Continuously questioning points of your relationship though there’s nothing to fret about?
Seems you’re not alone — you could be affected by a condition so common it’s now a diagnosed medical disorder.
Relationship Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (rOCD) is a “newly recognized” sort of OCD, with a sufferer “primarily concerned with fears and doubts” about life with their better half.
“Individuals with rOCD may experience intrusive thoughts, fears, and anxiety about whether their partner is true for them, whether or not they are interested in their partner or their partner is interested in them, and intense doubt regarding whether or not they have to end their relationship,” one online explainer reads.
Courtney Pare, a Rhode Island doctor who makes a speciality of anxiety, recently took to TikTok to share a video about rOCD which quickly went viral.
Within the explainer clip, Pare shares the questions that plague those who are suffering from the condition as she acts out how they could look while within the throes of rOCD.
“What if I’m not likely in love with my partner?” Pare asks as she tosses and turns in her bed.
“What in the event that they don’t really love me?” she further queries as she forlornly brushes her teeth.
Other questions that cripple a rOCD sufferer include “What if I’m missing out on another person by being with my partner?” and “Do I miss them enough after I’m not with them?”
Viewers of Pare’s video were left stunned, with many realizing that they’d been asking themselves those questions, realizing that they’d rOCD.
“OH MY GOD you only modified my life,” one stated. “I even have OCD and this has been happening though my partner is completely amazing and I felt like such a nasty girlfriend.”
“It’s literal hell, because I do know I really like him a lot and would do anything for him but these thoughts eat me alive,” one other agreed.
“I believed I used to be alone in feeling this manner and was flawed for considering like this. Thanks for providing me comfort and reassurance,” a 3rd chimed in.
Nevertheless, Pare says there are methods to assist manage — and even overcome — rOCD.
The doctor recommends therapy and even journaling, saying that seeing your thoughts on the page may alleviate among the compulsive questioning.
Communication together with your partner may additionally be helpful, but Pare also says that no relationship is ever without uncertainty, which is something an rOCD sufferer must come to terms with.
“This might be distressing & exhausting but you CAN have loving, fulfilling relationships without certainty,” she stated. “You’ve got this.”
