Relationship OCD

The primary OCD theme I suffer from is Relationship OCD (ROCD). In ROCD, a person often obsesses over the “rightness" of a romantic relationship. This can take the form of crippling doubts about their partner or their love for their partner. For me, ROCD means an obsession with feeling certainty about the person I’m with. My brain responds to this obsession by constantly monitoring my feelings for my partner. I find myself frequently checking how happy I feel to see my partner, how attracted I feel at any given moment, how well our conversations go, how many questions he asks me…and on and on. This video feels like a pretty accurate representation of what is going on inside my head on a date: The Perfectionist lists qualities the date absolutely must possess, Anxiety preps me with all the things my date could do wrong, and The Ego has her box cutter poised for the slightest slip-up. It obviously makes things extremely stressful for me...and for my date. It probably isn't surprising that I have avoided romantic relationships for most of my life. I'm learning that avoidance isn’t the answer, and that recovery begins with recognizing when a triggering obsession arises and then not giving in to the compulsion that would temporarily relieve the anxiety. My primary compulsion is rumination, which means when something triggers me I get into a negative thought loop that spirals downwards into more and more anxiety. The challenge is to notice when I start to ruminate on something that bothers me and then let it go before I start to spiral downwards. And trust me, it is a challenge. But I'm here for it...I'm so relieved to finally know what I am dealing with and to see a path forward! If you’d like to learn more about ROCD, just click here: https://ocdla.com/rocd-relationship-o... We are not alone! 🥰   / karaleemo   https://www.instagram/karaleemo   / karaleemo     / karaleemo   https://www.karamorgan.com