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⚠️FLASHY GIF: Louise from Bob's Burgers laughing in front of raging fire⚠️ I'd say ~90% of my OCD is obsessive thoughts and it flipping sucks because for the most part it goes like this OCD: *insert disgusting and extremely upsetting thought here* Me: Ok PLEASE I will do ANYTHING just give me an out! OCD:

i woke up this morning with anxiety and i started spiraling and i had to continuously tell myself that i’m okay and i’m fine which i feel as if i’m doing it over and over again. my ocd is telling me that since it’s been a few good days that i want all of these things to happen and be real. im hoping to be able to move forward after this morning. does anyone else get like this or feel this way or is it just me?

hi everyone! i have had pretty sever ocd for five years now, and I have no idea how to make it any better. my ocd centers around contamination, perfectionism, suicidal thoughts(fortunately this one is rare), and other random bouts. does anyone have any tips at all for managing these thoughts? anything helps!!!

Hi, I’ve been struggling with OCD since last year after a really bad trip i had from smoking weed and since then new themes have come up, but the most distressing one has been Schizophrenia OCD or Mental Health OCD. My brother had an episode in 2019 and I have severe trauma and possible PTSD from the situation. He was diagnosed with Schizophrenia. Last year I started to get a really bad obsession that I am going to end up like him and develop Schizophrenia. I did the worst thing possible and looked it up and found that you have a higher chance of developing it if someone in your family has it. I also have a grandpa who has it as well. I kept thinking “what if I end up just like my brother” or “what if that thought or action i just did means i’m showing early signs of it.” This has caused deep distress and started a bunch of compulsions like avoiding being near my brother, avoiding drinking after him or going in his room, or sitting in a spot he did. I kept thinking if I did those things then I would possibly end up just like him. When my mom or siblings would compare me to him in anyway even if it was positive it gave me so much anxiety and rumination. I started therapy in August of last year and it has helped tremendously, but this week my brother had another episode and it triggered a huge OCD flare up. It’s especially bad right now as I’m typing this, but my mind keeps saying “what if you’re just like him but yours may be worse” or “what if you sympathizing with him means you have some similar symptoms.” I’ve been crying a lot and super anxious. It seems like anytime I think “oh it’s just OCD” or “i’ve dealt with this before I know how to handle it,” something doesn’t allow me to accept that, and instead I start thinking that I’m going to develop it too. I have a therapy appointment soon but I just feel so isolated right now in my thoughts and it’s especially hard to explain it to my family. If anyone has any tips I would love that!

i am genuinely so ugly. like it’s so bad i cant look at myself in the mirror. i got dressed up for family and i just hate everything about myself. im so scared im going to hurt somebody out of this strong hatred of myself. i just want to feel good about myself again. i don’t know what to do. i keep getting irritated with my family and im so worried i’ll hurt them and snap. i want this to stop i cant live like this

i’d love to talk to anyone abt any ocd struggles if you’re interested, or even just anything in general. just feels good to get it all out once in a while :)

i keep accidentally looking at peoples private parts and i don’t mean to but i just happen to glance and i hate it because i feel like i make them uncomfortable. like yesterday my friend was talking about how her shirt made her uncomfortable because it was low on her chest and i glanced down there and i feel so bad cus i made her even more uncomfortable than she was before. i naturally keep my eyes to the floor but sometimes my end up on someone’s butt and i have to look up and tell myself how horrible of a person i am that i did that.

I’m really struggling. I’ve had BDD as long as I can remember- most days I feel so unbelievably sad and hopeless and I’ve never known what it’s like not to feel this way. I’m constantly thinking about which people are looking at me, what lights are on and off, how I can move my hair in front of my face so people can’t see me, what clothes I’m wearing, how to lose weight or dress to look skinny, and I spend hours at a time digging bloody holes in my face just because a tiny pimple felt so excruciating to know about without getting rid of. I have acne all over my face and I feel like sobbing whenever I see myself in a mirror. I can’t have my makeup off in front of people (haven’t been able to in a decade since I was 9 years old) but I also can’t sleep with makeup on, and this makes it so I can’t travel with my family or friends or stay at people’s houses unless I have my own room and bathroom (which is obviously not the norm). I miss classes and socializing often because I feel like I can’t go outside in the light so I sit alone in the dark for days at a time. I push everyone in my life away because of it. I was hospitalized a couple of times for an eating disorder and had to spend months at a time in inpatient treatment, so I’ve tried lots of intensive therapy and outside of treatment I met weekly with a therapist for 3 years. I’m just feeling so lost, alone, and helpless. I need advice, help, something. I always wonder whether I’d just be better off not living, even though I know that decision can’t even be on the table. It sucks.

I turn 18 in one month and on one hand I’m excited but on the other I’m nervous about the pressure that comes with this age, new responsibilities, the pressure to move out like everyone else my age…has anyone else felt this way? What ways have you felt less stressed?

Is anyone else scared to not fight their intrusive thoughts about seriously hurting people and even killing them? Like the premise of ERP is to just let the thoughts flow and not do compulsions, but I’m scared if I don’t stop them or ruminate to keep them in check, then they will get out of hand and I will suddenly want to act on them. I’m terrified that suddenly I won’t be the kind, empathetic, harmless person I’ve always been. It doesn’t make any sense to me. I also fear that it’s not OCD and I’ve just been faking it or trying to convince myself that it is OCD.

My therapist suggested I really think about which of my worries about germs are based in scientific fact, but when I look things up on the internet, it just gives me more worries. How can I do research when I have contamination ocd? Sorry if this doesn’t make sense

it was quiet for a second and my mind was like it’s quiet cause you want all of these thoughts to happen. i didn’t get anxious like i usually do and it made me worried that this isn’t OCD and this is all me. now my mind keeps going back on this and i genuinely hate it cause the anxiety i used to get when this all first happened is not the same rn and it makes me even more worried that it’s not like that anymore cause i want these things to happen. i hate that this is all happening and i feel completely out of it. i feel like out of body and all stuck in my head and it sucks completely. i keep getting spike of anxiety and that is scary. does anyone else feel this way or knows what i’m talking about? i feel like this is just me and no one else gets this way and that is also very scary.

i just got a fortune from a fortune cookie that read: “we are what arises in our thoughts” are you serious?? 😭 why did i have to get that fortune!! it’s stressing me out i just wanted to throw that thing away!

i’m trying so very hard to overcome ocd and try to live my live above it but i can’t seem to get through a single day without that annoying little voice in my head saying “you’re crazy”, “youre a bad person”, or “you’ll become a bad person”. which is probably the most terrifying thing to hear it’s like i’ve become afraid of myself a fear of becoming crazy which is making me crazy🤦🏼‍♀️ i’m not looking for reassurance, but any advice😭 i’m really struggling.

i am so terrified i might hurt somebody. i have harm ocd, and lately, the things i do to make myself feel better (my compulsions) aren’t helping anymore and i don’t know what to do. i’m scared i have the urge to hurt somebody, specifically my family. i hate being in the same house as them out of fear i might want to one day grab something and kill them. i don’t. i would never dream of it. but i’m so terrified. i keep on posting about the same things, and i’m sorry, i just don’t know what else to do to make myself feel better. i know i’m supposed to sit with uncertainty, but it’s just so hard 🙁

I haven’t been able to sleep properly for 2 weeks bc of intrusive thoughts they always seem to get worse as soon as I’m getting ready for bed. Any tips on how to manage this? I drink a lot of caffeine but that’s never influenced getting to sleep before

i got this app because i have order and symmetry ocd, but after reading the descriptions, i relate some of the other types of ocd, and can’t tell if i have that as well. all the time i notice that i “mess” with my eyelashes- i don’t pull them out or anything, but i kind of bend them in a way that feels “just right,” but it generally goes on for minutes or hours because i physically can’t get myself to stop because it doesn’t feel just right. is that maybe perfectionism ocd? i’ve noticed recently too that when i remember old memories, like ones 10+ years ago, i wonder if they’re really real or if they’re just a fake occurrence that i made up. i especially think this when i remember some of my earliest memories, like from being a toddler, and i feel like there’s no way i can prove they’re real. is that false memory? (ofc this isn’t a professional diagnosis, but it’s be nice to hear from other people who do have it to give insight)

Hello, I’m new here. I don’t have a formal diagnosis, just sharing my experiences with my obsessive thoughts. The only compulsion I really have is note taking. I feel the need to hoard most of my thoughts and write extensive to do lists, even scolding myself in notes like “be better!” or “STOP being the way you are.” When driving or unavailable to write things down, I have to repeat the thoughts in my head so I won’t forget until I can “save” them. Does anyone else have any experience with this fear of forgetting/not living the perfect life? My notes also revolve around anything someone might causally mention, taking turmeric for example. Will I ever incorporate that into my routine? No, but I write it down just in case because otherwise I’m convinced I won‘t live a healthy, fulfilling life. This all started when I lost a relative and also my house. I wonder if those losses made me subconsciously afraid to lose more? I don’t know. On the bright side, my current medication has been helping my depression. I am able to function and get out of bed, for the most part. But when I am in class or work, I have such crippling self doubt. I don’t feel like I am capable of anything. I don’t trust myself with any tasks. It really gets me down, my thoughts just spiral and I can’t see myself being able to hold down a job that involves working with people…that leads to more note taking of how I can improve. I get such anxiety if I don’t know every little thing there is to know, necessary or not. I get so caught up in it that I can’t even do the bare minimum I DO know without messing up. Even my class notes are full of irrelevant notes from my obsessive thoughts that appear during a lesson, and a girl that sits near me laughs because of how crazy my notebook looks.

i told my therapist about erps i could try and do (like her bringing a knife or scissors or a lighter next time i see her) and she thinks it’s a good idea, but now i’m having anxiety about when she actually brings them 😭 i’m scared i might act out on intrusive thoughts and hurt her. is this normal? like is it normal to feel anxious when you know you’re going to do an erp 😭

I just got diagnosed with OCD and anxiety today and prescribed Prozac. I’m feeling happy I’m finally getting help but a little cautious about moving forward with medications but I think it’s very necessary for me.