- Date posted
- 3y
- Date posted
- 3y
It took me about a year of therapy to be diagnosed with ocd. I’ve been dealing with ocd for as long as I can remember but I never wanted to label it in fear of discounting others experiences if I was wrong. It was in college that I started noticing some common compulsions associated width ocd but most of my ocd is not stereotypical ocd like many of us so I discounted my suspicions. I was diagnosed officially about three months ago. I’ve just started my journey but I’m thankful for my diagnosis to help understand myself better.
- User type
- NOCD Alumni
- Date posted
- 3y
My OCD started in my early 20's, right after I had remembered sexual abuse I had blocked out from childhood, I had moved out of my parents house and was married and had a baby and my husband was not coming home for days, leaving us with out food and trasportation, etc.. So, looking back now I see that my themes were based around checking the house and contamination of food. I lived with this for many years and thought it was normal behavior and had no clue that others didn't feel the same. I was watching tv and there was a show called Obsessed and watching the behaviors of the people that is how I realized I had OCD. Good luck to you all in your journey!
- Date posted
- 3y
I had to figure it out on my own, I was too scared to tell my therapists the extent of my thoughts because I didn't want them to tell me I had schizophrenia. So they just thought I had severe anxiety. Constant Google searches and listening to stories led me to OCD, which I had confirmed with an actual OCD therapist. It was comforting to know I wasn't losing my mind, but it's still hard.
- Date posted
- 3y
Thanks for sharing your stories. Hopefully they can help others.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 16w
Since when do you believe you have OCD? Anyone who would like to share what were the indications/symptoms in childhood?
- Date posted
- 11w
I was super recently diagnosed with OCD and nervous to share my diagnosis with my family. I’m a somewhat messy person and don’t have germophobic tendencies, so since I don’t have the stereotypical OCD presentation I was terrified that nobody would believe me. I ended up talking to my mom and making a silly TikTok post about it, which my grandma saw. Not only did they believe and support me–I learned that my grandma has it too! Funny to look back on, but really cool to see that the worst outcome doesn’t always happen. (:
- Date posted
- 11w
Some background: I’m a woman in my 30s who’s been struggling to find the right diagnosis for years. Since 2022, I’ve had multiple psych hospital stays, and with each stay came a different diagnosis and different sets of medications: Bipolar II, CPTSD, MDD with psychotic features, “high functioning BPD,” and most recently, Schizoaffective Disorder (depressive type). Before all of that happened, I had been seeing a therapist for CPTSD and AuDHD traits for 2 years, but after they left the practice, I struggled to find someone I trusted again. Most of my breakdowns happened during my last relationship. Looking back, I was in survival mode with them, leaving who *I* am behind. I got to the point where I started doubting my own reality from the abuse. This eventually added up and landed me in my first episode of psychosis. That combined with my attempts is what got me my schizoaffective diagnosis. After finally leaving that relationship 1.5 years ago, I’ve slowly rebuilt my life: new town, new job, new friends. Many of my old symptoms (major ones) haven’t returned, which makes me believe I may have been misdiagnosed due to reliving past childhood trauma and stress responses from the abuse. Through all of this, I’ve felt like nothing ever truly fit. I journal, I reflect, I replay the recordings and I’ve even watched old vlogs –the puzzle pieces still don’t come together. It’s left me feeling like I’ll never really know what’s going on, and I’ve started to fear that my diagnoses will just keep stacking up without ever leading to effective treatment. Recently, I opened up to a friend about this. She mentioned that her neighbor went through something similar not exactly like me but she thought it would give me a starting point—multiple diagnoses that never felt right—until a new doctor finally identified it as OCD. That one diagnosis changed everything for her. It made me realize I really don’t know much about OCD beyond the stereotypes. I didn’t know OCD could involve intrusive thoughts, rumination, or mental compulsions. My friend encouraged me to look into it, especially as I start searching for a new therapist. Facebook and Google lead me here… So now I’m wondering: could OCD be a better explanation for what I’ve been experiencing all these years? Questions for the community: 1. What steps did you take to find out if OCD was what you were dealing with? 2. If you had a long history of misdiagnoses, how did you finally find a clinician who got it right? 3. How did you advocate for yourself when people dismissed your concerns? 4. Is there anything you wish you had done earlier in your OCD journey? Thank you so much if you made it this far. I’m really grateful for this space and just want to start finding answers and the right kind of help.
Be a part of the largest OCD Community
Share your thoughts so the Community can respond