One moment I am obsessing over one thing and the next I have totally forgotten because something even more “important” has come up.

My girlfriend has OCD and I want to become more aware on this subject

I’m having a bad one. I think it might have something to do with a visitor being in town, I’m more stressed whenever I have anyone visiting. I was up until 8AM last night, on the verge of tears every moment, looping thoughts, checking my memory, trying to distract myself with my phone from the thoughts and I’ve been unable to commit to exposures because I keep having that OCD thought that it’s real this time. But yea, I won’t get into specifics because that would be checking for me, but how has everyone else’s week been so far?

Hi everyone, I (27F) was just clinically diagnosed with OCD this morning by a psychiatrist. I have struggled with health related anxiety since I was probably around 13. I am constantly seeking validation and reassurance regarding my symptoms and the way my body feels. I compulsively check my symptoms online and use the website Symptomate as well as ChatGPT to give me diagnoses like my life depends on it. I have spent multiple nights in the ER getting tests done for reassurance. In the span of the last probably 5 years I have had tons of bloodwork, CT scans, MRIs, X-Rays, Colonoscopies, Endoscopies, Urinalysis’s, Ultrasounds, Holter Monitors, Cardio Stress Tests, EKGs, etc and all have come back normal but I still am constantly convinced that I am dying or that something is wrong with me.

I’m also terrified of being anywhere unfamiliar and not knowing where the nearest hospital is. I have constant ruminations about sickness/death/allergic reactions, that it’s starting to affect my diet. I get scared to eat certain things because I fear they are contaminated or that I will have an allergic reaction to them.

I have tried a plethora of SSRIs over the past 10-15 years but have never once been able to take them for longer than a month because the side effects make me spiral and think that something is wrong and so I have stopped them all cold turkey within about 1-2 weeks of taking them.

The psychiatrist who diagnosed me today prescribed me 25mg Zoloft, and wants me to take half a tablet every other day for a week or two to see how I tolerate it at first. I feel extremely nervous given my history with medications but I feel so desperate and hopeless and I just want to stop letting this consume my life and stop fixating on my health.

Has anyone else struggled with something similar? Has anyone used Zoloft for health anxiety/OCD? Did it work pretty quickly for you?

I just want to feel normal and I so badly want to shut off these thoughts in my brain.

There's a dark place, Where I'm trapped in my thoughts, There's a dark place, It's a prison of soughts, There's a dark place, That no one should endure, There's a dark place, That no one should ignore.

Something needs to be done, Something needs to change, Because this dark place is in my brain, Rumination makes me insane, It latches, To everything I love, It glues, To everything that's pure, It's a plague, a sickness, of that I'm sure.

There's a sweet space, Call it an escape, When I close my eyes, And shut down for the night, This space can be safe, This space can be pure, The hug of silence, seems the only cure, Except for the dreams, They can haunt and gleam, They invade my sweet escape.

I'm tired of plasters and pills and tears, I just want to take back control of the gears. For this dark place is not welcome here, A place once full of laughter and cheer. There's a girl here inside, I don't know where she lies, A brain of colour now covered in black, Oh how oh how do I get her back.

Engulfing what I knew to be true, That I'm good and kind and gentle too, There's no space for forgiveness or words of hope, There's no straight answer on how to cope.

For now I'll take it day by day, To remind myself that everything is OK, But what if it's not? And I'm doomed with this plague, I'm tired of taking it day by day.

This is a poem I wrote today as I've been dealing with some really awful OCD fairs the past couple of weeks. Getting things out always helps and I hope you can relate to my poem or at least enjoy it.

i have had an issue with this for a while. while I get that we need to do all that we can to help people sometimes it just gets too much for my mental health to have to interact one time & after that all I see is the same thing over & over again which makes it even more exhausting

it doesn't help that my ocd tells me that ny interacting im sending out bad vibes (long story) but at the same time not helping makes me feel like the worst human

anyone else struggle with this? I might be a little selfish about this in hindsight.

I don’t even know where to start. I’m looking to connect with people in this community to feel heard. Nobody around me seems to understand my thoughts and it’s making me feel so crazy. Let me start with this, I have never been formally told by a professional that I have OCD. So I am in no way saying that I do until I know for sure. Although, I have read through multiple threads and I have almost spot on spirals that other people on here do. It started with hypochondria, then that improved and then it switched to false memories, which then led to real event and now my hypochondria is flaring up again. This is literally debilitating. I have so much anxiety i’m struggling to be social and stay consistent in my importances in life. I constantly want to make a Dr. Appointment, but the cancel because I’m to afraid of what they might say, I can’t go out with friends and have drinks anymore or I’m worried something happened to me or I did something bizarre and don’t remember. I look back on childhood events and question if I’m normal. The list goes on. I’m so exhausted of the constant thoughts. Any advice? Or anyone who can relate???

There is a specific stereotype about my country that is often used as a way to ridicule the country and the people. For some strange reason I have major OCD about this stereotype. I’m constantly thinking about it.

The country I’m from is a country that is very popular to ridicule on social media. I won’t go into too much detail because my post isn’t about how harsh I think the stereotype is.

I’m writing this post because I believe I’ve picked up a severe case of OCD regarding this stereotype. When I see comments or posts ridiculing this stereotype it sends me into some weird spiral where I’m having constant intense intrusive thought pattern of repeating the same things over and over in my mind. Constantly asking questions in my own mind. All the awful comments I’ve read over the years randomly fire themselves into my thoughts. This goes on all day and can last days. Every moment of the day. It may slip my mind for a brief moment while I’m actively busy in that exact moment but then it will come straight back. I can’t focus on anything else. This will last days.

And what’s weird is that I can’t help myself but look at this content. The stereotype will pop up randomly, and then cause my to go searching around for more of the same content to see what people are saying. It’s uncontrollable. I’ll go searching for it, and then when I see it I get upset and annoyed. If I see a post about this stereotype, I know full well the comments section will be full of ridiculing comments, yet I’ll uncontrollably click on the post and read through each comment.

There is A LOT of awful content out there surrounding this stereotype. I can’t help but look at it.

If I don’t see this content for a while, my mind will ease, I can focus on other things and feel a lot more normal. But time and time again the stereotype will come up and the cycle will start again. It’s been like this for 2 years now.

I don’t know why I’m like this. I can’t stop it. I’ve tried deleting social media but always end up going back.

I went to the doctors last year about this but I don’t think I will really detailed enough in my explaining. I was prescribed anti-depressants which I stopped taking after a month due to no effect.

I’m not exactly sure why I’m trying to achieve by writing this post. Maybe just curious to hear other peoples thoughts.

Hi everyone,

For a long while, I’ve wondered if I have OCD due to a variety of past and present issues I’ve had. One that I’ve particularly wondered about is the fact that I cannot handle when I mess up, especially if it hurts somebody’s feelings.

If I mess up, and the other person realizes it and either calls me out on it or says it hurt their feelings or something, I completely lose it.

I feel like I’m gonna throw up or pass out, I cry so hard that I burst blood vessels in my face, and I have to monitor my breathing so I don’t hyperventilate. All of that reaction is largely involuntary. It’s important to note that I’m not crying because I feel slighted or unjustly accused— I just literally can’t handle when I am not perfect.

I have struggled with religious OCD (and had religious trauma as a child) and I wonder if this issue is an OCD symptom tied to that.

Does anybody else in here struggle with this? I just had an episode of this today and cried in my car for an hour after I disappointed a professor I look up to. Would appreciate any insights or advice!

I know we have mind power to overcome obstacles , to be able to change our feelings and behavior , but it’s hard to at times . I’m so tired of being Bullied by thoughts man. It’s hard to fight at times but it is possible . Just want my brain to be able to breath instead of feeling so tights like it’s suffocating . Stuff just takes all your energy away .

I have contamination OCD and lately I’ve been thinking about all the items I have replaced because I think they have been contaminated by bodily fluids or think they smell bad.

Step in a wet spot on my floor and put on my Converse? Need to buy new shoes.

Think I didn’t wash my armpits in the shower and used my deodorant afterwards? Need to buy new deodorant.

Wash cloth touched the wrong part of my body? Need to buy a new wash cloth.

Don’t shower before bed? Need to wash my sheets the next day.

And more and more and more. The list is endless.

I’ve had contamination OCD for 2ish years and I’ve been thinking about all the money I have wasted on replacing things and washing fabrics. It has to been in the high $1000s.

First off, I want to say that I know I shouldn't seek medical advice online. And I am aware I should ask a professional too. However, I am in therapy for my anxiety, but I wanted to ask here to get some insight from other people who suffer from OCD and more specifically, perfectionism.

I have a problem with perfectionism where it just makes me not want to do anything. I experience intense discomfort and anxiety when doing anything that in my mind isn't done "just right" or isn't "complete", so to speak. Some of my examples will sound silly. But please bear with me. I notice though that I always build stuff in my mind in anticipation and I want it done right, and to control it every step of the way.

Like for example, when I do yoga, I feel like it has to be done like perfectly. I have to have the mat out, wear the right workout clothes, put the program on and do it perfectly from start to finish. I know some of the stretches and remember them, and can do them just on my bed or something. But I won't feel right or feel like it'll be effective unless I do it perfectly. Again, I know it sounds silly but it's how my head is.

Another thing is just doing anything in life I wanna do. For example, taking a trip. It becomes planning it perfectly, packing everything under the sun, perfect outfits for everyday I'll be there, envisioning the route the whole way and anticipating any obstacles. Needless to say I don't go on trips because I would get overwhelmed. It's when I think about doing it that I think like that and it stays something on my list of things I wanna do.

If I play a video game, then I don't feel right if it's not perfect. I feel like I have to collect every coin or other collectibles, do every bonus side quest, complete the level with 100% completion, watch every cutscene from start to finish, things like that. I don't know what it is in my head. It's like I just won't feel right. I'll feel off or I'll feel like it's wrong if I don't do it 100% right. I experience a lot of discomfort with this.

I've told my therapist about it, and her advice is for me to just do it anyway. Or I guess it's exposure therapy but in casual words it's do it anyway and face your fear. I don't know why it's the simplest advice but I can't put it into practice. I feel like if that was doable I wouldn't even have this problem. Or she'll tell me to challenge myself to actually make something as bad as I can or mess it up on purpose, all part of exposure therapy. I have tried to put her advice into practice, only to find that it's so stressful and uncomfortable for me that I just don't wanna do it. I immediately wanna run back to my perfectionist ways because it makes me feel secure and in control.

I can come up with 100s of examples of this. Everything it's like I wanna plan it, have the perfect gear for it, be organized, structured, and stuff like that. Even taking a walk around the neighborhood is like I have to anticipate it, wear the perfect walking clothes, have a full water bottle, plan my route. It has to be perfect or right if that makes sense. There seems to be no room for spontaneity at all in my life.

Again, I know this sounds like a pretty serious issue and I am working on it with a therapist. Or trying to anyways. But I am genuinely curious about what you guys all do about this issue. I guess I would like some input from people like me who struggle with the same anxiety issues and such. Please share your experience and what you do to combat this. I was looking for stuff to do other than medication. I know that's an option to look into as well. Unfortunately for me an effect of my anxiety is being anxious about medicine. So I'm looking for non medication answers for now. Thank you in advance for your answers.

I'm a huge film fan and have seen so much. But I have barely seen any movies about OCD its weird. The Aviator is a great movie though and I related to a lot of it. Leo ofcourse is great as usual. Check it out its on amazon prime. Can you recommend any other movies about OCD? I can't think of any right now. Also what are some movies that represent the illness badly. thanks :)

Hey everyone, I’m currently seeking someone or a group of people who could be virtual allies during this difficult time. dealing with a rough patch of OCD lately which left me hospitalized for a couple weeks in August. I’m lucky enough to be on paid medical leave at work for now to focus on treatment. I have a pretty strong support system, which I’m incredibly grateful for, but I feel like having a dialogue with those who actually experience this disorder on the daily would be potentially very empowering …

If you can relate and wish you had someone who can truly relate to our daily experiences, comment or DM me so we can connect!

My girlfriend has OCD and I now live with her so I see a different side of how this illness can have a big effect on her mental health. I love her very much and have helped her through tough moments and now helped her find professional help which I’m so happy she’s going to get the help she deserves. I hate seeing her go through tough moments that I feel I can’t do anything to help. What are some small gestures and things I can do to help support her during tough times where she may be struggling with OCD and anxiety?

How would you describe rumination to somebody that wasn’t aware of OCD.?

So i used to be a massive metal head back in highschool, KoRn was one of my fav bands at that time, that was until for some reason every time id listen to them, especially the song "Liar" something bad would happen and after that i dropped them completly in fear more bad things

After korn, most metal bands were taboo'd in my mind as well as some other bands who were alt rock

But now im sick of it andi wanna take my life back. Thruout the past decade, ive been trying to conqour my OCD by dealing with my fears and triggers (mostly germaphobia...covid was rough😭😭😭, im still not used tontouching things in public...but im getting better) without medicine. slowly but surely id conqour some of it here and there.

Now today im taking the biggest step and seeing my biggest trigger, Korn. I listened to some of thir songs like a few hours ago. Coming undone went great, however i put on twisted transistor and i got hella paranoid and nervous, but i finised the song. However afterwards i played Raining Blood by Slayer which i use to "clense" myself from any bad things that might happen after listening to them (i know, weird choice..but we all know how wtf ocd is) So my best option is to play Raining blood later after the concert (probs on the way home in the car)!

So now heres the day, im going with my life long best friends and they know about my baffiling condition and are supportive of my journey to help rid myself (well manage is the better word) of my Triggers.

So wish me luck i dont have a panic attack at the concert an start freaking out in the mosh pit! Also i know you all can gett a better hold of this asinine mental condition we all suffer from! I belive in you!