strugglingadult64

Been struggling with OCD even more at the moment. Whenever I feel the need to go to the toilet for a poop, I worry about wiping and poop or bits of tissue with poop on them breaking off the tissue and being flung up into the air and landing on me. I check myself to ensure that I can't see any poop or tissue bits on my person, and sometimes I worry about this further on in the day and feel it on places I haven't checked. It's a problem that I struggle with on a regular basis. Sometimes, I feel like having a shower to rinse myself off. I don't go to poop in public places since I know I'll struggle even more to break out of the OCD chain. I sometimes sniff my hands or my arms to see if some of it did land on my person and my eyes just couldn't see it. I don't know if anybody struggles with this on a regular basis but I'd love to hear any advice on how to deal with this.

I hate being single. I'm 24 years old and I've NEVER had a girlfriend. I've never been with a woman and I am unbelievably sexually frustrated. It can be so hard to deal with sometimes. I'm trying Match.com but I don't find the women that like me attractive most of the time. Am I too shallow? Are my standards too high for someone like me? Am i unattractive? What is it about me that makes women not want to go near me? Why do I find it so hard to ask a girl out? Maybe after rejected so many times, I'm afraid of taking one more.

Yeah, I can imagine it as a table of different characters inside a terminal like Disney Pixar's Inside Out.

I am thinking of making an animated video about OCD, to highlight how the disorder affects people severely and is overlooked and misbranded by society. I was wondering if I could get some ideas on how to represent the OCD. What pops into your head when you try to think of a metaphor for OCD? My personal preference is a rude demon that tries to fill your mind with bad thoughts and follows you wherever you go to remind you of them.

I find that in stressful situations I don't have control of, the intrusive thoughts also spiral out of control. Sometimes, I worry about what caused them to spiral out of control and my thought process in what led me to that thought, when I shouldn't give a second thought about that thought. I think the customer would understand about the cut on your finger. They would want you to get it bandaged up before helping them out. Sometimes, when you're in extreme discomfort, sometimes your mind has the thought and thinks, "I don't care anymore, I am already in a terrible place". I found that when I was in hospital for a stomach issue.

I can struggle with walking around outside since sometimes I don't know what I am standing in. I can fear of kicking up dirt, faeces, urine or other disgusting substances up to my face or into my mouth where I can taste it. I can even fear sexual bodily fluids on the tarmac and wondering where they could have come from. This can be even worse when I am in large crowds and I suddenly feel specks of wetness on my body like somebody shook something out of their bottoms and flung it up in the air for it to land on me. I can even fear stepping on things; dog tails, little children walking around, sometimes I can even fear walking around abortions like someone had a back-alley abortion and left a foetus on the ground. It can be really daunting but I find it easier to vent my thoughts out on here.

I hear that voice too, my parents do want me to plan stuff out more and get out and seize the day. Sometimes, the things I need to do take time and my parents don't realise I need to stay on my computer to do them but I do find I need social time so I am not constantly talking to myself. I think I need to set a realistic goal of what I want to achieve.

I have been struggling with POCD as well. Though I find when I hang out with my new 7 year old step niece, I find myself thinking less about the sexually intrusive thoughts since I feel more responsible as an uncle and feel more protective of her. I guess my POCD is second to my paternal instincts, which I like to think of as it makes my POCD seem insignificant and I realise these thoughts are just thoughts. I find exposing yourself to more uncomfortable situations is unpleasant at first but as you try to blend in and thank yourself for keeping cool and doing something to better yourself, you'll eventually won't be thinking about it. Also, sometimes I find some cartoons attractive and some of them can be underage characters (I try to imagine them as 18) and I tell myself, "It's just a cartoon-it's not real life". Maybe some people might find that disgusting, so I will try and not think about them anymore.

This is my first time on this website. I am surprised I haven't been on this sooner. I have been struggling with my OCD and it has been getting worse over the summer holidays. I struggle with getting stuff done since I have nothing to motivate myself to do extra-curricular work outside of my university degree. I want to make some more animations to add to my portfolio (I study animation at university and this year has been quite stressful) but I can't adhere to one thing and stick to it because in addition to my OCD, I have ADHD. I have been beating myself up about not getting stuff done sooner or getting into more social events and I think that may have sparked my intrusive thoughts to rise up as I am constantly in an internal crisis, trying to scrub my mind clean of bad thoughts. I find talking about them helps out a lot so maybe discussing it with some of you might help me.