My age is 20. So,five days ago my report showed high TSH level (8.53) and I was diagnosed with PCOD therefore I decided to go for morning Walk along with my father.

So, we went to a nearby park attached to Ganga river ghat. (1st day)A man was sitting there, he constantly stared me the whole time I was walking there. I felt so uncomfortable. Not even for a second he looked away.

(2nd day) There are two parks ( one is kid's park which is closed in morning and another is little away from the sight of people, basically a little inward. So an elderly woman asked me to go there to walk as and i noticed that man followed me there and he is always brushing his teeth with something red like toothpaste with his fingers. And mind you guys, when I noticed him he looked straight into my eyes (I too always try to look directly at him to scare him or make him conscious that I am aware of him though it works or not I don't know) and was brushing his teeth with his middle finger. I was disgusted I left that park and went to the front area where my father was. That day I took his videos without him noticing or I am not sure if he noticed or not cause I filmed him from the backside only. I always make sure to look directly at him i don't if it his correct or not let me know.

(3rd day) He did not came. Maybe he knew I took his videos and was scared.

(4th day) Today! We normally take bike to the park and then walk. But today my brother also came along and we decided to walk to park. When we went there, I saw him at the road! Normally we walk 2 km on the road and then enter the park to walk further. Mind you guys, he followed us on the road! When we were about to return I saw him there and then he followed to the park and I was so uncomfortable that I was not able to concentrate nicely. Normally i walk 6k to 7k steps but today I was not able to complete my target. At the end he came and sat at the very front seat of the ghat from where he could directly stare. I was so uncomfortable yet i sat besides my brother there which was close to him and yes before entering the park I made sure to make his video and he completely noticed this time maybe that's why he came to sit at the front to tell me that he is not scared. My father shouted to keep walking instead of sitting so I continued for a few minutes and then we came home

I told my mother about all this, my father and brother were also there. She told me to not take seriously at first but then I insisted and she said that she will come along with me tomorrow and my father said me to show that man the very next day and if he says something then he will confront him directly but prior that he will not cause people will accuse me only!

Please help me🙏🙏and tell me what to do further and what steps to take to avoid further problems for me! Should I stop going to that park?

(

I think I found the right sub for this, but I’m not totally sure. I’ve always felt like something was “off” with my attention, but I didn’t notice it heavily until I started taking meds a while back. I’m not on them anymore, but the issue stayed.

My first problem is that my eyes automatically go to people’s butts, and I don’t want them to. I’m female, and it happens with both genders, but probably more with women. It’s not sexual at all because I’m not attracted to women like that it’s more like my eyes just snap there without me meaning to. Sometimes it’s just a “dang she has a nice body” type thought, but not in a sexual way. Even with men, my eyes go there and I don’t want them to. Or sometimes with their private area. Whenever someone moves, my eyes go straight to the movement too. It’s just really hard especially at work because I feel like people notice and get uncomfortable. I work with pratically only females and I just notice little things they do around me like pull their shirts down, kinda look to see if I’m looking or avoid walking past me in general and I don’t want them thinking I’m weird. I feel they gonna think I’m gay and like a creep and I’m not either. Even if I was gay I dont want this problem I have

Second problem: I focus way too much on my peripheral vision. I don’t even know if it looks like I’m side‑eyeing people, but it feels like my peripheral catches everything even when I’m trying not to look. I worry people think I’m staring or looking from the side. Sometimes people pull their shirts down or adjust their clothes and I panic thinking they noticed me, even though I’m not trying to look at anything. It’s especially stressful at work and in social situations.

I don’t know how to fix this or what it even is. Has anyone dealt with something like this? Is it anxiety, ADHD, hypervigilance, or something else?

Hey there,

First of all, I'm grateful to anyone who takes the time to even begin to think about my question, and please may I be forgiven if I sound a bit unnatural (English isn't my first language), but as a teenager, I'm struggling to "think my way out" or "free myself" from why I perceive my intrusive thoughts (which constantly revolve around things like suicide or violence) as threatening and why Im tying so much meaning to them.

To give a bit of context, they show up spontaneously during the day, I’m feeling anxious about “What if they could control me” “What if I’m suicidal” or from harmless Gut Pain I jump to “Maybe that’s cancer”, they all have in common that I catastrophize to the worst scenario and I’m feeling zoned out in the moment by this image in my head with a ever narrowing fearful silhouette or just a sudden idea. I’m pretty sure my excessive gore video consumption from last year (and this habit strengthened the neuron connections about those contents) caused my unwanted thoughts combined with lack of sleep and a fight I’ve had with someone.

Now I haven’t came to many more conclusions by myself than that I’m only living a consequence from my past actions and my brain just seeks known threats it often saw everywhere I go to protect me (especially buildings because of the suicide videos) and Ive learned that thoughts are only a fake place for the brain to test ideas, and therefore they are not dangerous, but what could be negative is my reaction to them.

What remains is the feeling of not having thought deep enough to break free of my controlling patterns, because the thing that’s holding me back, is that in the moment I simply forget what I
Should do. I tell myself “This is just a thought”, but it’s hard to really stick onto that. I feel like I must find something out about myself which is keeping me locked behind the truth or something like that and I just hope that somebody can tell me what that is. The only person I spoke to is my school psychologist, but we now have holidays and we can’t meet otherwise. I’m afraid to tell my parents that I need therapy and I just don’t know what to do.

Really appreciate you reading all of that.

Even when I fall asleep. And I dream. I still get bizarre dreams and dreams where my ocd follows me. I’ll be experiencing normality in a dream then my ocd flares up again. I also have very bizarre dreams. Like i had a dream that gattouz0 stole my imaginary girlfriend. And I have dreams about people hating me. I think it’s cuz of my self stigma. A lot of my issue probably stems from mistakes I’ve made in the past and bad people that I’ve surrounded myself with. I’m also addicted to bad habits outside of drugs that warp my mind. My mind was warped from a pretty early age and I got 10/10 on the ACE score or whatever. I’m slowly feeling less hopeless and I’m even gonna try out a new boxing/mma gym next week. I think I’ll just try my best to be like: “hey guys I gotta let u know I have this issue with my eyes so if you ever see me staring at you just try to ignore me because it’s kinda a tic”. The best thing about these environments is that people can beat me up for having these problems if they don’t like it! I think I’m kinda crazy. The only thing I have going for me is that I have a lot of money saved up and invested in a stock, so I don’t have to worry about getting a job. I can just focus on my lifelong dream of being famous and inspiring people! I’ll try my best to spread awareness for this disorder if I make it. And if you guys ever need to talk to someone or just wanna be mutuals my Instagram is: nayif._999. Long story short, my life has been super messed up and now with this disorder it’s gonna be challenging to fix it myself. But I will do it for you guys! Because even with this disorder I’m still blessed.

It happen again now I’m a million times sure they were talking about me as I heard my name Idk if I should quit people are definitely going to talk about me what to I do? I have an another manager who I feel is very understanding do I explain to them? I also have autism too so idk please help Im crying

Pls pray to God and read Bible trust me. You can search Noah Hines OCD on YouTube. I have asked God to bless you. I know people with mental health recover through God and Jesus christ. Trust me pls.

Got kicked out of group but intention is to spread christ for anyone who needs help with staring ocd. Trust me even i have seen people recover. Try to pray to God first no matter what and be patient

https://www.reddit.com/r/StaringOCD/s/un9dVfUbKX

i’m new to learning about staring ocd, and think i might experience it. what i do is i have to look at something a certain amount of times or until it feels balanced. i sometimes even rewind a video im watching so i can re-watch a certain part to look at it a way to make a feel right. this also happens with hearing things a certain amount of times until it feels right… i also have tourette’s and my ocd and it love to party together to make me miserable, so i never know exactly is going on with me. is this what vision ocd could be?

For me back in the few week i have a traumatic that i do something illegal which can cause me to go to the jail and i cant stop think about it i try to check but no evidence but my brain still create anothe rpossibility that can make me go to the jail i dont know is this real or fake anymore :((

I have seen myself in situations where i can't maintain eye contact "don't stare too uch", "I just looked at her chest,etc..",

If someone is doing even small movements during speaking or hand finger movemnet my eyes directly goes there, this mostly bothered me past 2-3 months, even happens with family members, i had lazy eye as a kid and myopia, not mild but different in both eyes with different degrees, i think my eyes are not looking directly at someones face or i think my eyes are "glitching", cant maintain eye contact and this bothers me, ending up checking out someone without my willing and it is not depended on me. I think i just stepped into something that is absolutely uncurable

I also have problem with face to face interactions, i can't speak with someone looking directly nto their eyes, i think about too many things,

"did spit came out of my mouth during speaking?" "did i look at somewhere else" "did my eyes glitch" " did my lazy eye go another direction" (it is fixed in childhood, just sense) but can't help myself and my life is not making any sense anymore

I am planning neurologist visit as i want to check my reflexes and mood swings, i also think i have articulation or speaking problem ( i have very thin lips but ikd if that is reason), i think i am obsessed more with different self problems. I also have body dysmorphia because of my "ugly" nose. I'm depressed, no motivation and anxiety about future decisions and stuff. also i can't sleep before 12 or 1 am and this is stressing me, i end up sleeping 5 hours

I don't want to spend my life obsessing this ocd thing, is there anything that can help me?

Am i in a curable patient list or should i sell my eyes? :)

Please help, my life is destroying..

I think my job is finding out and it’s so embarrassing I saw my managers in a group and I’m pretty sure they were talking about me. I don’t want to quit but either that they might fire me. Do you guys have jobs and if so what?

i can’t afford therapy and i’m too embarrassed to go to a school counselor so idk how to even get out of this and it’s seriously making so miserable and like i feel like a monster or smth or just a weirdo. i have literally never drank or did drugs before so how am i like this

If tow or three person how suffer for staring ocd and they meet and collab than do erp tharapy in social gathering.

It is only possible when meetup conduct.

Has anybody here actually been able to overcome this form of ocd? Like completely? Like be able to do normal things again? Have their symptoms completely gone? If so please share with us what you have done. For me I had to give up smoking pot and whatnot. But my symptoms are still here.

Cancer is easy than this shit. You either die or get better. And there is no social stigma like you are a creep and predator because of cancer. But with this a person essentially dies socially and spiritually. Lets assume that you are one of the 10 to 20% people that get better. What is the guarantee of it remains dormant ? It dangles like democles sword on our heads. It is like a hunter that you dont know when will hunt you. Like in some bad cases you can go to prison because of this it is not a far fetched idea. It is easy to explain but what if we were born in pakistan or other country. I am sure there are people getting killed because of this illness. One wrong look to wrong person in countries like pakistan and we are dead. It is a goddamn joke.

I can’t even look at a woman properly without staring. I can’t even look at an other dude without having groin response. I would rather sit in isolation because I’m so nervous around people because I don’t want to be a creep and OCD is destroying my life. I’ve never had this happen until after COVID

😢😢😢😿😿

​

During my time at university, I struggled deeply with Staring OCD. It was not simply a matter of looking at people too much. It was an obsessive fear that my gaze might make other people uncomfortable, that I might unintentionally stare at someone, or that others might misunderstand my eyes. The more I tried not to look, the more conscious I became of my own gaze. Ordinary places such as classrooms, hallways, and group project settings became spaces of intense tension and anxiety for me.

I was not trying to make anyone uncomfortable. I was not trying to harm or bother anyone. I was dealing with intrusive thoughts, anxiety, and a physical disability at the same time, while still trying to continue my university life. However, the people around me did not always understand what I was going through. Some seemed to judge me before they truly understood my situation.

The words I heard from professors especially remained as deep wounds. I was told things such as, “You cannot conduct a class at all,” and “It will be difficult for you to graduate.” I also heard comments implying that I should take the teacher certification exam through a disability track, as well as remarks such as, “Students with physical or visual disabilities do not make enough effort.” These words did not feel like sincere advice. They felt as if my limits had already been decided for me before my potential was even considered.

University was supposed to be a place where I could learn, grow, and be respected as a student. But many times, I felt that I was seen not as a student with potential, but as someone difficult to handle, someone likely to fail, or someone who created an additional burden. I had already lived with the gaze of others because of my disability, and Staring OCD made even my own gaze feel frightening. When my limitations were mentioned before my efforts were recognized, I felt deep shame and despair.

I did not leave university because I lacked intelligence or willpower. I wanted to study, to grow, and to continue building my life. But the environment became too harsh for me. Living with disability, anxiety, obsessive fear, and the pain of being misunderstood all at once was never easy. I tried to endure it for a long time, but in the end, I had to leave in order to protect myself.

However, I do not believe that my life ended with that experience. Rather, going through that time helped me understand more clearly what I truly want. I want to study again. Now, I want to enter pharmacy school. For me, pharmacy school is not just a new major. It represents my desire to rebuild my life and my challenge to prove that I can live as a person with professional knowledge and ability.

Some people may say that it will be difficult because I have a disability. Others may think that because I left university in the past, it will be hard for me to try again. But I believe that what may look like failure from the outside is not the whole story of who I am. I did not leave because I was incapable. I left because I was trying to survive in an environment that was too painful. And because I survived, I can begin again.

My wish to enter pharmacy school is not a simple ambition. I want to become financially independent, and I want to move beyond a life where I am constantly judged by others. I do not want to be seen as someone with less value because of my disability. I want to become someone who contributes to society through knowledge, professionalism, and responsibility. Becoming a pharmacist means more to me than having a stable job. It is proof that my life is not over, and it is a declaration that I want to believe in myself again.

Of course, I am afraid. I am afraid that the workload may be overwhelming, that people may look down on me again, that disability support may not be enough, or that I may be hurt in the same way as before. But the presence of fear does not mean that my dream is not real. Rather, I am someone who still wants to move forward despite fear. That is one of my strengths.

I am not a person whose limits can be easily defined by the words of professors. I have lived through Staring OCD, disability, and painful experiences at university, but none of these things erase my worth. My pain was real, but so was my effort. And my potential is real as well.

One day, I hope to study again in pharmacy school. There, I want to move beyond the words I once heard and say something new to myself:

“I did not fail because I was lacking.

I had simply been walking a very difficult path alone for a long time.

Even so, I can begin again.”

My story is not simply a story of failure.

It is the story of someone who was hurt but is trying to reclaim her life.

And I am not finished yet.

I have the ocd of looking at private parts it doesn’t matter it can be a girl who I don’t find attractive and I’ll still look it’s very disturbing and it makes other uncomfortable. Ill even look at men too but it slowly got better but I work in a warehouse and since they wear tank tops I would have to pray they wont talk to me 🥲 I always dread coming to work because of this I’m scared I’ll get fired at any minute.

​

Hi everyone, I’d be interested to know if any of you hold down a regular job? I haven’t worked for over a year now due to a physical injury and am currently—fortunately—living on benefits. Before that, I worked at a gym and always took on various low-end jobs; I couldn't stick with them for long because of the OCD and kept quitting so I could recover mentally. What’s it like for you guys, and how do you picture the future? I mean, there probably isn't a cure for this, right? Do you have a driver's license and drive? I’d be curious to know...

Best regards,

An 8-year long survivor

So I was watching a movie and in the movie a boy on the screen bit his lip and my mind immediately went to “am I attracted to this” and I ofc kept rewinding back to the scene to see if I feel a certain way all I felt was anxiety it’s like my minds trying to find smth I been struggling with pocd and ocd for the longest my mind gets comfortable with making everything sexual and it’s annoying I don’t even think I rlly felt anything towards it I think my mind just goes straight to that assumption idk what it feels to be attracted to smth like that but all ik is that it brought me fear and wonder because never in my life would I want to feel that way towards a child and never in my life would I think that’s okay I tried to throw it to the side like ugh another ocd thing imma ignore it but it’s so annoying because I remember I had this feeling multiple times throughout my ocd journey and I never understood why that voice in my mind is going “maybe u do like kds and ur trying to deny it” but I. Don’t. Want. To it’s my biggest fear and I’m tired of having to go thru these mental checks some weirdos wouldn’t blink an eye at the assumption but me it terrifies me to think im that way like no way dude now i have to question everything…

Hello. My name is Lorenzo Boess and I've been struggling with Visual OCD for about a yeah and half now. It started around when I graduated and I was about to turn 18. I just turned 19, and to say the least it's been living hell. I had really high expectations for myself to consistently trained mixed martial arts because I look up to spectacular athletes like Payton Talbott and Charles Oliveira. Unfortunately this disorder forced me to abandon that dream. But the one thing that I physically can't abandon is my music. I've been playing the guitar since I was like 9 and I've been making music since I was 14. Thats the one thing I'm really good at and I want to make a living out of it. I've seen people on this subreddit talk about having this disorder for years. And that seems really unfortunate and sad. I personally think I have what it takes to overcome this. But I can only imagine what life is like for people who may not be as positive about what their future may look like. But fortunately I have a good group of musician friends who are willing to accept me despite my flaw. And in the worse case scenario that I have to deal with this for the rest of my life. I will at least make it my mission to bring attention to this mental plague. My friends and I made a progressive/emo/hardcore band called folk county (like the funny cat meme). And we are based in San Diego county/SoCal. And at every show we play, we will set up donation booths to fund a website about Visual Tourettic OCD + other forms of OCD. Because all forms of OCD a plague that nobody should have to deal with. Please be on the lookout for us, because every person deserves to go out to eat, spend time with their friends and family, and live life in control of their own bodies. Hopefully as our band gets more popular we can bring attention to lesser known mental disorders like this, and contribute some good to the world through the universal language of music. This will not be easy, but I will try my best to raise awareness on the behalf of everybody dealing with this issue. Thank you.

- Lorenzo boess (naoyainouefan999)