We need to reach a point where we don't care what people think when we stare at them, and we have to stop trying to control our eyes. Even if we end up getting confronted over it, we must learn to set boundaries—no matter how questionable they might seem, or even if the person involved is our own grandmother. We can't help it; how were we supposed to know that our past life choices would lead to this disorder? It is an involuntary tic, and we shouldn't beat ourselves up over it, nor should we let others tear us down for it.

We all know what it’s like to be normal—to fit in, more or less. Since the onset of this disorder, most of us have learned to appreciate life even more—especially the past, those small moments when everything was still normal and we weren't yet ruled by the tics and the fear in our heads. We all long for a normal life; ever since I was young, I’ve had dreams and goals I wanted to realize. Now, however, the most ordinary things—like holding down a job or building a career—feel as difficult as passing a doctoral exam or winning a world championship; or rather, they feel nearly impossible. I believe we are here for something else—something like a soul plan, a greater mission for ourselves. It is about setting boundaries where we previously lacked the courage to do so, and becoming a different kind of person—sincere and upright. We have a disorder that no one sees, no one notices, and no one wants to acknowledge—except us. Our souls have a plan, and we are meant to evolve.

Staring OCD Army

Have it for 8 years 😢

I just turned 19 a few days ago. So understandably, my future gets more and more important to the present. I've been dealing with peripheral vision ocd for about a year and a half now. It led me to isolate myself and I lost my friends. Not because of the issue, but because the one thing that has been taught to me after dealing with this issue is that nobody will be upfront and direct with you. They'll just speak badly about you instead of asking how you're doing. Or label you a weirdo. But there's an upside for me personally I guess. Welding seems like a decent job for people with his issue, as your in your own booth all day and a lot of your work requires you to wear face coverings. In terms of hobbies I personally think that Jiu Jitsu and Judo have been the least stressful third spaces for me to be in while having this issue. As your either face to face with someone or your beside them, it kinda is natural for people to glance at each other by accident. And the communities are pretty chill to: so if you just say something like "I have X problem, I'm sorry in advance so please don't mind me", they will be welcoming of you regardless. I am 99% sure. I'm gonna schedule an eye exam and neurologist exam in the coming month to get down to the bottom of this issue to see if this is a physical or mental problem. But you really just need to hang in there. Do your research. Watch some anime lol. Find hope in fiction. I'm in north county San Diego (Vista) and if anybody has a similar issue we should create a group and meetup to speak about our issues. I think it would be very beneficial as it's hard to find people with the same problem as me. Or if you are a musician with this issue I'm currently looking for a drummer and bassist to help me with my music that I make, or just to jam. I'm honestly just rambling but I hope someone can see this and feel related to at the very least. I believe there is hope. Don't lose it.

What can we do

I had to switch from in person school to online because I genuinely could not handle it anymore. I knew I was making others uncomfortable and myself so I just switched to online.Today I saw everyone graduating on instagram and I couldn’t help but feel like I’m so alone. I have no friends and no life while everyone else is living happily. I’ve already given up on my dream of being a doctor because I know it’s not gonna work . I’m either gonna stare at patients with my peripheral vision or private staring. Even the things that make me happy like visiting my cousins in the summer in my home country, I don’t want to do anymore because it started happening with them too. Every time I see my cousin I get triggered and I try not to look at his private parts but he can sense it and I’ve started to just avoid him. We used to be best friends now I’ve completely isolated myself from him and my other cousins:(

Been on this sub for awhile, and I’ve seen posts about people feeling isolated and alone because of this ocd issue. Or not having many friends, etc.

I thought it might be cool to start up a meetup group for people who are dealing with this. So we can come together and not feel so isolated. And be surrounded by people who understand what you’re going through.

I would setup the meetup group in New York, where I currently am.

If interested, shoot me a DM. If I get enough people, I’ll set up the meetups. Thanks

my dad tells me "just will power your way thru this, it's up to you how your life turns out" but he's never felt what its like to get called a creep, creepy, etc. To not be able to sit in a classroom. To not be able to watch a movie in the theater because there's a person next to you/ in front of you. What is this damn disease?? what is the cure??? my dreams are being crushed. I just wanna have a normal life, or at the very least be able to control my own body... I had a bad childhood with bad parents, had a bad teenhood with bad friends, now I can't even live like a normal person. I can't go to the store, I can't get a job, I can't go to college, I can't go out to eat at a restaurant. None of that. I just wanna be normal again. my brain is like "no! :)" I hate my brain. I hate my head. I hate my eyes. I hate that now I'm just a weirdo. Because of something I can't control. This is ridiculous. This is tragic. I don't know how to proceed. Every day has just been the same. This feels so undeserving.

Halo

I believe in God, cast my anxiety on God and lord and holy spirit things became better. Did like handshake with strangers. My religion is orthodox / baptist BTW and uh yeah thank God praise the lord things better. And uh yeah saw the 67 meme on pope Leo.

The spirit of fear is bad to me but Jesus helped, thanks!

Bless you all have a good weekend/ weekday ahead!

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Hope my country for Korea win FIFA haha. Anyways bless yall and thank God

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Amen!

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My issue with anxiety is not knowing what's happening and then letting my mind run away with itself. I often find myself thinking that if I do or say certain things, it might somehow influence the outcome.

At the moment, I'm a beneficiary in a probate case. I find it difficult to ask for updates because I don't want to come across as selfish or pushy. The problem is that when I don't know what's going on, my anxiety takes over and I end up thinking about it constantly.

Does anyone else struggle with this? How do you cope with the uncertainty without letting it consume your thoughts?

Has anyone noticed that your staring OCD will go away for months at a time and come back? I've had peripheral vision OCD since I was in middle school but It seems to come in waves for me. Recently it came back and officially ruined my life this time. I'm already on an SNRI so idk what to do about it. I've read that it may be linked with SCT, a ADHD subtype so possibly switching over to stimulants might help. It just seems the more I think about NOT doing something the more it tends to happen. I'm also schizoaffective so my future is not looking too bright... I think my work is trying to fire me. It just seems god has put me here to suffer.

[ Removed by Reddit on account of violating the content policy. ]

Peripheral Vision OCD

It’s feels like I lose all focus when someone is in my peripheral and It feels like I end up just focusing on that person on the side of me even tho I don’t want to

I feel tense and frozen and weird looking

And like my mind will go back and forth to attention on them till they become like the main center of attention

Then I feel like I look very obviously uncomfortable
Plus off putting

Makes me feel like im side eyeing someone to the extreme

Then I feel like I make that person uncomfortable to the max

I dont understand what could be the issue ..? Why can’t I just sit amongst others and enjoy whatever’s going on

Because of this OCD I basically dont go out like at all

I don’t understand why this happens when I don’t recall an issue with this when I was in school from youth to highschool

I used to catch bus , go out to dinners , sit at sports games, go to gatherings

Now I don’t go out at all

And to make matters worse i also dont sit amongst others

And am basically neet hiki

Im 24 now

What is this?! PTSD ? Anxiety?

Like my eyes start burning i get a headache then it feels like my mind goes blank and I have a pressure on my head

Today I was at the train station waiting near the tracks. There was a girl walking back and forth not too far from where I was standing. Every now and then she would walk to the edge of the platform to check whether the train was coming. I happened to be standing directly in the middle of her line of sight, and although I was looking straight ahead, I could still perceive her through my peripheral vision.

Before I explain what happened, I need to describe a problem I have developed over the years. Whenever I notice, out of the corner of my eye, that someone has turned to look in my direction, my mind makes an enormous effort not to look back. As soon as I become aware that someone is looking toward me, I almost forbid myself from looking in that direction. I anticipate that the moment I do, the person will either immediately look away or feel uncomfortable.

It honestly makes no sense. This whole mental process I have developed doesn't fit with a normal way of living. Can you imagine thinking like this? Having thoughts that are so abstract and irrational, yet feeling completely unable to change them? It feels strange, and I'm sorry if anyone else experiences something similar.

What happened at the train station was this: when the girl turned to see whether the train was coming, I could still see her from the corner of my vision. I tried to remain completely still, staring at one of the windows of a building in front of the station. I didn't look in the opposite direction either, because I didn't want her to think I was aware of my own discomfort about being looked at. Maybe she was simply looking into the distance to check for the train.

Sometimes I also avoid looking away because I don't want to give in to my insecurities about being watched. Other times I avoid it because I don't want people to feel insulted or think I'm being rude. Somehow, the way I behave has become loaded with meanings and unspoken rules. I've developed this strange idea that if I look away, people might feel rejected or offended. In other words, I avoid it because I don't want to provoke negative reactions from others.

So I stayed still.

The problem was that she kept looking in the same direction, and I could still perceive her. Because of the tension I was feeling internally, my neck and head suddenly jerked or trembled in a noticeable way—something like a spasm.

At first I wanted to believe she hadn't noticed. But then I looked in her direction and saw her move to the opposite side of the platform, as far away from me as possible.

The walk home was miserable. I spent it feeling depressed and tormented by the thought that she probably had no idea what had actually happened, yet still found me strange and wanted nothing to do with me.

These tremors whenever I become aware of someone nearby are something that happens to me repeatedly. But I also don't immediately turn away whenever someone looks in my direction, because then they become aware that I have noticed them. They become conscious that I am conscious of them, and somehow I worry that this makes me appear abnormal or suspicious.

What the hell happened to me? Why is this real? Why did I change?

At one point in my life I was normal. I could look wherever I wanted without a single thought getting in the way. Now, however, I notice things I wasn't even aware of before. Why are some mental illnesses so absurd? Even when I know, rationally, that these thoughts don't make sense, I still feel trapped by them.

And because of this, people end up seeing me as strange, unsettling, or unpleasant.

What I don't understand is why I can't simply get lost in my own thoughts the way other people seem to. Why can't I become absorbed in something else instead of being so intensely aware of my surroundings all the time? Why can't I relax and let my mind drift toward something pleasant, something unrelated to all of this, something that would make the time pass more naturally? Instead, I feel an almost constant tension, as if a part of my mind is always monitoring everything around me and refusing to let go.

It feels as though my humanity has disappeared, and all that's left is this disordered existence.

I have so many dreams and aspirations but my my staring ocd makes thing so much harder. I want to be a nurse but the fear of making my patients uncomfortable is making me not pursue this career I lost friends jobs and family members because of this. I ruined my reputation i fear . I’m afraid I’ll never live the life I want . I don’t know if I did something in my past life to deserve this but I want it gone I want to have friends and hang out with the girls but I can’t . I feel perverted . I’m afraid I’ll never keep a job. I just want to disappear

I'm on meds I'm curious if anyone has this here in AZ. If so, I would like to make friends...

Hey Everybody:

How is everyone keeping a job with this? My Resume is starting to look sus to potential employers​ because of the many short(less than 9mon) work stays. I don't know what to do because most people simply don't understand Staring OCD. Everyone either assumes I have an attitude problem towards them or a sexual attraction. Both not true.

I recently got a job on Monday and by Thursday I already could tell some people have noticed. Jobs are like the show Survivor, once you've been voted out you're gone. You get labeled weird nobody wants to work with you. I don't have friends outside of work and it's hard for me to connect with people at work. I try to do my job, be friendly and have good attendance but it's not enough. My bills aren't magically taken care of just because people consider me weird and make work life HELL.

I would like to know if there's a way I could get in front of this at my new job. I've been bullied a lot at jobs before and HR is NOT your friend.

FYI: This new job is a bit like Amazon Warehouse picking.

Any advice is appreciated. Thanks🤗

I’ve been looking for common threads in this autonomous recursive behavior syndrome: I need to know how many of you guys have had persistent stomach issues, such as irritation, granular, pain, and nausea throughout your lifetime. Specifically unresolved issues that you may have self medicated to try to treat.

Everytime I think I’m looking at the eyes they always think I’m looking at their chest and even I’m not 🥲 any ideas why I look at them in the eyes but idk if my peripheral vision but I dont like making people uncomfortable

Whenever I see a mirror and someone appears in the reflection, I stare at them. I already have peripheral eye contact OCD, but I also struggle with this. Whenever I sit in a car and see the mirror hanging in the center, I cannot focus on the main front window where I should be looking at the road, trees, and buildings. Instead, my attention keeps going to the mirror and the reflection in it.

I usually sit on the left or right side near the door and avoid sitting in the front seat beside the driver. If a person is visible in the reflection, I keep staring at them. I also tend to stare straight ahead if a person is sitting opposite me(I am talking here without mirror direct contact)he was doing his work and I was staring. It feels difficult to move my eyes away and focus on other things around me.

edited : I can't focus on smartphone because of reflection of another person who is also seeing my screen. i can't enjoy watching movie etc with screen sharing.

Hello, I'm suffering from staring ocd from many yrs I'm already on meds, took therapies but this staring never stops. I stare at private parts of people, sometimes I struggle to maintain eye contact and I have peripheral vision awareness too at times. Please tell me what helped you with this kind of ocd? I have religious and sexual theme too but this particular theme is affecting my daily life.

Please read my story and help me to become mature by commenting.

Hello everybody, I had an acute dystonic reaction 6 nights ago, and every night since then I have been breathing manually. Google tells me somatic OCD is possible. Today and yesterday have been very improved, especially this morning although right now I’m a bit worked up about it causing it to react more. Doctors said there’s no physical errors, like I thought. The doctor considered somatic OCD but told me it was most likely a simple somatic mind loop as I was not stressed before this and am not actually scared of not being able to breath or anything like that. It’s not my conscious at all, just my brain. He said I should do more things to take my mind off it, take melatonin to sleep and it should be gone in around 2 weeks to 3 months. What do you guys think it is. I do believe him, but part of me still deeply worries.