Flushing/Blushing in sexual-themed OCD

[stresseddepressed]

Hey guys,

does your head also turn red or do you start feeling the heat ascend to your head whenever there's a thought (also only distantly) related to your (sexual) OCD theme crossing your mind?

About me/When does it happen for me:

I have Incest OCD and POCD. For me it often (not always) happens when I'm either thinking of my mom or children (even in a normal, "non-sexual" way) or when I see my mom/children, e.g. on the street, or whenever I receive a Whatsapp message from my mom and so on...

I am checking for flushes or blushing often, which I guess then usually makes it worse or more probable to even happen in these situations.

I'm also testing myself a lot, so I unconsciously/reflexively hyperfocus my attention to this bodily sensation (as well as to the more obvious bodily sensation/reaction for many sexual OCD sufferers: checking the groin where I, like many of you as well, sometimes get groinal "reactions").

I'd appreciate you sharing your story with flushing/blushing or any similar bodily response when your OCD gets "triggered".

[Eli_E]

HI! I have sexual orientation ocd with some pocd, bestiality, and other sexual themes thrown in the mix. I used to experience that flushed feeling quite often when my ocd was triggered. Now that I've been in therapy for about a year and a half end doing ERP, this happens a lot less. I was hyper aware of it (and other bodily sensations) for a long time. It took a lot of practice to just let the feeling come over me and not read into it. When learning about ocd, I often would read the importance of saying things like thanks for that thought ocd etc, but it wasn't until I also started saying things like thanks for that feeling or sensation ocd that I was able to start not focusing on it too much. For me learning that intrusive sensations (not just thoughts) are also part of OCD and then getting in the practice as labeling those feelings as ocd really helped. Hope this helps a little bit and at least lets you know that you aren't alone In this.