Hi everyone My introduction

Mental Health Anxiety & Panic Disorders
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Hi, I'm new to this site and I have the condition known as Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I am an everyday nice looking guy who's in great shape and no one would ever know I have this condition by looking at me or talking to me.

I do not suffer from the typical traits that are associated with OCD, washing hands, checking things over and over and over again, and I have defeated the traits I suffered from with the exception of 1 which is having intrusive thoughts about doing done to others. Now obviously I do not and will not do anything of the sort, but the intrusive "thoughts" of doing so do cause me distres at times which is tough to deal with.

If there is anyone out there who suffers from the same thing I just mentioned above, or know helpful tactics to strenghten myself against it please let me know. It would be greatly appreciated, you have no idea. I couldn't even begin to express in words how much. I am also here to help other OCD sufferers who maybe have some traits that have some of the other OCD traits that I was able to defeat. Thank you for taking the time to read this!

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Hi. Welcome to the group and the site. It is great that you opened up a told your story. How did you deal with your other OCD traits? Just curious....

Do you also feel that it has been getting worse over time or has it been pretty consistent?

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Thank you for the welcome :) Well for example, I use to have rituals I would do such as making sure I did not walk over the cracks of the sidewalk when I was walking down the street, or not walking only down 1 side of the street went I went to the gym for example, or when I sat soemthing down like my remote control for my TV, I always had to make sure it was pointed towards the television, it couldn't be facing the side a little or nothing. Those are just a few examples. What I learned was that if I did all those things and walking on either side of the street that nothing bad was going to happen, and it hasn't.

Just in your mind you believe that if you say a certain soemthing, or do something just a little different, that if you don't do those things the same identical way all the time that something bad will happen to you or someone you know, and that is the simply just irrational thinking that OCD puts into your thought process. You just have to go and do those things, expose your OCD to them so that your brain's thought process will see that hey if I do something a little differently one day, or if I say a certain something, nothing bad at all is going to happen.

I also have learned to discipline my mind with alot of those issues by taking the time and putting things in their proper prospective by asking myself ok, is this something that is a reality, or just something my OCD is making me think is a reality? No, all OCD produces is negativity and an irrational state.

To answer the other part of your question, I still have the 1 issue I mentioned in my introduction, sure, it has it's moments and it's tough, but I fight through it, and I keep on pushing everyday to research and find out more infortmation about this pain in the *** known as OCD. I take medication :) I also see a therapist twice a week as part of an intense treatment so I can really work at defeating this thing. When I'm working out at the gym, as I am lifting I say to myself in my mind, F U OCD, this is my mind, my life! Sounds a little extreme maybe lol, but the signal needs to be sent to that part of the brain that says hey, I'm going to fight you and get you out of my thought process no matter what it takes, or how long it takes.

One really has to make a decision that they are willing to do whatever it takes to fight back against it. I hope I was able to provide a good insightful response for you :)

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Hi! I too suffer from 'OCD of the mind'. I truly understand how unbearable and difficult it is for you. I have had those horrible thoughts that I couldn't shake away and I was too ashamed to talk about them. Not talking about it made it worse. It's a shame that so many people live with this disorder and don't know what it is. I can remember thinking that I was going crazy. This went on for months for me and it made me not want to be alive. Fortunately for me, things got better. I started to talk to someone who did not judge me and wasn't scared of what I was saying. I got in to see a psychiatrist and have been on the same medication for three years now. Still, they say that OCD is not curable and I still struggle every now and then with feelings of guilt. Sometimes reading about it helps. I read a book called 'Overcoming Obsessive Thoughts' by Christine Purdon. It made me feel better to know that I was not the only one and things do get better. I hope this helps!

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Chicago,

I also have the heavily Obsessive version of OCD, and it is a daily battle to control my thoughts. I obsess about the future so bad that I ended up with chronic insomnia, and then I would obsess about having to fall asleep... It was a hot mess.

But what I find interesting about your post is the comment that you are attractive and that changes the reaction that you get from people or how you think the illness is perceived. I am young and attractive and people do not seem to believe me when I try to tell them that I have a mental illness (much less multiple) and I find it upsetting. People do not take mental illness seriously enough in my opinion to begin with, but they think because you are physically healthy to their eyes and desirable that you must be happy and perfect mentally.

You are not alone, and I hope that you continue on the path of wellness :)