u/Appropriate_Arm_9652

Hey guys, just wondering whether ChatGPT has made anyone more triggered. I feel like I would use it for reassurance (which is bad I know) and then randomly it would switch up on me and say yes you need to leave your partner because you’re still attached to your ex, etc. I feed it everything and even tell it I have ocd and yet it triggers me more because it will say stuff like: you want to build a life with your wife, you love her, etc and I’m like bro I don’t know if any of that is true and you’re making me doubt more.

Hi guys, just a quick one. Does anyone rehearse breaking up in their head all day long and it causes them peak anxiety but they do it because deep down they know they have to breakup but don’t actually want to?

A few years ago, I entered my current relationship right after a really painful breakup. At the time, I was heartbroken, terrified of being alone, and seeking safety. Now, my mind is completely weaponizing that past against me. I am caught in a severe, exhausting loop where my brain constantly reviews that timeframe to "prove" that I lied, was a coward, or "used" my wife just to not be alone.
Because of this guilt, I feel a constant, urgent pressure to either find perfect evidence that proves my innocence, or confess and leave a marriage I deeply love and want to stay in.
I’m trying to practice a shift in perspective: realizing that anxiety demands a black-and-white certainty that doesn't exist, and that I don't need a "certificate of perfect innocence" from my past to be allowed to stay and love my wife today.
Has anyone else dealt with this intense urge to break up or confess due to past relationship guilt/ROCD? How do you drop the evidence, step out of the courtroom, and accept the gray areas?

I spent my young adulthood (ages 18–26) in an 8-year relationship where I was constantly in "fawn" mode, chasing an avoidant partner, and never expected it to end. When she emotionally cheated and left, my reality shattered. Terrified of being alone, I quickly met my now-wife and poured myself into impressing her, but we were immediately hit by severe external stressors (visa crises, long-distance, and an obsessive health anxiety spiral following a surgery). Around our wedding, a sudden panic attack triggered a massive wave of feeling like a "fraud" and a "liar." Since then, my mind has entered an agonizing ROCD and Moral OCD loop: I am experiencing intense somatic symptoms (burning chest, stomach pain, paralysis), hyper-fixating on my Saturn Return, and experiencing "euphoric recall" where my brain suddenly views my ex as flawless. I am trapped in a constant cycle of confessing my doubts to my wife to purge my guilt, and my mind is now utterly convinced that the only "honest" way to stop the panic is to leave her and face the void—even though the thought of executing that decision fills me with absolute terror. I feel like my inner child is screaming that he rushed, never processed the original grief, and isn't ready for this life, and I am completely paralyzed by the obsession that I used my wife to run from my past. Has anyone else experienced their nervous system completely hijacking their history like this?

First day on Ritalin LA (10mg) and experiencing some intense side effects. It’s been great for my OCD/intrusive thoughts, but my anxiety is through the roof and I’m having sharp chest pains. My heart was cleared by a doctor recently, but I’m still worried. Is this a common 'starting out' experience, or should I be more concerned?

Hi, so I was browsing through this subreddit and I saw someone say something along the lines of they knew they needed to breakup with their SO because the anxiety came from the fear of hurting them or pulling the plug. I feel like this is my deep truth and I am about to blackout with anxiety.

Okay so I have recently been getting full body anxiety which sends me into a freeze response when I say I love you to my SO. Anyone else have this experience before. I know love is a choice but it feels like I’m lying and in denial and just trying not to hurt her. I am diagnosed with ROCD. I get like a sharp pain in my chest and I get so hot and anxious and start freaking out. I also have terrible ex theme related ROCD and haven’t felt calm around my partner for a while.

Hi guys, just wondering how peeps go about unsticking from anxious thoughts when they have reiterated so many times to their brain that it’s a thought to be afraid of? Like if you heavily use compulsions to neutralise and your brain learns how dangerous that thought is, how do you just maybe maybe not it when it just stays regardless of what you say.

I am not sure why but I hear so many people talk about intrusive thoughts and less about the actual physical somatic symtoms of having ROCD. For me my nervous system is stuck in a state of fight/flight/freeze pretty much all day long. It is these physical symptoms that then kickstart my racing thoughts and without them I can normally combat these thoughts better.

Anyone wake up with full body anxiety, like they are stuck in a freeze response and feel full body dread and panic? This has happened to me every single day for the past year and granted I have been struggling and making my condition worse by feeding into compulsions, however, just wondering whether people experience this?

Hi guys, wondering whether anyones been dumped randomly and then when they got into a healthy relationship had the thought that they wanted that old life with their ex and it causes so much intense anxiety and guilt. I didnt choose to leave and I am worried this means I still want it all back. I am so anxious please help.

I’m just wondering if anyone else has had this. My ex theme has been pretty awful for about 4 to 5 months now recently I was walking down the street and I saw something that reminded me of my ex and instantly my mind went that should’ve been us and that was the life that was lost. For context, my ex randomly broke up with me. I’ve been in a relationship for two years with My Wife and this thought has sent me into an absolute spiral. The thing is, I obviously wanted that life with my ex and that’s why this is so much scarier. I don’t want to betray My Wife or even be thinking about my ex, I’m so worried.

Hi all, does anyone fear that they are just staying in a relationship because they fear being alone? I’ve always feared being alone or abandoned and it makes me so anxious that I’m only choosing my wife because I’m a coward who’s too scared to just be alone and do life alone. I’m scared because I don’t feel any love and don’t know if I want a future with her which makes the fear more real.

Hi guys, does anyone ever have intrusive thoughts that their life was better, more fun, or just overall more exciting with an ex? My wife and I are going through a lot of struggles at the moment and I can’t stop looking back at the past with a highlight reel. For context my ex left me with a note. I kinda played no part in that relationship ending and I felt like I lost all safety and comfort. Anyone relate?

Mornings are the absolute worst. I’ll find I wake up at around 4-5am and things will be fine but all of a sudden it’s like my nervous system wakes back up and I start to feel really wired and shaky, start to get heart pain, and this feeling of unease, and then flooded with thoughts that keep escalating my body anxiety. Anyone else? What were some things you did to combat this???

Just wanted to know how many of you have had something traumatic happen that triggered your OCD. For me my long term ex randomly break up with me with a note. Since then I’ve had crippling ROCD in my relationship with my wife and feelings of unsafety in a relationship.

Hey guys, help is always appreciated. So long story short my long term ex randomly broke up with me and 6 months later I found my now wife who is amazing and everything I could have dreamt of. I was over the moon and our life was absolutely amazing until we started planning our wedding a year later and my ROCD reared its ugly head. I struggled with many moral thoughts like do I love her, would I rather be with someone else etc, but the one that seems to have stuck the most is whether I would rather be with my ex. For context my ex was pretty avoidant and I was pretty head over heels for her, however, once she broke up with me I started to see everything she truly was and although I wanted to get back with her, I knew it was just to get the old comfort of my life back. Anyways lately I’ve been comparing my wife to my ex constantly. I’ve been having immense panic attacks thinking I used my wife to get over my ex, and have been to the ED twice. Even the idea of seeing anything that reminds me of my ex triggers me so so much and makes me panic. I then start asking what does this mean and my brain always lands on that I still love her and am not over her, even though I logically want nothing to do with her.

I’ll give a silly example of what triggered me today. I was talking to my wife about something and I saw something that reminded me of shrek and I know my wife doesn’t like shrek but my ex and I used to love the movie. Anyways I’ll then start beating myself up and being like this means I’m not over my ex, if I was I’d accept all parts of my wife, etc etc etc.

Can anyone help. I feel like I can’t do anything with my wife without it reminding me of my ex. I feel like a monster for not taking 2 years or so to heal myself. I don’t want to breakup but I feel like such a monster for being in this relationship and having these constant thoughts that life was better with my ex. Just to also add, I never had ROCD with my ex, and it only showed up in my now relationship with my amazing wife. I just can’t accept the fact that I could still be in love with my ex and not over her. I just can’t but it feels like I am and I’m in denial.

Hi all, just wondering if anyone’s ever had this combo before and what were their strategies to combat it. I am dealing with major moral ocd in my relationship and it’s causing immense anxiety. I think the pressure put on myself by my brain is causing me to crumble apart. I have thoughts like you should love her, you should only want this, you shouldn’t want anyone else or any other life. It drives me insane because I know logically that if anyone ever told me I need to love something, that I would probably feel a lot of pressure to love that said thing until I could no longer feel the love because of the gun being held to my head.

Anyone else deal with this?

Anyone else just have extreme body anxiety like heart pain, deep stomach pain, and feeling shaky and scared all the time? I hear a lot of people talk about thoughts but I only really get thoughts because my body feels unsafe and I’m trying to explain or figure it out.