Hocd vs gay
FearCast Question- “How Can I Tell If It’s HOCD or Suppressed Attraction?”
This scrutinize was originally answered on the FearCast Podcast episode let go on January 31, 2022 (https://fearcastpodcast.com/2022/01/31/hocd-suppressed/)
I am a heterosexual recognizing female who is experiencing HOCD.
I possess two questions: When I am around both sexes, mostly occurring with females, I have an uninvited and intense need to embrace them in request to check how it will construct me feel. This can also occur with family members and is causing me great distress as the images are quite intrusive and confusing. I have never acted on it as I do not really want to, and am scared that I would like it if I do it. It seems as though my mind won’t let it go until I’ve tried it and can tell for sure. How can you know the difference between suppressed desire and an HOCD compulsion when it comes to acts such as kissing, and how do you dampen such compulsions when your day consists of face to face interaction with people? In conjunction of this, how do you deal with friendly interaction with close friends when individuals of the same sex automatically sets off HOCD triggers?
HOCD (Sexual Orientation OCD): Support from a UK Psychologist
If you’re in the UK and struggling with HOCD (Sexual Orientation OCD), you’re not alone. I’m Dr Elaine Ryan, a UK-based Chartered Psychologist, and I’ve helped hundreds of people understand and recover from HOCD using proven ERP therapy. This page will guide you through what it is, why it happens, and how recovery is possible
Are you watching porn and checking out members of the equal sex, to create sure you are not gay?
You could be experiencing intrusive thoughts about your sexual orientation – a key symptoms of Sexual Orientation OCD (SO-)CD), also acknowledged as HOCD.
People with HOCD constantly question their sexual preference and are troubled by obsessive thoughts that they might be queer , even when their past relationships and attractions have always aligned with organism heterosexual. Before developing HOCD, you likely wouldn’t have given much thought to your sexual identity—it was simply a given.
But obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) thrives on doubt. Just as someone with health anxiety can’t stop thinking they might be sick, or someone with contamination OCD
hOCD — Symptoms & Treatment
Treatment for hOCD
People suffering from hOCD are encouraged to seek treatment from a mental health treatment deliverer that specializes in the treatment of OCD. OCD specialists are equipped and prepared to handle a wide array of OCD subtypes, including hOCD. Like all types of OCD, hOCD can be treated with Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy (CBT), specifically with treatment approaches called Exposure with Response Prevention (ERP), and Mindfulness-Based Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy.
Mindful-Based CBT teaches patients that everyone experiences intrusive thoughts. Individuals will also learn that intrusive thoughts have no power over them and that by responding to their thoughts through compulsive behaviors, their thoughts are given more strength and credibility and their fears and obsessions are strengthened and reinforced. Mindfulness-Based CBT is a very effective OCD treatment, especially when combined with ERP.
ERP exposes patients to situations connected to their intrusive thoughts that cause them anxiety. The aim of this treatment is for the patient to prevent himself or herself from completing their compulsive behaviors when triggered by intrusiv
HOCD is real and can cause sexual disorientation
In my practice, I sometimes run-in men who are so obsessively worried they may be gay or bisexual person that it takes up such a significant amount of their daily existence and thoughts and causes them nearly crippling anxiety. Sometimes they truly are lgbtq+ or bisexual, and sometimes not at all.
Such a man constantly may ponder about if he is walking is too “girly,” or that he may appear gay if he crosses his legs at the knee like a woman. He may even avoid being alone with other men for fear of creature attracted to them. He very well could be coping with homosexual obsessive compulsive disorder (HOCD), similar to obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) but with the added worry of sexual orientation.
HOCD, also known as sexual orientation OCD, has not yet been established in the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders as a disorder, however, it does occur in both men and women. In this article, I will focus more on men dealing with HOCD.
In my clinical trial working with HOCD men, they find themselves obsessively looking at porn (gay or straight) to observe if it sexually excites them. They also constantly may check out oth