If you have Relationship OCD, you may have doubts about your relationships.
You may ask yourself questions like:
- Am I in the right relationship?
- Will I ever find the right relationship?
- Do I love my partner, or is this just the relationship I thought I should be in?
Relationship OCD has two subtypes. They are relationship-focused and partner-focused.
Here are some more common obsessions:
- Fears about being married to the wrong person.
- Fears of their partner not measuring up to their expectations
- Fears about not being honest with their partner.
- Fears that they are not attracted to their partner.
- Fears that they do not feel the same way about their partner that they feel about them (or vice-versa).
Here are some common compulsions:
- Mentally reviewing interactions in their relationship
- Asking for reassurance from their partner
- Comparing partners to others
- Ruminating on past relationships
- Researching on the internet
- Reading many books about improving relationships, attachment theories, etc.
- Confessing
- Avoidance of relationship songs that bring up relationship stress.
- Avoidance of seeing romantic movies that may be triggering.
For those of you who read one of these symptoms and think, Oh, that could be me! Remember, genuine OCD is repeated, obsessive, unhelpful, and severely time-consuming. Many people in a long-term relationship have probably asked their partner if they still loved them or read a book about relationships. However, a person with OCD would own lots of books about relationships and ask their partner multiple times a day. If you meet with me I will do an assessment with you at your first counseling session.
There’s a way to quiet the noise in your head. I’m trained in Exposure with Response Prevention, Cognitive Behavioral Therapy, and Acceptance and Commitment Therapy. I offer a free 10-minute phone consultation for women in Michigan or North Carolina. If you live close to Jackson, Michigan, you can come to in-person sessions.