I’m a hypnotherapist and psychoanalyst in private practice here at the Surrey Hypnotherapy clinic, in the Woking and Guildford area of Surrey, UK.

I am finding increasingly that I am being approached by clients who are interested to know whether I can help them with their sexuality confusion anxiety, commonly called SO-OCD.

This is probably because of my experience in helpig people with their Homosexual Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (HOCD). In fact HOCD is also sometimes called Sexual Orientation OCD (SO-OCD) - because they are both terms used to describe a severe anxiety that is rooted in concerns and confusion about a person's own sexual oreientation.

Typically (or traditionally, if you like), the HOCD usage refers to a heterosexual person's anxiety that they might be gay, or turning gay etc. Whilst the SOOCD usage is more wide ranging and whilst it can also be applied to people with HOCD. the term can also be used to describe the anxiety that some gay people might feel about them possibly being straight, or about to turn straight in their sexual orientation.

So the term SO-OCD can really be used for any person who is expriencing anxiety about their sexual orientation and who is concerned that they might be undergoing some kind of change in their sexual orientation - or that such a change might eventually happen.

So SO-OCD can be experienced by heterosexual males and females, homosexual males and females, lesbians and bi-sexuals and by people of almost any other kind of sexual preference group that you can think of.

Factors that contribute to the cause and severity of the anxiety may include some or all of:

• A strong desire to have confirmation 'for sure' of whatever their sexuality is.
• A strong desire to not mislead their partner, who they love very much, into thinking that they have a different sexuality to what they are.
• A strong desire to have children and be a parent and provode a loving and stable home and upbringing to their children.
• A strong desire to know, for sure, that they are not living a lie with regards to their sexual orientation.

The severity of SOOCD (and HOCD) can be intense, with sufferers experiencing, for example:

• Extreme stress and anxiety.
• Tearfulness.
• Sleeplessnes, lack of sleep, disturbed sleep, and waking up tire and exhausted.
• Irrational edginess, irritability, anger and rage.
• Periods of having the thought constantly there in their mind, from the moment that they wake up, to the time that they go to sleep (if they can fall asleep).
• Dwelling, ruminating and catastrophising about events that may have happened in the past, almost to the extent of trying to prove to themselves that they really are, for example, gay, when they really believe and hope that they are straight..

And many, for example, straight sufferers will express opinions of the kind "don't get me wrong, I have nothing against gay people - I just don't feel that it's who I am.."

SO-OCD can be very very worrying, and very severe, and many of my clients have said that at times their SO-OCD has been so bad that they have had suicidal thoughts and have seriously considered ending it all.

Both forms of OCD (HOCD and SO-OCD), can also give rise to another form of OCD, R-OCD - Relationship Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, where the sufferer is worried and anxious, in general, about their relationship with their partner and, in particular, the effect that their problem might have on that relationship.

SO-OCD is a very misunderstood and difficult problem. It can ruin lives. Doctors don't seem to understand. And very often the help that they offer is limited to medication, often anti-depressants.

But, if you are suffering from SO-OCD, you are not suffering from depression. (Although, at times, you may feel quite depressed due to your problem !) 

Many people suffering from SO-OCD are afraid or embarrassed to even talk about their problem, for fear of being ridiculed or labelled. And so the biggest problem in getting help for SO-OCD, is finding someone who actually understands the situation.

Because most of the people offering treatment for SO-OCD don't actually know what it is, their solutions often fail and at best give you a means of living with your problem forever.

The good news is, that SO-OCD can be completely cured ! ( Link to HOCD Therapy Case Study Testimonial )

The first thing to realise is that Obsession and Compulsion are psychologically very different things and depend on your natural personality type. Without making this differentiation and knowing which you are suffering from, you cannot even begin to treat it.

At the root of both disorders is always some lost fear or thought, which is so deeply buried in the back of your mind that you have forgotten about it. But it is still having an effect on your feelings and behaviour. And in the case of SO-OCD (and HOCD) this fear starts to focus on doubts about your sexuality.

I specialise in getting to the root causes of your SO-OCD (and HOCD), and, in effect, removing them - and thus removing the feelings which drive obsessive thinking and compulsive behaviour. This REMOVES the problem so that there is no further need for medication or any other coping mechanisms such as exercises, thought control, special routines, CBT or any other procedures.

I am very experienced in dealing with SO-OCD (and HOCD). (It is more common than you would think!)

There will be no labelling or judgement. I have heard it ALL before and I really do understand the symptoms and the suffering.

If you would like more information on this successful treatment please contact me to arrange a FREE confidential consultation (Click here), and get started on changing your life straight away.

YOUR NEXT STEP...

Either:

Contact Peter to make an appointment for a free initial consultation.

or

Read Peter's website welcome letter.

Alternatively, continue reading on down this page, past the following video, for more information on SO-OCD (and HOCD).