How the fuck do you deal with OCD? Especially obsessions with a sexual theme...

How the fuck do you deal with OCD? Especially obsessions with a sexual theme? I am worried I will do some gay shit even though I don't want to because I keep having thoughts I am really attracted to men and transgendered. Are SSRIs the only way? Will they actually fix the OCD? This shit scares the fuck out of me I wish it was just washing hands this is so much worse.

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Since when have you been having those thoughts?

Am sorry you are a fag, just go full fag and live your life, otherwise you will be unhappy

Probably around 6 months now maybe longer to a lesser degree. I've been trying to get my life together but this seems to be the biggest obstacle it causes me to lose concentration at work. I've spent some days where I accomplished almost nothing.

I don't think I'm really gay I always liked women but I have these thoughts which I don't understand.

The only way I know to control the damage is this. Maybe only half the time you have any control of the thoughts. That one half of the time, how you choose to deal with them (or let them die out) will make all the difference. See a therapist, I think, one who understands OCD and isn’t too loony themselves.

In most cultures you'd be hard pressed to find something more impure than gayness. It would dirty your hands forever, and leave an asymmetrical mark on your soul.

I feel like this is a question for a psychiatrist. OCD is a horrendous thing to be afflicted with, and it's past the point where the illness is more dangerous than the amphetamines they use as medication.

If you are determined to avoid mind-altering substances - consider maybe even talking to a priest, even if you aren't religious. If faith can cure alcoholism (call it what you want, but it sometimes does) then maybe it can cure your compulsions. Just a crapshoot, though.

this is a dramatization of what op already said. having a few gay inclinations isn’t even a big deal, and OCD is just an anxiety disorder, not demonic possesion.

I have been watching this religious guy on youtube who talks about meditating a lot it is pretty helpful.

And there was some event that you think that could have started the thoughts?

>OCD is just an anxiety disorder

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I think it was when my anxiety and depression got really bad this started. I am in therapy right now I think some of it comes from childhood bullying but I still have the OCD unfortunately.

It is related to anxiety.

My evolution was: panic attacks, general anxiety (anxiety almost all the time) and OCD.

And depression as a product of all of that.

And what is your therapist doing?

We usually talk about whatever I choose to bring up. She did tell me about exposure therapy and letting the thoughts come and go and try not to latch onto them. It works sometimes but not always.

I'm having the same thing except I'm female, OP. I posted about my situation a week or two ago and someone suggested OCD. Mine's about romantic interest rather than sexual, since I've accepted for a long time I'm sexually attracted to women (or really just to sexuality in general). I'm genuinely terrified I'll fall in love with a girl and get married or something. Probably the very fact I find this terrifying is a sign I'm not romantically attracted to women, but who knows. I've always felt, even before these fearful thoughts, that I could imagine the right woman coming along despite my usual interest in men.

I'm trying to make homosexuality less scary to me, like thinking through how I'd actually tell people close to me if I were dating a girl. As a first step I've gotten comfortable with applying the "bisexual" label to myself, even if I'm still really averse to the idea of ending up with a woman. Would you try the same thing?

When I'm calm I easily recognize myself as mostly straight with some bisexual tendencies, and I'm totally okay with it. Just live my life as a straight and then come out if I ever get a female crush serious enough for me for action, right? When my anxiety or OCD symptoms kick in, it becomes a matter of relaxing myself physiologically and convincing myself to trust the conclusions I drew when I was calm.

And also please remember that despite what Jow Forums tells you, sexual orientation is complex. I was reading these posts online where people ask sex therapists things like "I like women this way and men that way, what the hell am I???" and the expert answer to these types of questions is invariably "it makes you a person who likes women this way and men that other way, so just find a person/lifestyle that works for you and don't get caught up on the labels." Don't let anyone convince you that having various gay thoughts or arousals means you have to get your rainbow flag out and pick up a dude.

Really hope this helps you. I'm with you here.

Thanks it was helpful to hear another perspective. Most of my thoughts are more about being transgender than gay which terrifies me more. I try reminding myself I don't actually do anything that would make me transgender except I did fap to the thought of being a woman but usually I don't fap to that. I've never actually fapped to gay porn so I probably wouldn't say I'm gay or anything and I definitely don't feel attracted to men romantically. That's why these thoughts are confusing because I can think about it logically and see I'm not really gay or transgender but I still get doubts and anxiety.

I have had that type of intrusive thoughts too but only sometimes in the past. And I think they started because my father kept telling me if I was gay because I had no girlfriend. I knew that I wasn't gay and that my father said that because he couldn't understand that I had no girlfriend but still I had the intrusive thoughts in some situations. One situation was when I was going to a male psychologist. I think that he could be gay for the way he spoke and gestures and because I was talking with him about my intimate problems and he tried to understand me and all of that, sometimes I felt like an attraction for him, maybe not sexual but for affection. It was pretty awkward situation because I think he could notice it because of my stare and face. But I have read that having feelings to your psychologist is something that happens a lot.

>never fapped to gay porn
But you did watch it, fighting the compulsions to look away or feel sick... What made you think that was a good idea?

So, what's next? Are you going to watch the weird side of youtube until you end up on Jow Forums? You should've seen this coming.

I thought it would prove to myself I'm not gay. It's true it was a bad idea.

I think we've found the source of the problem. If you use the same words to bring it up to your shrink then he ought to be able to help. Thanks for being so honest, it's not easy to open up about things like this. Hope you're doing better after this

>Are SSRIs the only way?
Have you taken them?

I know how you feel op. Been diagnosed with ocd since 2009. My delusions were religious in nature, but included degenerate stuff like indicent thoughts about Christian figures. Sorry but only effective treatment is going to a psychiatrist for therapy and medicine.

No I'm not taking them right now I was skeptical of them but it was mostly because of the depression which I'm more capable of managing on my own.

So your doctor prescribed you SSRIs, you started taking them but then you stopped because you don't think they work or that they could be bad?

I never accepted them. I am still unsure if I should. I guess if it stays this bad I could. I have just heard bad things about them.

>I have just heard bad things about them.
Like what? that they turn you into a zombie? that they numb you?

That they don't help and take forever to get off. Also they kill your sex drive.

I’ve had ocd since childhood. I’ve come to accept that it’ll always be around in some form. The best advice I can give is to redirect your obsessions if you can. Like become obsessed with something constructive like sports or art or whatever. It won’t happen immediately you have to train your brain. Meds can help boost you or if you have severe ocd

The difficulties with sex drive are a possible symptom. Some people experience it.

But here's the thing. if you have this symptom, you DON'T have to stay on the medication! Talk to your doctor and they can figure out a new medication that won't have that as a side effect. But try it out, first.

Seriously, people on here don't realize that medication is a collaborative thing. The doctor prescribes you something, you give feedback, and the doctor can and should change it if the symptoms are impacting your life too much. There is nothing keeping you trapped on that specific medication for the rest of your life.