When HOCD/Sexuality Orientation OCD is experienced by a straight person, it centers on doubts that they’re not really strait and involves fears that they’re attracted to members of the same sex. Its grasp is so tight that it causes anxiety, ultimately leading to compulsions and worsening the disorder.
OCD is great at the “What if” game? What if I’m gay? What if I’m straight? What if I’m bi or asexual? And it’s this “what if” that grabs onto the OCD sufferer and refuses to let go. But the thoughts persist and pester until the sufferer isn’t 100% sure that they’re not real (and OCD requires 100% certainty). They don’t believe the thoughts entirely that’s one of the most interesting things about OCD – the sufferer is aware that they’re being irrational. People with OCD do the opposite: They take these thoughts of nonsense seriously. And that prevents them from having power. Yet the difference between the normal brain and the OCD brain is that the person without OCD doesn’t pay these intrusive thoughts any mind. Intrusive thoughts are normal in everyone, whether or not you have a mental illness. But it’s not only people with OCD who experience unwanted images and ideas. OCD involves intrusive thoughts if this disorder were a recipe, these thoughts would be the main ingredient.
