So frustrated with the misunderstanding of OCD today. A friend of mine gave me a bag with gifts for every day until Christmas (like an advent calendar sort of thing). Because of my OCD, I have a hard time handling/touching things that have come into my home from "outside." I thought this would be a great exposure having to open a gift each day this month. I was even considering telling this friend about my OCD, explaining ERP, and how her gifts could help me in my recovery. Well we were just texting one another about what we're baking for the holidays and how we like the combination of sweet and salty. Then she says this: "I'm surprised I like that combo because I have always had OCD tendencies and hated mixing flavors and foods like that." UGH. Just when I think it might be safe to share my "secret." Nope. Not gonna happen. Now I'm just mad. Thanks for letting me vent.

I told my close friends about my OCD a few months ago and they were really supportive at first however there is this one girl who is really horrible about it. She tells me regularly that I should ‘just stop’ and that if she had OCD, she would just find a way to turn it off which makes it seem as though I am making my problems up! As well as this, she will often laugh at me for doing my compulsions even though I have explained to her on numerous occasions what they are and why I need to do them. Does anyone have any ideas about how to explain to her why I am like this? I feel like I have tried everything! Any advice would be greatly appreciated ☺️

*me preparing to share with loved ones or friends about my mental illness* *taking a deep breath and being brave* me: “So... I wanted to share something deep with you. I have recently been struggling with OCD.” them: “OH MY GOD ME TOO!!!! I hAtE iT wHeN tHiNgS aRe NoT cLeAn!!!!!!!!!”

Hello dear friends. I hadn't been on this app for a while, I've been getting by. Today I just need to vent and to feel validated and understood. I have OCD, I consider myself in permanent recovery. It is an everyday job. I am ina relationship with a wonderful guy. I deeply love and care about him, but he doesn't understand anything about OCD. I've explained it to him a million times. I've directed him to online resources. I've talked him through what to do to help me get out of a loop without giving me reassurance. And yet, he never knows what to say or do when an episode appears. It is tiring to pull myself out of the loop and then having yo explain to him what just happened to me, over and over again. I think, in general, he lacks empathy for other people's feelings, but, when it comes to me, I can see that he tries but achieves nothing. I think I don't have ROCD, I have diverse thoughts. But the last few weeks this thought got into my mind: what if he has met someone else and they are texting each other and flirting and he's gonna leave me? (He left his girl to start a new relationship with me). And he are apart due to the covid-19 epidemic, so we didn't see each other almost at all during last year. Of course, I had been able to keep this particular thought to myself, buy yesterday, it just came out of my mind after him not picking up the phone. He was in shock. He reacted defensively (which I completely understand), replied that he had nothing to explain to me as to why he couldn't answer the phone when I called him and that we was surprised that I asked him such a thing (if the reason why he didn't answer me was that he was talking to someone else). I knew it was just an OCD thought of mine, but I just couldn't keep it to myself any longer. Of course, I apologized to him and had to explain it had been an OCD thought. He was supporting and understanding and told me everything was ok and to forget about it. This morning I feel sad that he couldn't recognize this for what it was despite all the explaining I have done. I have dealt with my ocd on my own, despite being in a relationship. I just needed to vent and would like to read your thoughts about this whole thing. Thank you in advance for reading and replying.