative Brain decides to make me think āfelt like a dead animalā then I thought to myself okay just move on from that whatever but of course I couldnāt because now according to my brain I have to now work out whether I like the feeling of picking up a dead/motionless body, because what if its true - I know this sounds so disgusting and horrible. So then I started imagining picking up a ādeadā animal and it āfloppingā about the I sort of got some sort of āshudder of anxietyā it doesnāt feel like a really strong anxiety but it feels almost like I get a shudder and almost like I bring it on on purpose then I had to imagine the thought about a dead person (even more horrible) to check incase I do or donāt like moving/holding a dead body and then the same thing happened I got a shudder kind of thing then it usually still feels unsatisfied but I feel I can then somehow move on form the thought since Iāve now had a āshudderā and Iāve done this same process with so many other thoughts before as well and sometimes I even the start thinking Iām purposely making myself āshudderā and maybe Iām being fake but itās jsut gotten bad like I donāt even believe myself or no what to believe anymore. I constantly feel like Iām faking my reactions as well and worry that Iām secretly happy and Iām not sure if itās adrenaline but sometimes I will be talking about this problem or thinking and I get the same feeling in my face/chest like im āexcitedā or about to laugh or smile and when I looked it up it says anxiety and excitement can feel the same and im wondering if im jsut confused now the other thing is I literally donāt know when im feeling anxious anymore when it comes to ocd. Like sometimes I end up thinking about the thoughts and with the shudder thing I strain my body when I do it/like tense up and Soemtiems I get hot and cold feeling come over me but I still donāt recognise that as anxiety and think that Iām somehow deliebralty making myself feel like that and itās fake and Iām not anxious and I literally jsut donāt even know when Iām anxious and itās worrying. Also I feel like Iām literally constantly thinking Iām bad or imagining myself doing something bad and itās like what the heck like, when I try to think to myself āno I would never do thatā I donāt believ it and some how think itās would happen because I would āgive inā or want to do it eventually and it feels like after all these crap thoughts and how much Iām believing it and even believing I ālike the feeling of doing the thoughtsā because apparently I know how it feels to act on thee thoughts like how it feels to physically do these horrible things and how my hands would feel doing it and everything and apparently it feels like I I like the feeeling but Iām still not sure if thatās my adrenaline/anxiety that makes me feel like i ālike the feeling of doing that horrible thingā but itās literally making me belive because it feels like I like the feeling thag now its impossible that I would ānever do thatā and thatās worrying me as well. I donāt want to be crazy or bad or anything in fact Iāve always loved helping people and to now be literally believing that Iām this evil person who likes the feeling of doing these horrible things itās very very hard to deal with and after over two years of dealing with this crap Iām still suffering and itās jsut awful and itās like the only time I feel better is if I have something to look forward to and am pre occupied and it seems to go but then I think weāll why is that does that mean itās all fake and Iāve jsut forgotten about being evil but still am evil and also like I canāt even stay home anymore I use to live staying home but when i stay home I feel like I start going mad with this ocd crap and it feels more and more real and itās so scary but I donāt even know if Iām scared like I donāt even know what Iām feeling anymore when it comes to this ocd I jsut no since I started having this Iāve become such an angry person I get aggitated so quickly and I feel so much pent up stress and anger its so sad. I started staying home and it as okay for a bit and then it started happening and the worrying and everything and to to the point where at some point I thought I wanted to kill and bury my mom and I told her about all of it and I donāt even know how she feels hearing all this crap. I think I would feel very worried if someone kept telling me disturbing things like that. But I literally started imaging those things like the killing and burying thing to ātestā myself then i started thinking how do I know Iām thinking about it to test myself and not because I want to see if āI like itā because Iām actually evil ā¦? And then like I never felt anxious but it felt almost like it was an urge and that I wanted to do that burying thing and it was very concerning - see Iām typing this and I keep worrying Iām lying about being āconcernedā ā¦but it felt so real like it made me feel like I āwanted to do thatā or liked it and there was no anxiety and jsut felt like an urge and it was very unsettling - I canāt even write āit was very scaryā because I think I might be lying about being scared⦠I donāt even know anymore my doubt levels are to another level and I donāt know how to deal with this I literally doubt so much itās to an extreme my doubt levels like I donāt even believe myself and im believing something but feel like I donāt want it to be true but feel like itās true that im bad and like the feeling of āsmotheringā ⦠this has been the worst thought Iāve been stuck of for like two years I still donāt know if itās my anxiety making it feel like that but it feels like I know what it feels like to smother someone like how my hands feel doing that actions and that I like the feeling and my chest feels like idk and Iām jsut confused and because of that Iām not believing itās impossible and I would actually be evil because I would choose to do it because I like it ⦠Iām so confused and sad and wish I could jsut be normal, if anyone has read this to the end Thank you for listening and Iām sorry you had to read all this garbage itās honestly such a load of crap and I donāt know what to do
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OCD doesn't have to
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