“How do I know if I’m in the right relationship?” “What if my partner isn’t the right one for me?”
Many people in romantic relationships consider questions like these from time to time. After all, such qu
estions can be helpful to consider, even if anxiety-provoking. Evaluating a relationship can help us to notice how it is or isn’t meeting our expectations or emotional needs. It can also make it easier to tackle relationship obstacles and to identify ways of keeping [Read more…]
We’ve touched upon violent obsessions that might be common for those with OCD in a previous post. I want to take some time to address other ‘bad’ thoughts that people may have, yet feel they must keep to themselves. Usually these unwanted thoughts fall into three broader categories that encompass violent, sexual, or [Read more…]
Obsessions involving violence are common among persons with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD
). Often, these obsessions start innocently enough with a fleeting thought — e.g., “Hey, there’s a big steak knife on the kitchen table — it sure would be horrible if I were to stab someone with it…” For many people, this thought will come and go without creating any kind of emotional upset. However, for some OCD sufferers, this thought becomes a recurrent one that is hard to
[Read more…]
As previously described, obsessive thoughts about one’s sexual orientation (sometimes referred to as “gay thoughts”) are not uncommon for sufferers of OCD. How can one cope with these troubling thoughts? There are two strategies often used – one good, one bad. We’ll start
our discussion with the bad. [Read more…]
Obsessive thoughts can come in several varieties. Among the most popular themes for these thoughts are blasphemy, violence, and sex. One thing all obsessions have in common is that they consist of a thought (e.g., “I want to pick up that knife and stab myself”) followed by intense anxiety at having had that thought. “Am I Gay?” is a thought that can create intense anxiety for some people. Another 
thing obsessions have in common is that it is difficult to completely disprove the fear they describe.