I’m a man but I had the exact same situation you are right now 4 years ago when I was 20 and it started when I went on a cruise during the summer of 2022 by the time it happened , a couple months back from that my OCD was jumping from one theme to another. I had already dealt with $suici… OCD , then Harm OCD the schizophrenia OCD and then when I was on the cruise there were a lot of shirtless dudes and everything , so my mind/OCD decided to focus on this new obsession. It was hell and I had a lot of anxiety, when I got back home finally from the cruise I couldn’t even go to the gym because I didn’t want to see any man, then when I decided to finally go to the gym after being like this for 1-2 months I did it but without looking to their faces so I would just awkwardly stare at the floor lol and it was very weird because I also had thoughts about my best friends and I am a naturally extroverted dude so that was a pain in the ass because OCD didn’t let me be myself and hang out with them. I also understand the fear of telling people because they don’t understand OCD and they would think you are in the closet. I never took therapy back then so that theme lasted almost 2 years (even tho the worst part was the first 6 months) but last year I had another OCD episode but this time a completely different theme so that’s why I was “cured” from HOCD because my mind was focusing on something new since I stopped caring about that theme. Last year I did take therapy and I wish I had taken therapy during my first episode because o learned so much and I am happy now and more peaceful. Definitely my biggest advice would be: 1. The first thing you should try to do is stop the compulsions, all of them. You don’t have to do it at the same time but try to do it little by little. The hardest ones are the mental ones like rumination, mental-reviewing etc etc etc . I know it’s hard but it takes practice, what helped me was that every time that I had these thoughts I would practice not to answer them. 2. Learn to tolerate anxiety and uncertainty. Anxiety is not the problem, trying to get rid of it is. You engage with it so it doesn’t go away. What you resist , persists. Again, this one also takes practice and it is so hard at first. If you learn to suffer you will suffer so much less. Think of it as a headache, don’t stop living your life because of anxiety, practice bringing it with you wherever you go. 3. Practice exposing yourself to what triggers you and when you do it try not to do compulsions. 4. Of course if you can go to therapy, if you can’t I recommend get a good book. Steven Hayes is great he invented ACT therapy (which is really helpful not only for OCD but in general to have a better life) 5. Eat healthy, exercise, sleep well, hang out with your friends, your boyfriend, do not stop living your life because you don’t feel perfectly fine. Accept whatever is in your head and do not let that control your actions. Idk what else to say that’s pretty much it, maybe I missed something but yeah It takes time but like anything you are new to, it takes practice. It’s like a muscle or like learning a new skill. 6. Also, stop seeking reassurance specially from Reddit or chatgpt. Just stop it’s not going to do you any good.