u/ringoisking

Hey everyone, I’m mostly making this post to see if I can relate with anyone and (hopefully) get some advice/tips from you all on how to move past these issues.

For a bit of context, I’m 17 and am quite sure that I have OCD. I am yet to be diagnosed, but I’ve spent my entire life having really obsessive thoughts, and they’ve been very amplified recently. I’m also neurodivergent, which makes things a bit harder.

I’ve been dating my boyfriend for a little under a month, and he is genuinely one of the most perfect people I know. He’s so kind and understanding, and really makes me feel special. However, while the first week of the relationship was very thrilling and enjoyable, I moved into a very scary headspace where I was having intense doubts about the relationship. I originally put it down to the fact that he’s my first ever boyfriend, but eventually the obsessive thinking took over every single day, giving me intense anxiety. I was constantly checking my feelings for him, and I had a churning feeling in my gut whenever we talked. Sometimes these thoughts recur in the present, but I try to keep myself busy so I can block them out more.

But, my true struggles recently have come with what I believe to be sexual orientation OCD, which I was grateful to have discovered the existence of. My entire life, I’ve been into guys and only had crushes on them specifically. I’ve obviously (like most teens) had periods of questioning, but they never really lasted long and I moved past them easily. I’ve always known I wanted to marry/settle down with a guy. What I’m going through right now is overwhelming. I’m absolutely terrified that I’m lying to myself about my sexuality, and that I’m going to uncover the fact that I’m bi/lesbian at some point in the near future. The thoughts are constant and are really interfering with my every day life - I’ve even been avoiding videos or pictures of pretty girls just because I’m scared of how I’ll react (I’ve had groinal responses which really upset and confuse me). When these issues get added onto the guilt of “betraying” my boyfriend in some way, it gets me very stressed and causes spirals. I’ve been having a hard time finding anyone attractive at all recently because of this.

It feels like there’s absolutely no certainty in my life right now, and I was just wondering if anybody on this sub had similar experiences, or knows how to work through this problem specifically. I just want to enjoy my relationship and be in love and these obsessive thoughts are an absolute nightmare.

hey everyone!! i’m getting my second Hip tattoo next week, and i was hoping for something kinda specific that i know might be hard to accomplish. one of my favorite songs is The Depression Suite, and the lyric “don’t you wanna see how it ends?” means a lot to me because of my personal mental health journey. it really feels like Gord speaking to me, and for that reason, i was looking to get that line tattooed. however, does anyone know of a place where i could maybe find it in Gord’s handwriting specifically? on first search, i didn’t see any resources online that had it, but i know there’s a lot of hardcore fans who seem to be able to find anything lol. i’m aware my job is made harder by the fact this tune is kinda a deep cut. any help at all would be greatly appreciated!!

I saw a post a little bit ago that made me laugh about somebody who took a photo of MJ with them on every vacation. It made me think back to when I was younger and insanely obsessed with Michael, so I wanted to know, did anybody else go through a similar period as a kid?

When I was five I discovered my dad’s iPod, and he had a bunch of old Jackson 5 songs on there. I took it literally all the time to listen to songs like I Want You Back and ABC, before eventually branching off into The Jacksons period and later into MJ’s solo stuff. It was safe to say I was ADDICTED. I wasn’t even much of an artist, but I was constantly doing drawings of Michael and his brothers, and crying over the fact that he had passed (even though I was too young to have remembered it). I had a map of the USA in my room, and I had Gary as one of the only explicitly marked locations. I read literally every book about him, even the ones that were way above my reading level, asking my parents to explain words/things to me that I didn’t understand. My mam still jokes about the fact that she used to hate watching TV with me because the only thing I wanted to look at was The Jacksons: An American Dream. This crazy period lasted until I was about 7, but I‘m happy to say that in the past few years my love for Michael has really been reignited again!

I recently found out that I’m neurodivergent, so it’s starting to make sense to me that this era of my life could definitely have been considered a hyperfixation. However, from what I’ve heard from people who were alive during his peak fame, this doesn’t even compare to the obsessions of some of his super fans! I find it incredible how big Michael truly was, and how he’s still touching people’s hearts even to this day.

So - can you relate to my insanity? 😂

hi everyone, i’m 17 and just entered my first relationship. i think i may be experiencing ROCD, and i would really appreciate some help.

i met my boyfriend about a month back on instagram, as he was on the committed page for the college we’ll both be attending in the fall. he seemed super nice, talented, attractive, and we happened to be from the same country (which meant a lot to me). i pushed past my typical nervousness and decided to send him a DM, which turned into us pulling an all-nighter to talk to each other. we talked very deeply for about a week after that, before we agreed that even though it may be crazy, we definitely had feelings for each other. he lives in europe, so i was scared of moving things too quickly when i couldn’t see him for a while, but eventually i bit the bullet on it because i had very strong feelings. about 4 days after we first confessed, we became official.

now, here’s where the issues come in. we’ve been together for almost 3 weeks now, and my boyfriend is probably the most perfect human being i know. he’s so kind, sweet, caring, and really just a good partner. he goes above and beyond for me, even though the distance and time difference makes it difficult. however, while i started off the relationship extremely excited and comfortable, i’m now filled with extreme anxiety and dread all the time, and it was a really instant switch a few days ago (despite him not doing anything wrong). i’m constantly questioning if this is right for me, if i truly have feelings for him, and my stomach is in knots a lot of the time. my brain is so so confused - i know that deep down i have really intense feelings for him, but it’s almost like the doubts are convincing me otherwise. i’ve even questioned my sexuality at certain points. when we call, i feel safe and secure, but when i’m on my own again it’s like i go right back to overthinking.

my guilt over this scenario is eating me up, and my mind genuinely feels like a prison right now. i want to battle these feelings because i truly do want this relationship, but the anxiety feels overwhelming. any advice/insights at all would be deeply appreciated.

Hey everyone. I’ve tried to post about this on different subs and it’s gotten deleted every time, so I hope there’s no problems here as I genuinely need some advice.

I’m in my first ever relationship with a guy I met through Instagram, as we are going to the same college in the fall. We’re from the same country, have so many things in common, and I feel like he sees the real me whenever we talk. He is such a genuine and kind human being. The only note is that he lives on a different continent and I won’t properly see him for a little over 2 months, when I’m traveling back there.

Here’s where my issues come in - we’ve only been together for about 2 weeks, and while I was unbelievably excited and happy at first, that meant that things got very intense on both ends very quickly. I accept my responsibility in it, but I’ve noticed that my feelings towards the relationship have now turned into more of a gut wrenching anxiety, rather than something I’m enjoying. I’ve already been diagnosed with severe anxiety, so I realize this might be amplifying things by 100. But I can’t stop doubting and questioning and feeling kind of sick, even when we’re texting and having a good time.

He means a lot to me and I know that there are feelings there, so I feel like my own brain might be sabotaging things because I’m not used to relationships or anything of the like. Can somebody tell me if they’ve been through something similar, or if this is normal in the early stages of falling in love? Or, otherwise, is my body trying to tell me this isn’t for me? As a person who’s relatively younger, I’m not too educated and would really appreciate the help.

tl;dr - teen struggling with adjusting to long distance relationship

This situation is something that has been stressing me out for a few days, and I’m really seeking some outside advice. I know I’m young, but I thought some adult perspectives would be best. I’ll probably end up deleting this post later on just out of precaution, and I already feel bad about making it.

So, I (17F) started talking to this guy (17M) about a month back after stumbling across a post on Instagram and discovering we were going to the same college and were from the same country. However, he still lives on a different continent. I was immediately hooked because he looked really sweet and talented, and I decided to send him a DM. I know it sounds insane, but after a couple hours of us having a really deep conversation, I was already kind of catching feelings. I got his number and we began talking more frequently, which I was super excited about. It’s also important to note that I had just come out of a really bad period mentally, so I thought him appearing out of nowhere was definitely a sign.

About one week after we first started chatting, he made it very clear that he had feelings for me, and I was certainly vibing with it. His compliments were super unique, he genuinely wanted to get to know me, and he would send me really cute voice messages. We confessed very quickly, and to be honest, there wasn’t much of a talking stage. I was originally scared of what people would think of me having a boyfriend so far away, and the fact that I hadn’t met him in person was also bothering me. However, I pushed those thoughts aside for the sake of my feelings, which were very strong. About 4 days after we first confessed, we agreed to make things official.

Now come the issues. We’ve only been together about two weeks at this point, and while I was unbelievably excited to start off, the initial reactions have started to fade. I have so much care for him, and I know there’s feelings there, but I’m questioning a lot of things and having doubts. Sometimes we text and I don’t know how I feel about the intensity, even though we’re often showing it 50/50. Our communication is good and he’s understood everything I’ve explained to him, but there still feels like there’s this guilty pit in my stomach, almost as if I’m doing something wrong. We called for over 5 hours last night and I’ve never felt more connected to a human being in my life, but today I went right back to feeling uneasy. I spend a lot of time thinking about meeting up with him and spending time with him at school, but I spend equally as much time figuring out how I’ll feel in those situations. I don’t know if it’s just about the distance and not being able to see him until the summer that’s bothering me, or if there’s other stuff going on. I really don’t want to break his heart or make a mistake, because we both fell pretty hard.

I’d also like to make the important note that this is my first ever relationship, so it might be adjustment issues. Can somebody who’s been in a similar situation (especially a LDR) tell me if this is normal? I understand I’m only 17, but I want to solve this properly and could really use some help.