Will someone share a recovery story?

Hi Everyone, I wanted to share my OCD miracle, which I have kept private until the past couple of weeks. I have had severe OCD since 2001, months after my mother died of cancer and right after 9/11. I saw OCD therapists and did ERP for 23 years, along with trying almost every medication for OCD. Starting in 2021, my OCD became severely crippling. I went to three residential treatment programs for many months between 2021 and 2023, tried Ketamine therapy many times, did TMS many times, among other treatments. My father listened to an iOCDF webinar that covered brain procedures for OCD in 2022 and after some research, I connected with the OCD team at Butler Hospital in Providence, Rhode Island, which is affiliated with Brown University. After multiple visits to Providence and many interviews, and after extensive coordination between my OCD therapists, my psychiatrist and the Brown team, I was scheduled for an anterior capsultonomy (using Laser interstitial thermal therapy (LITT)) in late 2023 with a renowned neurosurgeon in Providence affiliated with Brown. The weeks before my surgery were my lowest points with OCD. Many days I was doing compulsions (mental and otherwise) for over 10 hours per day. I was a partner at a large international law firm and was not able to work and took several medical leaves post 2021. The surgery felt like my last hope. Because no treatments had worked to date, and because my OCD was so severe, I figured I would fall in the 30% of patients who do not significantly improve post surgery. Miraculously, I have not had an OCD episode or spent time doing compulsions since my surgery in 2023. My OCD went from a 9 or 10 to almost a 0. The surgery cured me, and I did believe OCD could be cured. I believe only two institutions in the US (U of Chicago and Brown/Butler) do the surgery in this manner (it is not DBS). I am passionate about helping people with OCD and I hope to assist in making this procedure more accessible. While brain surgery sounds incredibly scary and intense, my nose job (not cosmetic) when I was 15 was much more difficult. While I was in Providence for many meetings and tests for a week before the surgery, I was home the next night after staying at the hospital overnight. I felt no pain at any point and there were just small cuts on my head that healed in weeks. I had no side effects other than fatigue and apathy for a couple of months (for example, I slept until 2 PM many days). It was an absolute miracle. I read many posts in this group about brain surgery for OCD and it is very misunderstood. While this post is anonymous (just worried about employers, etc, given the stigma around mental health and this surgery), it would be my pleasure to speak to anyone who has any questions. I can also introduce you to my treatment team. OCD ruined my life for decades and I am so sorry you are all dealing with it. I am here for you. Thank you for reading!

Hi - I’m new here but I’m going through this right now and was wondering if anyone can share their harm ocd recovery stories and what your experience was like. Thank you (:

Just wanted to give some hope to those who are having ocd spikes, spirals and worries. This past year I have regained my life back. I went from beginning to isolate myself, being convinced by my ocd that my hobbies are bad and that I should avoid things I enjoyed, and having constant panic attacks. With the work of IOP, psychiatry and nocd, I have made great strives towards my future. I now don’t avoid things and instead embrace my life and ANY possibility that may come. Don’t let the ocd bully you. Yes, I have intrusive thoughts still but I am able to go about my day instead of obsessing over them. You can find this too. I encourage anyone on the fence to please seek help if you are in a tough time, it can literally save your life.