![]() ![]() The obsession may temporarily go away in the face of a logical argument or reassurance from others, but may spike when caught off guard by a sexual trigger (Gordon 2002). These individuals can't understand why they are unable to dismiss the obsession from the mind. The problem is that even though they know the obsession is false, it feels real. Occasionally individuals with OCD believe that their obsession is true, and in such a case they would be said to have "poor insight." But the vast majority of people with OCD recognize at some point that their fears are extreme and unrealistic. In the midst of the thoughts, the sexual obsessions may seem real. A patient may also experience fears that their obsession has already been carried out. Another example is a man who worries that he may accidentally impregnate a woman by shaking her hand because he was not careful enough in washing his hands after touching his genitals (Williams 2007). She might then start to look at every woman wondering if, in fact, she is attracted to someone of the same sex. A woman who has happily dated men all of her life might suddenly start to worry that her lukewarm feelings toward her boyfriend mean that she is a lesbian. ![]() He might wonder if these thoughts mean that he is a pedophile and worry that he could act them out, despite the fact that he has never sexually abused anyone and feels disgusted by the idea. For example, a father might obsess about sexually abusing his daughter. People with sexual obsessions may have legitimate concerns about their attractiveness, potency, or partner, which can serve as an unconscious catalyst for the obsessions. Common themes include homosexuality, unfaithfulness, deviant behaviors, pedophilia, AIDS, intrusive thoughts concerning the unfaithfulness or suitability of ones partner, and profane thoughts combining religion and sex. Since sex carries so much emotional, moral, and religious importance, it easily becomes a magnet for obsessions in people predisposed to OCD. However their content, form, and meaning vary depending on the disorder (Gordon 2002). The recurrent sexual thoughts and feelings in these situations are sometimes referred to as sexual obsessions. For example, sexual thoughts are common to people with paraphilias, post-traumatic stress disorder, sexual dysfunction, sexual addiction and as part of the normal fantasy life of the general population. Repetitive sexual thoughts are seen in many disorders in addition to OCD. Up to a quarter of people with OCD may experience sexual obsessions (Grant et al, 2006). ![]() However, people with OCD also obsess about violence, religious questions, and/or sexual experiences. Typical obsessive themes center on contamination, illness, worries about disaster, and orderliness. Attempts to suppress or neutralise obsessions do not work and in fact make the obsessions more severe. Obsessions are involuntary, repetitive, and unwelcome. Obsessive-compulsive disorder involves obsessions - unwanted thoughts or images that are upsetting or interfere with an individual's life, followed by compulsions - actions that temporarily relieve the anxiety caused by the obsessions (APA 2000). This article focuses on unwanted sexual obsessions. Preoccupation with sexual matters, however, does not only occur as a symptom of OCD and may be enjoyable in other contexts (i.e. Sexual obsessions can become extremely debilitating, making the sufferer ashamed of the symptoms and reluctant to seek help. Sexual obsessions are obsessions with sex, and in the context of Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) these are extremely common (Foa et al, 1995).
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