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20-something female. I was diagnosed with OCD when I was 14 and it has been an everyday part of my life even longer than that. I am currently not being treated nor eating any medication and this blog is my attempt at sharing my struggles and maybe making more sense of brain.

[melodyhansen]

To face the noise as the ocean, to stand tall like the waves, courageously

[pure-o-cd]

I haven’t been on here for about a year. 

When I started this I was in a very emotionally unstable place where I had started to isolate myself from my friends. I am in a better place mentally right now. However I still haven’t reconnected with most of my old friends and I really struggle making new connections. 

I most likely won’t be very active on here going forward. If I get any questions I will try to reply but I might take a while answering.

[pure-o-cd]

Could be pure mental so I’m not sure what to believe. I tried explaining that my research lead me to believe that it could be mental and explained pure ocd and she never heard of it before. Should I mention this to my psychiatrist or just continue being treated for my generalized anxiety?

My short answer is to stay on the treatment you are receiving, most likely the treatment for GAD and OCD shouldn’t be too different. I don’t however think it would be wrong to keep mentioning your thoughts to your practitioner. As you say compulsions could be performed mentally. They don’t need to be these big rituals that you do or follow that everyone can notice.  I do understand the difficulty about addressing it though. I was diagnosed at a fairly young age and every time I have seen a practitioner as an adult the OCD has in a way taken a backseat and not been something that have been properly adressed.  From what I know clear compulsions are what most practitioners associate with OCD. Therefore a good way to discuss it might be from a perspective where you bring up and discuss your mental compulsions and also explain how they impact your life quality. 2/2.

[pure-o-cd]

How does one go about discussing OCD with a physiatrist? From research I’m pretty sure I have pure OCD. I see a therapist for anxiety, which I started seeing before I realized that I might have OCD. I mentioned having really bad and frequent intrusive thoughts to my therapist and mentioned that I’ve been researching OCD and have a lot of the symptoms but she automatically dismissed it bc she said that people with ocd compulsively do things. But my own research lead me to believe the compulsions

I received this as two questions, I will answer below the second part. 1/2.

[pure-o-cd]

hey! i also struggle with pure o intrusive thoughts and made a blog to help myself and others fight it :)

Hi! 

[margomoment]

My therapist made a good point. It’s totally okay and probably very reasonable for you to not consume scary content. Horror movies, books, reddit paranormal stories, ghost stories, etc. They might not be your current obsessions, but people with OCD have very imaginative brains and that type of content can be triggering to a new obsession. It is no one else’s business why you choose not to consume the horror genre.

[mulhollandrivedyke]

a study in OCD

[t-a-r-0-t]

Hey, stop scrolling.

Everyone who is reading this: I’m so glad you’re alive. I’m so proud of you. You are loved. I’m here. Don’t give up, we’re almost there.

Pass it on.

[kiss-my-piss]

Resources for Male Victims of Abuse

How to Recognize Abuse

**Emotional Abuse of Men

**Sexual Assault of Men and Boys

**Men Can Be Victims of Abuse, Too

**Domestic Violence Against Men - Know the Signs

**Information for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse

**Help for Battered Men

**Battered Men, Battered Husbands

**For Male Survivors of Rape and Sexual Abuse

**Male Survivors of Incest and Sexual Child Abuse

**Help for Men Who Are Being Abused

Help Lines (Phone and Text Chat)

National Domestic Violence Hotline: [phone] (or 1-800-787-3224 for TTY)

National Dating Abuse Hotline: [phone]

National Sexual Assault Hotline: [phone]

National Suicide Prevention Hotline: [phone]

Domestic Abuse Helpline for Men: 1-888-743-5754 (US and Canada)

Hopeline Suicide Prevention Hotline: [phone]

National Hotline for Victims of Crimes: 1-855-484-2846

National Human Trafficking Hotline: [phone]

Polaris Human Trafficking Text Line: Text “BEFREE” to 233733

**1in6/RAINN Chat for Male Survivors of Sexual Abuse

Support Groups

**1in6 Support Groups

Male Survivor Support Groups

Pandora’s Aquarium - Chat (includes chats specifically for men)

Pandora’s Aquarium - Forums (includes forums specifically for men)

How to Find a Shelter

Domestic Shelters Search (shelter locator with filters to find shelters specifically for male survivors)

SAFE (located in Austin, TX, but states they can help people find resources/shelters in their area)

How to Find a Therapist

**Male Survivor Therapist Directory

Mental Health Services Locator

Resources for and About the Abuse of Kids/Teens

Love is Respect Hotline: [phone] (Hotline for teens)

Darkness to Light Helpline (Sexual Abuse): 1-866-367-5444

Darkness to Light Text Line: Text “LIGHT” to 741741

ChildHelp USA National Child Abuse Hotline: [phone]

Children of the Night Hotline (Children in Prostitution): 1-800-551-1300

National Runaway Safeline: 1-800-786-2929

Covenant House Nineline (Homeless Youth): 1-800-999-9999

Stop it Now Hotline: [phone] (for adults concerned about the welfare of a child)

Jennifer Ann’s Group (for teens experiencing dating violence)

Other Resource Lists 

(While I tried to include the most helpful resources I could here (i.e., resources that lend themselves to one-on-one communication, individual reading, etc.), there are plenty of other great resources, including regional resources, listed in these links. Some of the resources are specific to men and others aren’t, but they are all helpful for male survivors.)

**Male Survivor (regional, international, and online resources)

**Husband Battering: Men and Domestic Violence

**Help for Battered Men: Online Resources

**Help for Battered Men: National and International Resources

**Help for Guys: Help for Victims (some resources for men, many general resources)

[mogai-watch]

This is so important. 

[byebyethinspo]

Do not “wait to get worse”.

I don’t care if you’ve “been worse”

Your body is tired of this.

You deserve help in this moment.

[panic-potato-blog]

I needed this today, thanks.

[baggijaggi-deactivated20221118]

Additionally: It doesn’t matter if other people “have it worse”.

You deserve help.

[darkbookworm13-deactivated20240]

Needed this, it’s so hard to remember.

[ocd-suggestions]

👏Aces 👏 and 👏 Aros 👏 belong 👏 in 👏 the 👏 LGBTQ+👏 community 👏

[ocd-suggestions]

Seeing a few comments on this post, let me clear something up:

👏 Cishet 👏 Aces 👏 and 👏 Aros 👏 also 👏 belong 👏 in 👏 the 👏 LGBTQ+ 👏 community 👏

[sapphicuserboxes]

this user wants ace people to feel safe in the LGBT+ community

[pure-o-cd]

When talking about my OCD diagnosis I switch between saying ”I have OCD”, I am diagnosed with OCD and ”I am OCD”.

I think I only say the latter because of how the term OCD is being used in mainstream media. At the same time I feel like mainstream media has made the term synonymous with carachteristics that I don’t feel (at least outwards) fit with me.

I am also wondering if it could be construed as problematic to say ”I am OCD”, because of the way it is used?

[compulsiveobsessing]

I can’t stop obsessing over rly “problematic” shit I did impulsively a long time ago and I feel like I truly am a bad person. I don’t know how to forgive myself.

I’ve gone through this before, too. I used to think about it before bed and couldn’t get over something I’d said without thinking. 

Forgiving yourself in a scenario such as yours is something that will take time. Remind yourself that you were younger then, less experienced, less knowledgeable, and that the very fact you feel so guilty about this means that you have grown. 

Forgiving yourself will take time, but you really deserve forgiveness. You deserve to move on. Don’t hold on to that guilt; forgive yourself, love yourself, and be your best self moving forward. 

Take care <3

[pure-o-cd]

This is such a great post and very relatable for me. Sometimes I can still feel guilt about this one thing I did when I was 6 years old. I have basically felt guilty for a very small silly thing that I am probably the only person that can remember for almost two decades.

[pure-o-cd]

I am moving and I am going to be living completely alone for the first time. It feels both really good and scary because now no one will know if I don’t get out of bed.

[trichy-business-blog]

How do you go about talking to a doctor if you think you have trich? I find myself struggling with hair pulling and skin picking etc to the point that it's a huge problem but I don't know how to approach a medical professional about it to get a diagnosis.

Hi, anon! I’m sorry you’re struggling with this right now. Talking to others, even medical professionals, about bfrbs can be really intimidating.

If you’re wanting a diagnosis just for the comfort in having a confirmation, I imagine most doctors can help with that. If you’re wanting help in the form of medications or long term recommendations, then I suggest looking up the closest doctor specializing in trichotillomania near you. Or at least one who’s familiar with bfrbs or other compulsive behaviors. If you’d prefer having someone you can talk with on a more personal level, then a mental health professional/therapist might be best.

So, the Approach. Not gonna lie, this SUCKS. If you go to a bfrb professional, it will be easier because you’ll be calling to schedule an appointment knowing that the person is already familiar with some of your concerns, which definitely will make things less scary. However, unfortunately, sometimes these professionals are only in major cities, or they’re a bit costly to see. If that’s the case for you, there’s absolutely nothing wrong with seeing someone else, but you’ll have to tell them what’s up. If it makes you feel any better, I’ll share what I did last year when I saw a campus therapist— I fretted so much about how to go about telling her, and it gave me a lot of anxiety, and finally I thought “you know, fuck this” and I just said, “I want to tell you about a problem that is hard for me to talk about because it makes me feel terrible about myself.” Kind of like… I just Went For It. Instead of trying to be delicate, I just treated them like a journal, and I think my initial statement made them immediately realize this was a Big Deal and that they needed to respect that.

I’m aware this probably isn’t super helpful, but I’m not sure there’s really a “good” way to go about this other than just putting yourself out there. I’m super impressed that you’re willing to see someone for trich/derm, though. I’m fully confident your courage will get you far toward recovery. Please know that you’re welcome to message this blog anytime you want/need to. Best of luck, friend. Stay brave!

[pure-o-cd]

July 2018