Sexual Orientation OCD (SO-OCD)

And, um, uh, so we're, we're gonna be talking about, uh, sexual orientation OCD today, and I know that probably, like, not everyone obviously experiences sexual orientation OCD, but probably, I don't know, a- a- across the board from people I meet, probably 10%, 15% do.

Um, so, uh, I d- I needed to do an episode like this because people have been asking me to do an episode on sexual orientation OCD, so, you know, for, uh...

I, I wanted to do one.

I wanna break it down.

I think it's really important for people to understand actually what's going on under the surface because it's, you know, it's, it's a incredibly confusing experience to go through when you're really doubting your sexuality and doubting your sexual orientation.

Uh, um, so, so anyway, I wanted to, I wanted to do an episode on that.

And, uh, yeah.

So we're gonna be breaking all of that down today so that you can understand it, uh, and, and, you know, hopefully be better equipped to navigate, uh, this form, this, uh, particular theme.

That's right.

And, you know, I, I've definitely experienced this a bit myself at different phases in my ROCD journey, but also at just different phases in my life, and I just, I think that everyone has questions at different parts, points in their lives of, of, you know, could they be gay? Could they be bisexual? What, you know, what is my sexuality? A normal part of growing up, especially in high school and college, I feel like a lot of people have that, like, curiosity and wonder, and it is completely normal to have that.

What we're talking about is, you know, it, it consumes your thoughts.

It causes a lot of anxiety, a lot of activation.

It's maybe...

I just find it co-occurring with ROCD a lot because, um, as I'm, as we will talk about, it is connected to that, am I living my most authentic life, my most optimal life? Whatever your kind of thought brand about this is.

Um-

Yeah

...

but yeah, it, it's a normal thing, and it just gets really exacerbated in those-

Yeah

... of us with these tendencies.

Yeah, exactly.

So, so, so what is it? So, so those of you with sexual orientation OCD, you know, it's thoughts like, "What if I'm gay? What if I'm straight? What if I'm attracted to the opposite sex?" You know, "What if I need to leave my partner and explore sexual encounters with s- a, a different gender or whatever so that I can, uh, so that I can see if I am, I am more into one or the other, and so that I am more living my truth, or I am more living my authentic life," right? And, um, and, you know, this can show up, like when these thoughts show up, um, it a- it activates these obsessive parts of us that are on an incessant hunt for certainty to avoid making a mistake, living a lie, uh, or, or hurting an, inev- inevitably hurting our partner.

So the sexual orientation OCD is similar to any other theme because the, the thought comes up, and then we start to ruminate around whether we are, uh, gay or straight or whatever, uh, in an attempt to avoid making a mistake that would lead to us hurting someone and then ultimately being bad.

And what I, what...

An interesting thing that I've started to, to, uh, to, like a theme that's been coming up that for some reason I just, it just wasn't fully apparent to me, but...