- Date posted
- 2y
My friend tells people I have OCD
I have been living with my friend for over a year now, and he knows almost everything about me since we have been best friends for so long. He knows I have OCD and Tourette's (I'm sharing these things here because it's anonymous). At times I get what I call "episodes", where certain things trigger me and make me super emotional. Like when I was doing laundry the other day - my clean clothes were done in the dryer, but then a piece of clothing got dust on it as I took it out. This triggered my contamination OCD and I got an instant, intense surge of emotions, mainly anger. I wanted to contain it but I ended up screaming for a bit, but I eventually calmed down. I have no idea why I get so emotional so immediately, like everything is attacking me at once. I don't know if this is normal to have such explosive emotions with OCD. I don't wanna assume anything, but it seems like most OCD sufferers sit in their room in near-silence... I have no frame of reference for that, so I'm probably wrong... but I still feel like I'm not normal at all. So I get these "episodes", and my friend/roommate has witnessed these things and is of course unsure of what to do. Since starting ERP therapy I have had much less and much shorter episodes, but they still appear sometimes. To call my friend supportive of my OCD is half wrong and half right. He understands and cares deeply about my issues, but when I want to work with him on something, he is unbelievably belligerent, and often says comments that make me think I am taking away his autonomy. For example, dishes: my contamination OCD made it so I couldn't eat off dishes that have been touched with hands that aren't washed excessively (lol). Currently, that aspect is sooo much better, and I wanted to do exposures, so I asked my friend to do the dishes, put dishes in the dishwasher, etc. because I didn't want him to do them before because of my OCD. His face changed into an expression and he said he thought we did a nice job before of splitting up the chores of the house. What he means is that he is "assigned" to put our garbage into the trash can, and roll the trashcan to the curb every Thursday (I'm not ready to touch the trash yet, so that's why he does it and I don't). And I am "assigned" to do EVERYONE's dishes, wipe the kitchen counter, wipe the bathroom counter, sweep the floor, call the landlord myself if there are problems with bugs or any other issue, etc. He says he can live in filth and I believe him. He thinks all of what I do in terms of chores is unnecessary. And he thinks doing it at all is my OCD. He says "if you care about it, why don't you do it yourself?" First, I never agreed to any "assigning". I wanted a free, intuitive, friendly approach to living with someone, instead of the awful "structure" of OCD making me not trust anyone. I want to be able to take out the garbage and communicate freely with my friend about any other chores. I just want to live like everyone else. Second, this "distribution" of chores is entirely unfair... It's not that hard to live in a clean house where you wipe off the counter, and my OCD is not against living with dirty counters for some reason, so it's not that. That discussion is still on the table with him and I'm not sure how to continue it. The discussion at hand is him telling others I have OCD. The way he frames his justification is that he has a moral right to always tell the truth. He does not want to lie to strangers who he means well to. At work sometimes I "disappear"(I only disappear as much as everyone else when they have to use the restroom and feel like they don't have to tell everyone they're using it), which is me going into my car and trying to calm down. There have been other situations (not more than 2) where I clearly seem emotional and then I leave, and the other people present are of course confused as to what I am bothered about. The people may or may not ask questions like "where's he going?" and my friend responds like "I don't know" or "to the car" as far as I know that's what he says. He hasn't told people why yet I think. Lots of things, feelings, ideas, opinions and judgments of others cloud my mind in discussions like these, and I have no idea how to respond to him basically saying "my want to tell the truth to everyone supercedes your want to keep information to yourself". Is it a want or a need to have privacy about my OCD? He also says because it's more apparent, it warrants telling people. I don't understand how it feels bad to "lie by omission" to strangers for a friend, when he does in fact lie sometimes and doesn't feel bad about it. I have always been insecure about letting any of this information out, about my Tourette's or OCD to strangers or aquaintances or sometimes friends, and I hate feeling FORCED into explaining myself when I don't think I have to. Am I really hurting my friend by asking him to "lie" for me by saying "he's taking a break", instead "he's taking a break because of his OCD"? **Is it my right to keep this information to myself? How? What makes it right for me to not tell certain people certain things?** Especially when they are towering behemoths like mental illnesses with social stigma and personal insecurity attached? Is this really part of my privacy or am I just selfish asking my friend to do these things for me? Aren't there better ways to do things?