var title = 'Psychology and Mental Health Forum Psychology Feed';
		var url = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/random_blogs_c-3.html';
		var site_url = 'https://www.psychforums.com';
		var site_desc = 'Psychology and Mental Health Forum';
		var time = 'Sun, 10 Aug 2025 01:40:51 -0400';

		var data = new Array();
		

		data[0] = new Array();
		data[0]['title'] = 'Trans in denial or....?';
		data[0]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/trans_in_denial_or....%CA%94_c-3_u-409304_b-11056.html';
		data[0]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/trans_in_denial_or....%CA%94_c-3_u-409304_b-11056.html';
		data[0]['username'] = 'strayedcat';
		data[0]['blog_id'] = '11056';
		data[0]['blog_message'] = 'I&#039;ve been having pure o OCD for a long time. I was never properly diagnosed, but I&#039;ve been having obsessions ever since 3rd grade. Lately I started to obsessing over my sexuality, even though I&#039;ve already had a crush on a boy in my school. I got over my HOCD, and after a day of pure relief, when I was scrolling through YouTube, I found a video about a trans. Immediately a thought popped in my head, &quot;What if I am transgender?&quot; I started to obsess over that. I am tomboy-I had a lot of the character traits and humor of boys, my voice sounded slightly deeper than other girls, I was different than other girly girls, I hate pink, my childhood toys were cars, and I even looked kind of like a boy. However, I always loved being a girl. I felt quite comfortable in my body-and I&#039;ve never disliked being called &#039;her&#039; and &#039;she&#039;. I&#039;ve had a lot of fantasies and daydreams, all of which I was a girl. I imagined myself growing old as a girl. I&#039;ve always believed/identified I was female, and that was what I told myself when I first started to obsess. As time worn on, I became less sure. Every time I look in the mirror, I felt ugly and boyish. I don&#039;t want to be transgender. I keep on having unwanted thoughts m=of y=myself as a boy-I don&#039;t want to think about what it ould be like to be male because I&#039;m scared I might like it. I dont know if I&#039;m actually trans in denial or just TOCD. Please help!<br /> <img src="https://www.psychforums.com/images/smilies/icon_sad.gif" alt=":(" title="Sad" />';
		data[0]['blog_time'] = 'Fri, 05 May 2017 21:47:22 -0400';
		

		data[1] = new Array();
		data[1]['title'] = 'do i have a disorder?';
		data[1]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/do_i_have_a_disorder%CA%94_c-3_u-121048_b-3945.html';
		data[1]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/do_i_have_a_disorder%CA%94_c-3_u-121048_b-3945.html';
		data[1]['username'] = 'glouisek';
		data[1]['blog_id'] = '3945';
		data[1]['blog_message'] = 'i am CONSTANTLY picking off scabs and pimples on my face and even more so on my back. it&#039;s so embarrassing because i have tons of scars on my back and luckily on my face it isn&#039;t so  bad. but whenever a new pimple or scab appears i pick it right away. i don&#039;t know why i do it. i don&#039;t even think about it when i am doing it. i don&#039;t have any disorders so i don&#039;t know if this is one and i want to know if i may have something that needs to be checked out.';
		data[1]['blog_time'] = 'Mon, 07 Jan 2013 00:03:42 -0500';
		

		data[2] = new Array();
		data[2]['title'] = 'Am I pervert?';
		data[2]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/am_i_pervert%CA%94_c-3_u-262027_b-7155.html';
		data[2]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/am_i_pervert%CA%94_c-3_u-262027_b-7155.html';
		data[2]['username'] = 'Owlshirt';
		data[2]['blog_id'] = '7155';
		data[2]['blog_message'] = 'Obviously I&#039;m going to know the answer, it&#039;s just I want to hear another persons opinion. <br />I&#039;m a 16 year old girl and I like fantasizing about things, sometimes it&#039;s actually meaningful and sweet, then sometimes it&#039;s just dirty sex with this guy I have been dreaming about lately.<br />I dunno what drives me, but it turns me on so much to be &quot;dominant&quot; over the person, not like &quot;chains and whips&quot; (No, not at ALL) but in a way that the other person can&#039;t say &quot;no&quot; to?<br />Who knows, I&#039;m pretty sure I&#039;m a pervert but I don&#039;t really know why or how I became one.<br />(^-^)';
		data[2]['blog_time'] = 'Sun, 29 Jun 2014 23:38:08 -0400';
		

		data[3] = new Array();
		data[3]['title'] = 'Art Therapy &amp; Addiction: As a Treatment For Substance Abuse';
		data[3]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/art_therapy_addiction_as_a_treatment_for_substance_abuse_c-3_u-102283_b-3709.html';
		data[3]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/art_therapy_addiction_as_a_treatment_for_substance_abuse_c-3_u-102283_b-3709.html';
		data[3]['username'] = 'mnlfoojan';
		data[3]['blog_id'] = '3709';
		data[3]['blog_message'] = 'Usually people who struggle with drug and alcohol abuse or other forms of addictive behaviors come from a background of abuse or neglect or have experienced some kind of trauma when they were younger. Being in these situations, a child and/or a young person can experience various painful feelings such as fear, helplessness, shame, guilt, sadness and eventually hopelessness. Becoming overwhelmed by these emotions and not having anybody to help them and validate their feelings may lead to them learning to run away and avoid such feelings to protect against pain or become consumed by those feelings and act upon them impulsively. Later in life, they may use substances or engage in addictive and destructive activities to numb those painful feelings. Despite their effort in avoiding these emotions, they are stored implicitly in a deeper level of the brain and will be triggered more often than they may have expected.<br /><br />These emotions that have been stored in a less conscious part of the brain may not be accessible verbally, but can be found symbolically in images that the person creates. Therefore, the goal of art therapy is to access these hidden and avoided emotions that once had the purpose of protecting the individual, but either have been denied or exaggerated and lost its purpose to rediscover their adaptive qualities.<br /><br />Images in an art therapy session can simply be composed of a few lines, colors or pictures from a magazine to more elaborate drawings, clay sculptures and other forms of creativity. These images will give an expert art therapist the opportunity to help the recovering person uncover meanings behind the symbolic images, discover more information about oneself than just talking and open many deep thoughts and emotions. Participants in art therapy don’t need to have any skills in art.<br /><br />Talking about feelings can be very frightening and painful for a person who has been avoiding them for a long time. This person may not even be able to verbally express him/herself, but may be able to express thoughts and feelings about past and present events and situations non=verbally through lines, shapes and pictures. Creating them can become a new form of communication which is less threatening and safer for the recovering person.<br /><br />Individuals struggling with addiction are usually very judgmental of themselves and are flooded with shame and guilt. Creating art can give them a tangible, concrete perception of their feelings and thoughts and give them the opportunity to observe themselves from a distance which can help them gain a new, less judgmental and more compassionate understanding of self.<br /><br />Recovering individuals may engage in a simple art project whenever they feel overwhelmed or have an urge to take drugs/alcohol or engage in an addictive activity to distract and sooth themselves. Creating can give them a sense of control over the situation and a tool to accept and manage overwhelming feelings. Using their hands while using art materials such as colored pencils, markers, crayons, clay, paper and scissors can help them release some of their avoided feelings such as anger and lower its intensity, and to sooth and calm themselves when they are anxious.<br /><br />In general, in art therapy sessions, the recovering person will be given permission and opportunity to experience and express those feelings that he/she has been running away from and avoiding for a long time in a safe and supporting atmosphere, with the presence of an empathic professional psychotherapist /art therapist who will help him/her understand and make sense of those painful feelings, acknowledge and accept them with compassion, reduce their intensity and tolerate them, and finally use them effectively to fulfill their needs and goals.';
		data[3]['blog_time'] = 'Tue, 27 Nov 2012 02:30:45 -0500';
		

		data[4] = new Array();
		data[4]['title'] = 'Do I sound like an aspergirl? OCD, Tourettes,';
		data[4]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/do_i_sound_like_an_aspergirl%CA%94_ocd_tourettes_c-3_u-446650_b-12263.html';
		data[4]['url'] = 'https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/do_i_sound_like_an_aspergirl%CA%94_ocd_tourettes_c-3_u-446650_b-12263.html';
		data[4]['username'] = 'Queencoco';
		data[4]['blog_id'] = '12263';
		data[4]['blog_message'] = 'Hi there!<br />20 year old girl looking for some guidance.<br />I have a history of mental health issues but have never been diagnosed with anything. My dad has Tourettes with ocd and my sister has anxiety disorder. We all take prozac for our anxieties though im not diagnosed. I have tendencies toward ocd, Aspergers, anxiety, and eating disorders but do not fit a particular box. Im going to list my obscure quirks based on which issue I think they fit and hopefully someone can help me if they relate or understand!<br /><br />OCD Tendencies:<br />I have an intense fear of germs, but only human germs. Im fine with the ocean, dirt, or sand etc as long as I can wash my hands after but I can&#039;t touch doorknobs, money, etc without washing my hands IMMEDIATELY. The strange thing is I don&#039;t obsess over what these germs will do to me, like I don&#039;t think ill get sick or die or anything, I can just &quot;feel&quot; the germ on my hand or body and it drives me crazy until I wash it off. If I touch something really dirty, I have to wash my hands 3 times for the dirty feeling to go away. <br /><br />When i was about 5 my ocd tendencies started to come out and it manifested in me being afraid of germs and dead things. Dead things WERE dirty to me. I stopped eating meat. I put my favorite toys on a high shelf and refused to play with them because I didnt want to get them dirty. I washed my hands until they’d bleed and i had to wear socks on them. Since spiders killed things, they became the dirtiest thing in the world to me. If a spider touched something, I couldnt touch that thing unless it was washed. My parents got me a “cleaning spray” (which i now suspect was just water) to spray things so i could touch them again. When I was six, a butterfly died in our hallway and got covered in ants. I had to leap over that spot in the hallway because I couldn’t touch it, and I did that until we moved out of that house 2 years later. I had meltdown after meltdown because I found out the seats in my car were made of leather.<br /><br />I still can’t touch anything if a spider has walked on it. I live in the forest, so they are always in my home. I wear shoes and socks in the house because I can’t touch the floor. If something falls on the ground I either throw it away or have to pick it up with gloves and wash it. I know this is irrational and there is no fear driving it, but if I touch any place a spider has been or if a spider touches me i have to scrub and scrub my body… this is very exhausting. <br /><br />Because of this I get overwhelmed by small tasks. My dad used to always get mad at me because I would leave the fridge door open when Id take something out of it, until I finally explained that I have to use my shirt to open the door and its very difficult because sometimes I accidentally touch the door and have to wash my hands again...etc. If i drop something on the floor in my house now I usually leave it there because otherwise I’d have to get gloves, pick it up, wash it, then wash my hands.. Etc.<br /><br />Un-identified Tendencies:<br />I hate eye contact. It feels so unnatural to me, I usually avoid it unless I know its important (job interview, date, etc) and then I have to purposefully hold my gaze and focus on looking attentive. I often stop paying attention to what people are saying because I’m focusing so hard on looking like I’m paying attention (lol). I hate sitting across from people because eye contact, I always make my boyfriend sit next to me at restaurants.<br /><br />I have trouble with personal space/boundaries. In lines I always get too close to people without realizing, my boyfriend has to pull me away/remind me to give people space.<br /><br />If I get excited about something, I talk very very loudly without noticing. I always have to be reminded to stop yelling..<br /><br />I am super clumsy and awkward. I am ALWAYS bumping into things/dropping things.. Especially in the morning.<br /><br />My sister and boyfriend recently told me that people often think I am a bitch when they first meet me because of my humor. I have a super blunt/...<br /> <br /> <a href="https://www.psychforums.com/blog/Psychology/do_i_sound_like_an_aspergirl%CA%94_ocd_tourettes_c-3_u-446650_b-12263.html" class="postlink-local">[ Continued ]</a>';
		data[4]['blog_time'] = 'Sat, 14 Jul 2018 22:45:24 -0400';