Woman was convinced she'd cheat on her boyfriend because of debilitating condition

In February 2025, Sophia Forrester found herself in the 'only healthy' relationship she'd ever been in.

Within a matter of months, however, her mental state had completely flipped.

She was still with the same loving person, but suddenly, her chronic overthinking and intrusive thoughts stopped her going out with her friends, kept her trapped within the house, and prevented her from exercising.

It wasn't until she was eventually diagnosed with an all-consuming mental disorder that the 24-year-old finally understood what had been going on inside her head.

Sophia had endured severe stress in previous relationships - so much so that she even needed to take a full year out of school to handle the situation.

She says everything felt different when she met her current partner, however.

Sophia described the romance as her first ever 'healthy relationship' (SWNS)

"Honestly, at the start I remember cuddling him and thinking, 'It all makes sense now, he feels like the right person for me', Sophia admitted. "He asked me to meet his parents quite early on and the last time I’d met someone’s parents was many years ago.

"I was happy to do so and really wanted to, but the contradiction was that after meeting his parents, that’s where the shift happened and it sank in that it was quite serious. I was in a really great mental state when I met my boyfriend, but my mental state completely flipped when it became serious."

She added: "I genuinely feel like my emotions completely shut down. I was so confused.

"At that point I felt I loved him, but my feelings switched off, and I felt completely numb. I thought, 'Why am I feeling this?'

It wasn't the way he'd treat her that she feared, however, but the way she'd treat him.

"My brain is convincing me of these worst-case scenarios," Leeds-born Sophia recalled. "Like, 'What if you cheat', or, 'What if you’re a bad person'.

Sophia began fearing how she'd act on a night out with friends (Getty Stock Images)

"Sometimes I’d go on a night out with friends drinking and the next day would be even worse. My anxiety would be worse, and then I’d be like, 'Oh, my god, did I do anything wrong last night?' or, 'Am I a bad person?'

"I would analyse everything - even if I looked at someone I’d think, 'I’ve just cheated on my boyfriend; I shouldn’t have looked at that person'. It’s awful."

Consumed by these fears, Sophia eventually began isolating herself, avoiding her friends, losing focus at work and spending hours on ChatGPT, where she'd attempt to seek reassurance about he fears.

By April, two months after the couple first got together, the waitress had sought therapy, after which she was prescribed an antidepressant (SSRI, selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) called citalopram.

It was also around this time that Sophia learned about a variation of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, known as 'ROCD'.

She became reliant on ChatGPT for reassurance (Getty Stock Images)

Relationship Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a subtype of OCD marked by unwanted, intrusive doubts, obsessive-focused thoughts, and compulsive behaviours centred on a romantic partner.

"Basically I looked it up and when you get into your first healthy relationship all the trauma from the past resurfaces because it’s a safe time to heal it,” she says," she explained. "My boyfriend had done nothing wrong, was nothing but loving to me, but I had feelings of trauma and anxiety.

"Actually it was my body trying to heal."

Sophia then realised she'd battled common symptoms of OCD in her younger years, when she'd suffer negative thoughts about her family.

"It’s like literally having a debate with your brain," she continued. "Whilst everyone is making jokes, I am scanning my environment thinking, 'Did I look at that person the wrong way?'. Even in a friendly conversation with someone, I’d think, 'Did I say something wrong?'

Eventually, she was diagnosed with ROCD (SWNS)

"I would feel guilt and feel I’d done something wrong even though I haven’t."

Since receiving her diagnosis in December 2025, Sophia has shared her experience online in the hope of helping others battling similar issues.

She revealed, however, that she'd often been criticised over her state of mind.

As soon as I started talking about my fear of cheating, I received negative comments," Sophia explained. "People have been calling me horrible names like a whore and a slag."

Thankfully, however, she refuses to let these comments taint the way she sees herself.

"The way I see it is they don’t know who I am as a person," Sophia said. "The thoughts are so against my values, but my brain is trying to make sure they never happen. I’m such a loyal, kind and caring person; I would never do that."