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Answer by Dr. Laura
PhD Mental Health Nurse & Sexual Assault Nurse Examiner
I hear how much distress you're carrying about this, and I want to start by saying that I appreciate your willingness to reflect on your past interactions. What you're describing, however, sounds like a situation where OCD is causing you to catastrophize a moment of adolescent awkwardness into something far more serious than what actually occurred.
From what you've shared, you were 14 years old and your comment about "popular people" sounds like exactly what it was: an awkward, immature attempt to navigate social discomfort when you felt embarrassed. Adolescents say clumsy things all the time, especially in vulnerable moments, and that doesn't transform typical teenage behavior into abuse. The fact that your friend declined initially, that you didn't push further in that moment, that she later chose to engage with you, and that she's maintained a positive relationship with you into adulthood all point toward mutual, age-appropriate experimentation rather than coercion.
Your therapist, who knows your full history and developmental context, has told you this wasn't abusive. Your friend, who was actually there and experienced the interaction firsthand, has told you she never felt pressured. OCD specializes in taking ambiguous situations and turning them into catastrophic certainties, and it sounds like that's exactly what's happening here.
Pressure and abuse involve persistent coercion, intentional manipulation of power imbalances, or disregarding someone's stated boundaries. The evidence, both from the people involved and from professionals who understand trauma, consistently points toward this being typical adolescent exploration, not abuse. You deserve to trust the people who were there and the professionals who understand your situation, rather than the part of your mind that's trying to convince you of something that didn't happen. Be gentle with yourself.
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Grounding activity
Find a comfortable place to sit. Gently close your eyes and take a couple of deep breaths - in through your nose (count to 3), out through your mouth (count of 3). Now open your eyes and look around you. Name the following out loud:
5 – things you can see (you can look within the room and out of the window)
4 – things you can feel (what is in front of you that you can touch?)
3 – things you can hear
2 – things you can smell
1 – thing you like about yourself.
Take a deep breath to end.
From where you are sitting, look around for things that have a texture or are nice or interesting to look at.
Hold an object in your hand and bring your full focus to it. Look at where shadows fall on parts of it or maybe where there are shapes that form within the object. Feel how heavy or light it is in your hand and what the surface texture feels like under your fingers (This can also be done with a pet if you have one).
Take a deep breath to end.
Ask yourself the following questions and answer them out loud:
1. Where am I?
2. What day of the week is today?
3. What is today’s date?
4. What is the current month?
5. What is the current year?
6. How old am I?
7. What season is it?
Take a deep breath to end.
Put your right hand palm down on your left shoulder. Put your left hand palm down on your right shoulder. Choose a sentence that will strengthen you. For example: “I am powerful.” Say the sentence out loud first and pat your right hand on your left shoulder, then your left hand on your right shoulder.
Alternate the patting. Do ten pats altogether, five on each side, each time repeating your sentences aloud.
Take a deep breath to end.
Cross your arms in front of you and draw them towards your chest. With your right hand, hold your left upper arm. With your left hand, hold your right upper arm. Squeeze gently, and pull your arms inwards. Hold the squeeze for a little while, finding the right amount of squeeze for you in this moment. Hold the tension and release. Then squeeze for a little while again and release. Stay like that for a moment.
Take a deep breath to end.