Internatnal OCD Foundatn | How Do I Know I’m Not Really Gay/Straight?

Contents:

• 'HOMOSEXUAL OCD': STRAIGHT MEN WHO SPECT THEY ARE GAY
• MEET THE STRAIGHT MEN WHO ARE TERRIFIED THEY ARE GAY
• HOW DO I KNOW I’M NOT REALLY GAY/STRAIGHT?
• FEELG GUILTY ABOUT "GAY THOUGHTS"

'HOMOSEXUAL OCD': STRAIGHT MEN WHO SPECT THEY ARE GAY

24, 2014— -- Steven Brodsky, a psychologist who specializ obssive-pulsive disorr, says that at any one time he has a "handful" of clients who are straight and spect that they are gay. J., said he had one adult patient who was so crippled by obssive thoughts about beg gay that he was unable to live penntly and had to move back wh his parents to pe. Brodsky said a prev therapist had misdiagnosed his patient as gay, and at the patient's requt, sent him off to reparative therapy, a ntroversial method that has not been proven to be effective and n be harmful.

Jack Drcher, a noted New York Cy psychiatrist who is nsired an expert gay and lbian mental health and treats patients for OCD, agreed that "beg worried that one might be gay is not the same thg as beg gay. ""A person wh OCD who has is havg tsive thoughts about whether or not he is gay, is not gay, the sense that he has not rporated a homosexual orientatn any mimally affirmg way to his inty, " said Drcher. "Also, if he is not actually attracted to people of the same sex, do not masturbate to fantasi of people of the same sex, is not really aroed by same sex pornography, then is hard to make the se that he has a homosexual orientatn.

MEET THE STRAIGHT MEN WHO ARE TERRIFIED THEY ARE GAY

Another was heterosexual and feared he had agreed wh Brodsky that some therapists may miss an OCD diagnosis, but "the most likely e of that is not that they are too gay-affirmg but that they lack trag regnizg the symptoms of OCD. "Repeatedly, anxly, reviewg past suatns, ttg themselv, askg for reassurance, pulsively rearchg the Inter for gay tts, ttg themselv wh gay porn or gay people. The thoughts bee a signifint source of distrs, leadg a sufferer to believe that their bra chemistry has changed and/or that they may be transng om heterosexual orientatn (straight) to homosexual orientatn (gay).

Those experiencg HOCD are typilly very fearful of the homosexual-related thoughts, to the pot that they attempt to supprs them or do whatever they n to avoid thkg them.

The OCD homosexual fears to s advantage, hijackg a person’s thought procs and strengtheng fear-based circury to promote the obssive-pulsive disorr feedback loop.

HOW DO I KNOW I’M NOT REALLY GAY/STRAIGHT?

It felt as if my bra had unrgone a metamorphosis om one that was pletely straight (heterosexual) to one that was now programmed wh a homosexual orientatn (gay). Oddly enough, the next step given by my therapist was to embrace the thoughts and accept that (while totally unlikely), there’s a chance I uld be gay.

FEELG GUILTY ABOUT "GAY THOUGHTS"

Currently sufferg om OCD (Obssive Compulsive Disorr)Recurrg unwanted or tsive thoughts about your own sexualyConstantly reassurg yourself that you are straightAvoidg people of your same genr due to anxiety or unwanted fears that you might be gayWorryg that you might be sendg out “signals” that will make others thk you are gayHomosexual thoughts are repulsive to you, rather than arogFeelg no attractn to your same sexRepeatg an actn bee you worry that you might have done somethg a way that mak others thk you are gay (example: a man repeatedly gets up and ss down on a chair bee he worri that he tak a seat a way that looks too feme). Homosexual thoughts are enjoyable and/or arog to the person, even if they hi their sexual orientatn om others or are ashamed of Havg had past sexual experienc wh those of their same genrPreferrg to date or have sexual enunters wh people of their same genr stead of wh those of the oppose sexOften, people who are gay report havg felt differently than their same-sex peers at an early age. A person sufferg om this sub-type of OCD nstantly doubts their sexual orientatn:A straight person worri whether they might actually be gay even though they haven’t doubted their sexual orientatn the pastThey might worry that homosexualy is “tchg”They may thk that talkg wh a gay person will make them act out by triggerg their own latent homosexual tennci.

Where a tly gay person obtas happs and relief the act of revealg their homosexual orientatn, HOCD people who e out ntue to doubt their wh tradnal OCD, people who are affected by this ternalized homophobia engage ruals to help them alleviate their anxiety and prove to themselv that they are tly straight.