Understanding OCD

Relationship OCD

When you first fall in love it can feel all-consuming and even obsessive. You think about your loved one all the time, wondering what they are doing and feeling. You dream about what exciting things you could be doing together. You can’t wait to see them again. You are mindfully aware of them in everything you do.

However like any new relationship over time the excitement burns off as you become more settled with one another. It then gradually nestles into a more relaxed, calmer and secure natural place of being. But with people who experience Relationship OCD (ROCD) their fear responses do not switch off. They develop a hyper-alertness around their partner and start to doubt their own security. Bottom line the more they care the more obsessive they become.

Do you have Relationship OCD?

·         Do you obsessive about your partner’s previous intimacies and relationships?

·         Do you constantly question their whereabouts or their love for you?

·         Do you obsess about their day to day activities and grill them when you next see them?

·         Do you find yourself locked on to your partners past and find it hard to accept?

·         Do you avoid places, people and anything that could be associated to your partners past in fear that it will evoke an obsessive thought in you?

·         Do you constantly worry that he/she is not the one?

·          Do you fear he/she may not love you, even though there is no evidence to support this?

·         Do you ask for continuous reassurance from your partner that he/she really loves you?

·         Do you repeatedly check that you love your partner?

·         Do you seek constant reassurance from others that your relationship is right?

·         Is your day consumed with wondering what your partner is doing and find it hard to concentrate on anything else?

·         Do you insist that you communicate with your partner several times a day; if a communication is missed you obsess and worry and think the worse?

·         Do you worry you may not love your partner or find him/her attractive anymore?

·         Do you imagine lots of worrisome scenarios about your partner that has no relevance to any facts?

 

Of course the above are normal thought processes which we can all experience from time to time. However if they are persistent and are causing you much distress and fear and consume much of your time each day,  then you may well be experiencing Relationship OCD.