I’d say just the sheer amount of time OCD takes up. It feels like my life before treatment was so empty due to how little time I had outside of obsessions and compulsions.
I’ve told a few people about my existential thoughts. Their responses were wanting to know what drugs I’m on as they’d like to try…🤨🤦🏽♂️✌🏽
@Dee C Omg i thought I was the only one! People used to ask if I was high or if I smoked weed whenever I talked about anything even close to my obsessions or compulsions, even when I was only in middle school I’m sorry that folks respond that way cuz what??
True but other disorders and illnesses like Crohn’s, kidney failure requiring dialysis take a lot of time to. Everyone has their stuff that steals life or happiness whether it’s abuse, trauma, mental disorders, severe depression, physical disabilities or ailments. My mom has Parkinson’s and cancer so most of her time is spent on bad and just doing her dishes can wear her out (she’s 78).
@Erin P I’m so sorry to hear about your mom, I hope both of y’all have lovely days to come. I primarily meant people without health issues when I mention my peers
@Erin P But keep in mind I actually wasn’t discussing other illnesses. I was talking about OCD. I’ve lived my life with a medically complex family, I assure you I understand I don’t have it the worst and do not need a reminder :-)
@HoneyedVenus Fair enough. I shouldn’t have gone into a place you didn’t go. I agree it fills up way to much time. So many hours lost every day. Thank you for the good wishes. The same to you.
@Erin P Thank you- My apologies if I was rude at all <3 you did make a good point! It just felt out of the blue haha
@HoneyedVenus You were rude at all. 😀
**is spent in bed
I started dealing with OCD when I became fixated on health issues, particularly the fear of contracting a life-threatening disease. If I experienced any kind of medical symptom, no matter how small, that even remotely hinted at something potentially fatal, it would drive me crazy, and I couldn’t stop obsessing over it. Then one day, I started having intrusive thoughts about accidentally hitting someone with my car, and I would end up driving in circles to check if I had. Eventually, I found myself overwhelmed by a flood of new obsessive thoughts and compulsions. One day, while I was at the park, a squirrel came near me, and for some reason, I felt like it attacked me. I Googled it and learned that squirrels could carry rabies, which spiraled me into a deep fear of rabies. I became consumed with the thought I received a bite from a squirrel, raccoon, or bat any time I’m in areas that trigger me. It started off only being inside then transferred to even being in my own home. This made me obsess over every physical sensation in my body, compulsively checking to make sure nothing was wrong. One compulsion that I hated the most would to be putting rubbing alcohol on me to make sure that I had no open wounds. Every day feels like I’m walking around in a fog of anxiety, constantly worrying that I won’t even make it to old age. Sometimes, it gets so overwhelming that I just want it all to end. It stresses me so bad at times to where my brain feels like I’ve been studying all day.
I want to beat OCD because I have seen and felt the benefits of clearing my brain from unnecessary, pointless, thoughts. OCD is like 0 calorie food. It’s pointless. No nutrition or benefits come from my obsessions or compulsions. I don’t care to have answers to everything anymore. I catch myself just trying to stress myself out so that I have some worry to feed on. But like I said, it’s a 0 calorie food. I get nothing from it but wasted time and energy. My brain feels more spacious when I’m not consumed by OCD. I’m present. My personality has room to be herself without making space for bullshit. I tell myself now that worry is poison. I think Willie Nelson was the person I got that quote from? Anyways, that imagery of worries being poison for the mind has been transformative for me. I’m evolving. 💖 Thanks NOCD community.
OCD is so much more than just being 'neat' or 'organized'—it’s relentless, exhausting, and often deeply misunderstood. The intrusive thoughts, the compulsions, the anxiety—it can feel like a never-ending cycle that others just don’t seem to get. Many of us have had experiences where even therapists didn’t fully grasp the depth of our struggles. I myself faced difficulty being misdiagnosed and my talk therapist not understanding the full extent of what I was going through until I found NOCD. So many prior therapists wrote off my symptoms as general anxiety, not realizing it was actually OCD all along. If you could sit down with a therapist who truly wanted to understand, what do you wish they knew about OCD?
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