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So I am experiencing my first OCD theme, man what a fun ride! It’s been 3 months and I finally decided as of yesterday it’s either stay here and get worse or start choosing to figure out what I need to do. I won’t go too much into my scenario and I’m not asking for reassurance. I just want to to how false memories work and if they commonly present like this. So I am married. We were out somewhere and I saw someone I knew. I have never been romantically involved with this person and I was just like oh hey that’s such and such in my brain. Well about 10 minutes goes by and I get a flash of a memory of an online interaction I had with them (this is real) and well it caught me off guard and I was like when was that? It was so long ago I couldn’t recall and I was like well I think that was before my relationship and then I thought well what if it was after since you can’t remember and BOOM I got a flash of a memory (more like a picture) of my brain correlating me doing this while in my relationship. And then the more I thought of trying to disprove that I had another memory (which I believe to be the true memory) of it occurring before my relationship. Here’s the thing. About a year or two ago I saw this same person. The same thing happened. I was shocked and panicked and just was like I don’t know I have never even thought of this in my relationship and just kind of shut it down saying maybe I just will never bring it up to my husband. But I completely forgot about that. Outside of these two times I have NEVER thought of this in my relationship. Like at all. Never thought of this person once. Here’s what I’m wondering, do false memories (even about real events) often occur after what if statements? Even though what I did most people wouldn’t care about, it would have been very out of character for me and also for me to just entirely forget about it. So I am pretty sure I am dealing with a false reconstruction of a past real event. Has anyone ever dealt with anything similar? Is there more to identifying these false memories? And how did you deal with them? I have accepted I can never disprove a memory. Even if someone told me it wasn’t real. I just feel like if you did something that was a little out of your character you would definitely remember it not just did I? I just wanted to give my example, but I am interested in how people deal with this.

I notice that the thoughts aren’t constant and just pop from time to time. However the rumination is constant. I do have other annoying mental compulsions but i’m just worried that it’s not OCD. The thoughts dont feel loud but they do make me ruminate. Sometimes they’re “what ifs” or “this happened which means this and your a liar” or they’re like memories/flash backs. But they’re not constant which makes me worry that this has never been OCD. I keep ruminating ab weird childhood exploration, uncomfortable memories, fake memories, and (TMI) past random arousal in the past that didn’t align with me and my wants. Idk if it’s bc i’m ALWAYS questioning and analyzing in my head that I don’t notice things as intrusive thoughts? But there’s too much proof I feel like this is just me coming to a realization, i’m in denial, and it HAS to be true which makes me want to puke. I literally forgot all ab that stuff but my brain has brought it all back 😭. This flare up started because of a couple thoughts ab my relationship that made me anxious and triggered the rumination and it went back into an SOOCD spiral. My therapist told me she definitely thinks it’s OCD but at this point I don’t feel like it is.

If ur here just to give some encouragement dw ab reading this Im just venting 😭. If you read my billions of posts you can see I’m having a really hard time. I’m analyzing memories, possible false memories, weird childhood exploration, uncomfortable thing that happened in 7th grade that feels like undeniable proof, the beginning stages of SOOCD, my crushes in the past to see if they were real or if I liked them enough, false attractions (which are constant now), I’m triggered by everything, I’m checking for attraction, I’m just miserable. I cant even enjoy old movies or cartoons that used to bring me comfort because I have thoughts like “Did I find this character attractive? I probably didn’t if I can’t remember. I used to always want the boy and girl to be together, but I cant remember if I liked the boy, It must be denial. I probably liked the girl.” I can’t remember shit and my brain keeps filling in the blanks but idk if it’s real. Im worried that this isn’t even OCD because the thoughts aren’t consuming me it’s just pure rumination and other compulsions. Is that still OCD? I still get random thoughts like when I’m watching something random on social media. I could be calm, not triggered by anything, and get a thought like “If she was naked you’d be aroused, rmbr that childhood exploration, you’ve been aroused to XYZ so you probably would be right now” and then I start to ruminate. Idk if that’s rumination or intrusive thoughts. But I usually just ruminate all the time 🧍‍♀️as soon as I wake up and when I go to bed. I get like images and flash backs of the “proof” idk if that counts as intrusive thoughts. I feel so terrible and completely numb to everything. What’s eating me alive right now is my years of numbness. Was that OCD, depression, or me just being in denial? I feel like there’s too much proof at this point. I really have suffered a lot with my mental health over the years so it could possibly just be that my brain is just in shock mode but I don’t know why it’s been so long. I haven’t seen anyone on this app say all their libido and attraction went away for YEARS. But then again I was not diagnosed for 5 years and just completely shut down. I was still numb when I started dating my boyfriend and I was so afraid that it would ruin the genuine feelings and attraction I started having for him before we started dating. I was feeling happier so maybe that’s why I started to feel those good feelings and emotions again. I swear to whoever reads this I DID feel attraction, excitement, all the things for him 😭. Him confessing to me made me anxious and scared bc my numbness makes me feel like a rock and I wasn’t sure I wanted to peruse a relationship. But I was like no, I felt those feelings after YEARS, he makes me feel happy and I have a crush, I won’t let fear take this away from me. I was doing good, my checking compulsions were annoying, but I was doing pretty good. The fear was going away, I was checking less and started feeling the full attraction again, I was in the moment when we hung out, dates were amazing, but then the thoughts and ruminating literally fucked it all up. When I was laying down in bed one night I thought “What if my numbness makes me stop liking him.” It automatically made me anxious and I was stuck ruminating about it all day. Then it just progressively got worse and now I’m stuck dealing w full on SOOCD again 😭. I feel like a rock towards my man now. He sent me a picture and I felt nothing. But then I think “you were numb anyways you probably never liked him.” I don’t even know if my feelings for him a couple months ago were even real bc of how much I ruminate. I was so sure of myself a couple months ago but not anymore. How do I go from “Omg his smile is so nice, I want him to kiss me so bad, his laugh is so cute, he looks so good.” to NOTHINGGGGGG. Prior to the big flare up I rmbr going to a festival with my sister and thinking another guy was cute bc he looked like my man (I swear he was waking up my emotions again) and I started to worry and freak out ab finding another man attractive. Why is my brain so confusing 😭? I want to hangout with him but I’m also scared to at the same time bc I’m afraid of feeling nothing and being triggered by it and ruminating, checking, analyzing. I feel like i’m shutting down again. That’s what’s been happening since high school. If my mental health and OCD make me feel like shit, my brain shuts everything down, and I do nothing. I want to do nothing and isolate because it’s safe, it’s not triggering, and it doesn’t leave me exhausted. Ever since I graduated high school I have been a rock. I have no goals, wants, motivation, NOTHING. I had to drop out for a bit bc when the lcd calmed down a bit, the depression just TOOK OVER. I feel like there’s never going to be an end to this. If this isn’t OCD then idk what to do.

I’ve been getting through my POCD fears but now I’m having intense moral / responsibility OCD that is severely affecting my mental health to the point where I’m having immense trouble functioning at work. Mine stems from the fact that I feel the need to seek out weird stuff I remember seeing on the internet and reporting it. This is especially prevalent with porn that I find suspicious online and it causes me to make reports to the cybertip line a lot. My mind is just in constant alert mode due to my sexual abuse as a child and other factors I’ve experienced Now my OCD is latching onto a super hazy memory of when a co-worker was telling me about this guy in his town he knew who he told me everyone suspected he was involved in a hit and run that had occurred. I barely remember the conversation but I remember him telling me that somehow his old vehicle went to someone or was transferred over to some guy and when he looked at the engine there was what he assumed was dried blood inside it or something like that. I remember the conversation started because we were talking about people who we knew were probably guilty that we had heard stories of or knew of but there was never appropriate evidence found My OCD has latched onto the idea that my co worker told me this information which police may or may not have known of or heard of. I don’t remember if he told me how he knew of this story or who he heard it from or if the police knew about it or anything like that. It happened a year ago during a shift at work in a McDonald’s and it’s so hazy that I can’t even remember the specifics of anything. I know the idea that I was given secret information that the police didn’t know about during a shift at McDonald’s is incredibly unlikely. But the constant “what if?” just spirals into my brain constantly and makes me develop the feeling like I HAVE to reach out to someone about it, even though I know there’s nothing for them to investigate and my co-worker was basically telling me gossip. I know I’m really overthinking the memory and my mind is putting false memories in my brain, but I wanted to ask what you guys tell yourselves to get rid of the intrusive thoughts or the compulsions? I try to tell myself that it’s “just my OCD” but that rarely ever works.

I have been blocked by so many people on here, I am struggling with POCD and real events OCD because of the stupid positions I put myself in, and it feels like my worst pocd fears are coming true one by one... But since I put myself in these situations, I deserve this right? I deserve this pain and hell I created for myself right?? This is absolutely what I deserve right...? I dont pity myself because why would I pity something I despise...? I dont even see myself as a human anymore... i see myself as an "it". UPDATE: Oh dear god... I think my worst fears came true... I think I unknowingly ERP'ed with a minor on an 18+ discord server 5 years ago... they currently are on Astralspiff's discord, having been there since 2023, and have switched their username, with a chicken emoji as their bio... they also switched their profile picture from Nana Osaki to a fan art of Kasame Teto... its making me think that these three things are certainties that she was a minor on the 18+ sexual server... and that I ERP'ed with her not knowing this... Im genuinely feeling shocked and sick to my stomach right now... they don't have their age listed on discord or anything, but they joined 5 years ago and it was 4 years ago that we ERP'ed... god I feel disgusted and horrified right now... someone talk to me... please.... in the past, I have been catfished by a man pretending to be a woman, had a minor on a dating app who lied about her age and i unknowingly flirted with her because I assumed she was 18+ and her bio said so, and sent an 18+ pic to a "woman" online who now I suspect of being a catfish... this is the reason why I'm so scared of whether or not I unknowingly inappropriately chatted with a minor without knowing... it genuinely scares me... Its making me think that I unknowingly inappropriately chatted with a minor in the past without knowing and it genuinely triggers me... I have tried to go back through most 18+ online interactions ive had with women online to make sure they didnt lie or they confirmed their age... i have two situations on discord that trigger me that ive posted about in the past... and a couple have deleted their discords so thats triggering me really bad... most who deleted their discords were verified but still... why delete your discord, you know...? for context i was on 18+ explicit discord servers meant for sex that you cant just join regularly on iPhone due to it being for adults only... Ive also been to a website dedicated to adult 18+ literature... they also have an 18+ chat room where you can talk to other users... i know ive made stupid mistakes going on here... i wont deny that... and now im paying for it with the uncertainty... veterans of the site, who have been on there for over 9 years, have told me that the chances of a minor lying about their age and coming onto the chat portion of the website are rare... but it still triggers me all the same... Im scared of someone one day in the future accusing me of doing horrible things like unknowingly inappropriately messaging minors, or have my worst fears of unknowingly explicitly messaging a minor confirmed to have happened and I didnt know about it...

I was doing fine. My psychiatrist told me we can quit the medicine. And my therapist told me that i don't need to continue therapy since i was in a good place where i could control my OCD symptoms. But a couple days ago my intrusive thoughts came back. And yesterday i went to see my psychiatrist and she decided to go back to my usual dose. But she also told me she had suspicions that what i have is OCD. She told me i could be more like Generated Anxiety disorder. But when i tell her about my most prominent intrusive thought, she told me this was OCD and i should not dwell on the titles. I am confused and panicked now thinking if i am not OCD, then what i am thinking is real? But i don't want it to be. The thought makes me scared and panicked. And i find myself thinking about it constantly. Looking for evidences and checking my past memories. And then i go back to thinking what if i am in denial and this fear is the fear of denial? What should i do? How can i stop this chain of thoughts?

Please please pleaaaase someone read my posts 🧍‍♀️just tell me how to not spiral pls and thank you 😭 I think right now i’m experiencing real event and SOOCD. Read the millions of posts i’ve made these past couple months to get context if you want.

UPDATE: Oh dear god... I think my worst fears came true... I think I unknowingly ERP'ed with a minor on an 18+ discord server 5 years ago... they currently are on Astralspiff's discord, having been there since 2023, and have switched their username, with a chicken emoji as their bio... they also switched their profile picture from Nana Osaki to a fan art of Kasame Teto... its making me think that these three things are certainties that she was a minor on the 18+ sexual server... and that I ERP'ed with her not knowing this... Im genuinely feeling shocked and sick to my stomach right now... they don't have their age listed on discord or anything, but they joined 5 years ago and it was 4 years ago that we ERP'ed... god I feel disgusted and horrified right now... someone talk to me... please.... in the past, I have been catfished by a man pretending to be a woman, had a minor on a dating app who lied about her age and i unknowingly flirted with her because I assumed she was 18+ and her bio said so, and sent an 18+ pic to a "woman" online who now I suspect of being a catfish... this is the reason why I'm so scared of whether or not I unknowingly inappropriately chatted with a minor without knowing... it genuinely scares me... Its making me think that I unknowingly inappropriately chatted with a minor in the past without knowing and it genuinely triggers me... I have tried to go back through most 18+ online interactions ive had with women online to make sure they didnt lie or they confirmed their age... i have two situations on discord that trigger me that ive posted about in the past... and a couple have deleted their discords so thats triggering me really bad... most who deleted their discords were verified but still... why delete your discord, you know...? for context i was on 18+ explicit discord servers meant for sex that you cant just join regularly on iPhone due to it being for adults only... Ive also been to a website dedicated to adult 18+ literature... they also have an 18+ chat room where you can talk to other users... i know ive made stupid mistakes going on here... i wont deny that... and now im paying for it with the uncertainty... veterans of the site, who have been on there for over 9 years, have told me that the chances of a minor lying about their age and coming onto the chat portion of the website are rare... but it still triggers me all the same... Im scared of someone one day in the future accusing me of doing horrible things like unknowingly inappropriately messaging minors, or have my worst fears of unknowingly explicitly messaging a minor confirmed to have happened and I didnt know about it... (edited) (edited)

I just want to know how long other ppl have been dealing with SOOCD. Prior to having SOOCD I have had other themes throughout my life but I didn’t know it was OCD bc after a month/months it would go away. These small episodes would always pop up when my home/personal life was terrible. However SOOCD has stuck the longest. It’s been 6 years and it’s really bothering me that it’s been haunting me for this long. Past therapists would always tell me I had GAD and I’ve barely started proper treatment so that’s prob why it’s stuck around for so long. I have also dealt with a lot of anxiety and depression issues as well. What’s bothering me is that I can go into “remission” but still be plagued with numbness, lack of attraction/emotions, no libido and still deal with the groinal response, checking compulsion, and get triggered from time to time. I’ve also dealt with horrible depression from 15-19 (21 now) so maybe that’s why i’m so numb. I was feeling better but felt numb like I was a rock or just a floating leaf. For the past couple years I haven’t been tormented by SOOCD but those small things always would bother me. ESPECIALLY the lack of attraction and numbness. TMI!!!!!!! but I have not had any sort of sexual desires for years and had trouble being intimate in my past relationship esp because of the constant checking. I would want to do those things so badly but my body wouldn’t react and ofc that fed my OCD. No matter what OCD tells me I know prior to ocd I was a very healthy growing girl and I would always day dream about men, read fan fiction, fantasize, yk all that. TMI AGAIN!!! But I have/haven’t had a desire to do anything like that even TMI mast*bation and when I do it’s like “well…alright i’m done.” Sorry if that was too much. I was feeling a LOT better a couple months ago, I felt motivated to get my life back after many years and OCD was kind of leaving me alone (still dealing with the occasional groinal response, occasional triggers, and checking (only when triggered)). The numbness and all that still bugged me but I ended up developing a crush (on my now bf). But as soon as I start to feel real genuine attraction and happiness OCD starts to poke at my brain. It didn’t start with SOOCD thoughts at first, it was mostly just fear about WHAT IF my numbness and loss of attraction ruin the relationship or my feelings for him. I was finding him cute without even checking but when he confessed to me it gave me anxiety and I started checking my feelings and attraction. I would be scared of being affectionate bc again I was afraid I would feel nothing. But when I redirected myself and focused on him I would feel normal again and enjoy everything. I haven’t felt that middle school giddiness and excitement over a boy in so long. I couldn’t wait to talk to him. I loved waking up and having him call me or call before bed bc he always calmed me. The attraction and excitement just made all the worries go away. There’s one date we where I wasn’t doing my checking compulsion and I felt so amazing and free. Holding his hand and being with him felt so good and sweet. Ofc the checking compulsion and anxiety ruined a lot of things at first but once I redirected myself MY GOD I felt like a normal human again and I felt like I could finally start enjoying my life. I was in such a good headspace but then the rumination started bugging me again, which triggered the anxiety, which triggered the groinal response for some reason, and then I started checking again and getting triggered by ppl on social media, and then now I’m here in another SOOCD spiral. I think my SOOCD is mixing with real event OCD and it’s all just so exhausting. I can’t even fully enjoy being with him in person now it’s a constant battle w my brain. If you check my posts you can see how i’ve been just going insaaaaane lately. I don’t even feel like I know myself anymore. I have my small moments of peace but then it all comes back to get me. I’m even getting triggered rn by a movie that my mom insists on watching but yeah that’s all. Just needed to get that out.

UPDATE: with my harm ocd hitting full swing... i find myself triggered by my pocd again... and i feel like a horrible person... i tried not to post... i tried to do what people told me... but right now i feel absolutely horrible... I genuinely feel so guilty and wanna exile myself from society... Youtubers are constantly getting accused of doing p3dophilic activity and inappropriately messaging women and minors and abusing others and its making me think my real events are as bad or as worse as them... Ive vented a lot to a lot of people in the PM's about my OCD... some of them younger (minors)... because I wanted reassurance from everyone and anyone... but this situation triggers me the most because I was venting about my 18+ HOCD situations... (the 18+ HOCD situations were about 18+ s*xual HOCD situations that triggered me immensely...) When I was 19, in an HOCD support group I was in, I vented to 2 minors in the PM's about my 18+ HOCD situations... The leader of the support group (that i vented to) was 17... I was 19 at the time... the other minor i vented to was younger (14-15)... the younger one told me she was uncomfortable when i vented to her in the PM's twice... The 14-15 year old said she was uncomfortable the first time and i tried to stop venting to her... after she said i was a bad person for supporting trump, i vented to her again because her saying i was a bad person triggered me... she said she was uncomfortable for the second time and then i blocked her... i kept asking the leader of the support group for reassurance for my 18+ HOCD situations for months because she kept giving me reassurance... i thought she was cute but didnt pursue her because of my age... i dont ever want to ever be a P or a MAP or a groomer in any way...

Super triggering set of events that’s been unfolding for some months now. I’m going to try and not seek reassurance but grounded advice or support is appreciated. A couple months ago, I had a close friendship with a female friend who was also new to town and we had a nice friend group. I developed feelings for her, articulated that to her, and she kind of breadcrumbed me until there wasn’t much of a friendship left unfortunately. I had a conversation with her about the impact that the situation had on me and the toll it took on my mental health. I was calm but assertive and was proud that I stood up for myself. This was sad but hey that happens sometimes as you’re growing and making new friends/trying to find your people. I took space this summer from that group and it was awesome. I felt so much better, my ocd symptoms decreased, I met a bunch of new people, things were good. I am now trying to jump back into my grad school community of students and I had felt a weird tension between me and some subsets of people. Yesterday I was told that the people she is friends with say that I am “unsafe to be around” and that I “blew up at her.” This hurts for a number of reasons. All I did was say that she hurt me by not communicating. I was vulnerable and I feel like I’m getting ostracized and dismissed as a nut case. I never ever spoke ill of her to this community. I kept my opinions to myself and tried to move on. Add on the harm ocd/real events ocd/ relationship ocd and I truly feel at my lowest. There’s certainly times where I have let my emotions and ocd dictate my reactions to situations like this in the past, but from the beginning of this one I made it a point to notice what was coming up and calmly respond with action based in my values. I am super proud of how I handled it and stood up for myself. Idk I’m human and I understand that everyone is entitled to their thoughts and feeling but this just feels messed up and disrespectful. Trying to get this out here because it’s hard to talk about rn

Hello, I'm a student from China. I've been struggling with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) for several months, and I want to talk about my situation. I wonder if any of you have dogs—my problem is related to dogs. At first, I was worried about whether a dog had licked me and if I would get rabies and die. Then it generalized to walking my dog outside: I’d fear that the dog might lick someone else and cause their death. Now, I have obsessive thoughts about whether I accidentally let a dog lick someone in the past, and what I’d do if that person died. These thoughts pop up from time to time. Because of this, I’m afraid to touch dogs, and I even dare not take my dog out for walks. I want to receive CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy) treatment, but there are no professional doctors who provide psychological treatment in my area—almost all available options are medication-based. What should I do?

does anyone else’s OCD give them these ridiculous intrusive thoughts that one day you’re going to be randomly framed or falsely accused of some sort of crime and then spend the rest of your life in prison when you’re completely innocent? i literally think about this way too often 😭every time i communicate this thought, non-OCD folk look at me like i have two heads! then i fear communicating it is going to make me look bad or guilty LOL! it’s a never ending loop. (prob not funny to some of you but if i don’t laugh about it ill go insane)

18+ I think these are some of the the worst real events ive ever done... and Im so triggered because the last thing I want is to be a a P or a MAP... im triggered because I dont want the people ive become friends with on NOCD to block me because they think im a P or a MAP... thats the last thing I want... These events, combined with my extremely horrible pocd real events at the ages of either 13 or 14... (for context i cant remember the exact age) makes me think im a P when i dont ever want to be... When I was 17-18... i s3xually consumed l0licon on occasion... I saw the term, but i didnt know what the term meant... I thought that since it was on public h3ntai sites, and it had millions of views, that i thought it was safe to consume... when I did my research when I was 19 (and my pocd first emerged) onto what exactly the term was... I was horrified and mortified... I puked and gagged and felt numb for days... and I never ever looked at it again... it's been 5 years since then... im 24 now... and the last thing I want is to ever be exposed to this kind of content ever again... let alone consume it... I should've been more knowledgeable and it's my fault... my pocd and real events ocd call me a P and a MAP when these are the LAST things i want to be... I know what I did was wrong and I regret it immensely till this day... and im so overwhelmed... the last thing i want is to be inappropriately attracted to kids in any capacity... im just so anxious and triggered...

What dose? How long did it take? Some people say Wellbutrin or anti psychotics have helped the ssri eliminate ocd! I also know some people don’t respond well to some ssris or dose, so I’m just trying to get others experiences about the timeline it took to get better and what percent reduction you had with ___ med(s) I’m on 3 weeks of lexapro the lowest dose and I’m not sure if it’s the best fit or too low a dose. I’ve heard it takes 2 months to see a result. I’ve had ocd for a year and a bit over as a result of being roofied. Thanks!

I am scared of kissing bugs and the Chagas Disease, I know it's been around but it was something that I personally didn't know. Now that I do it's like bed bugs all over again but way worse. I'm so scared I'm infected, or that I will, or the bugs get worse, or I kill one in accident and I then get infected. So many things that I'm just scared of

Since i was 16 (18 now) it all started with pocd related intrusive thoughts I would have panic attacks in my closet almost every single day sat there all day every day just having horrible horrible gut wrenching anxiety all day long. I would have a thought and tell myself if were to ever harm like that that i would end my life and I would repeat it in mt head every time a thought came up. I started looking up what I was experiencing and it said something about pocd. It went from pocd to monitoring my every breath and movement for a fear I was breathing too much and people would think I was strange for breathing so heavily and it even happened when I was alone. I even hyper monitored my walking because i though people though I walked strange. It then became something that I think might be something called staring ocd. Where im afraid to look down because im afraid someone will see it as inappropriate and think Im weird. I still monitor where my eyes go 24/7 and im very hyper aware when im around people. Idk if this is a symptom or if I really am just strange but random thoughts like weird sentences about someone would just pop up and Im usually pretty harsh to myself when even the slightest sexual thought pops up now. Idk if its just a dirty mind but its images in my head, thoughts, words, sentences. I dont like them I want them gone completely if i could shut my thoughts off entirley I would. Recently I feel like I may be going through something called exstistencial ocd. A week or so back. I began looking into philosophy because it sounded interesting and that then lead into spirituality and then somehow it got into how the government was controlling us all and the free masons own everything. for about a week I was afraid the government was always watching me at night and sometimes I would get extremely paranoid. Idk what to do how to get help if I even have it. Also idk if this is a symptom of real event but if I perceive that someone thinks something I said is weird or awkward I beat myself up over it for sometimes days. Ive become extremely quiet because im afraid if I try to make a joke or say something that I will accidentally say something socially wrong or inappropriate. Im scared im miserable please help. What do I do. Does it sound like I have it?

So am I'm beginning to understand my anxiety more, I feel like it's becoming harder to understand. I'm not really sure why but I have steps that I'm taking to truly try and get through handling these feelings. Adults only please . . . . . It's made me realize why I watch porn because it's to get away from the anxiety and it's the only time I'm not feeling anxiety but it ends up coming back stronger and I end up feeling worse afterwards. What bothers me even more is when disgusting pedophiles post stuff with fictional child characters in it (People say it's legal because they aren't real and that's just sick to me and it means creeps and monsters can use this and have no consequences) on YouTube and I just happen to be scrolling by videos and boom stupid stuff like that is just there and it feels intense anxiety and pretty much dying on the inside because of nasty shit like that. I just want to be able to control my anxiety and not have it control me anymore. Does any other adults and ONLY ADULTS relate?

Yesterday I was really worried about something that happened about 10 years ago and it was causing me anxiety to the point I was struggling at work. So I texted my mom and asked if I could come talk to her after work but it got to the point it was consuming me to where I just texted her about it because I couldn’t move on with my day. She is usually very good about helping me understand the situation so that I can calm down. However, yesterday once I told her about my worry all she said was ‘Oh well? I’m not judging you’ to which I completely lost it and felt like she was confirming that what I did was bad. She said she doesn’t want to feed the obsession. I know that she is trying not to reassure me but I feel like it’s sent me into a deeper spiral. I have had some bad experiences in the past where I’ve trusted some people with my OCD themes and they back stabbed me and even spread rumors about me. I’ve been able to trust my mom up until this point, but now I can’t even get myself to text her. I don’t want to see her and I have this extreme feeling of anger towards her. I feel like this is finally the thing she’s gonna hate me for. I once heard that on earth we see sin on a spectrum or a scale that some sin is worse then others. However, to God who is looking down, where we see a stack, He can only see the top of the stack so it just looks like red dots to him so all sin is the same to Him. I really struggle with the idea of God, but I feel like I see it the same way, bad is bad regardless of how bad. At least that’s how I see it within myself, not others. So when I do something I perceive as bad it is just bad and makes me bad and to me that is logical. For example, when someone commits murder they are labeled as a bad, awful person, regardless of if they have done 1000 amazing things in their life. Even if they aren’t convicted for 30 years and they completely turn their life around and do amazing things, it does not matter. They still did something bad and people will hunt them down so they can be punished. So why is any other bad thing any different? People say it’s real event OCD and that these things I worry that I’ve done are not a big deal. But, if I’m worried about something that really happened then how can it be irrational? I have never murdered anyone but I feel like I have given that’s they way I feel about any potentially bad thing I’ve done. So when I can’t get reassurance sometimes I feel like it confirms that feeling of bad and makes me spiral more because then I think not only do I see myself this way, but now so does this other person. I know that this is a long post, but can anyone relate? Is reassurance sometimes okay?

Wondering how long ya'll have had Real Event OCD, since I think this is probably one of the worst types you can have (I'm biased). 1. How long? 2. Have you gone to ERP? 3. What has it done to you and your life? 4. What's helped? for me -- 1. I've had it and tolerated it with no professional therapy for like 7 years (ugghhhh) 2. Have not been to ERP but I'm trying to do more research 3. I feel like it's ruined my brain, my peace of mind, my happiness, negatively affected working, being present, wasted so much time ruminating, less social, etc. So many terrible ripple effects. I feel like it's destroyed my brain health. So many headaches, migraines, feeling "off" all the time, less focus, less everything relative to where I was before. I feel like I'm in Purgatory, stuck in the same loop that never ends, perpetually fkd. It's a daily struggle. 4. I guess learning more about OCD, "delaying" compulsions (but that gets OCD'd too), this site has helped, How about you?