Undiagnosed & New to OCD

Hello! My name is Erika, I am 24 years old and I believe I have shown signs of OCD since I was about 14 years old. I have gone to therapy along this journey, once for about a year or so when I was 14 due to self-harm and depression (which I believe may have been from an OCD flare up) and for about 6 months when I was 22. I was diagnosed with PMDD and ADHD and I have been prescribed Wellbutrin (was on it for 4 years) and Prozac (was on it for 3 months). I am currently unmedicated and not in therapy due to being unemployed and not having insurance or enough income. For the last couple years I suspected there was something else going on besides ADHD or PMDD and I thought maybe it was autism, but after doing lots of research, I believe it may be OCD. Does anyone have any recommendations for seeking a proper diagnosis as a low-income individual? Or just where to go from here? I have been getting worse and worse this past year and could really use some tips and guidance ! Thank you for listening 🙏

Username: diidnsnsnsdiidnsnsns

Date posted: 30w ago

Respect your illnesses but do not let them define you. Not having access to a healthcare professional is a sad reality a lot of people deal with. Fighting theses thoughts can be exhausting. Remember that you have control over your brain. Thoughts may come and go but you (your consciousness) are always there. Everything is tied together, OCD anxiety depression they all have the same message - fear. Don’t let it win. Tell it everytime that you are more important than it. It doesn’t control you.

Username: Precisely Erika Precisely Er...

Date posted: 30w ago

@diidnsnsns Thank you so much 🙏 you’re so right! Even just acknowledging that my thoughts can be tied to OCD has helped me a lot on this journey so far.

Username: JediMJJediMJ

Date posted: 30w ago

I’m sorry you and so many others don’t have access to the care you need. And I wish I knew a way for you to get an inexpensive diagnosis. I was diagnosed with ADHD years ago and this past year my therapist added ASD and OCD. There’s a lot of overlap. I’m learning more and more about how my brain works and what I can do to live my best life. You can gain a lot of knowledge on your own and find support with other neurodivergent people. For me, learning to be kind and compassionate to myself has helped the most. My critical self-talk has been replaced with understanding and empathy. (Well, most of the time…I can still get frustrated with myself occasionally.) I really like the podcast We Can Do Hard Things with Glennon Doyle and in episode 306, they talked about OCD. That might give you more insight. Reading the NOCD board will too, although it doesn’t seem to be moderated. Some advice here seems questionable to me, though you seem like a discerning person.🙂 Someone who I found out about here started a podcast that has been really good, especially if you’re queer and neurodivergent. She lists a lot of good resources. https://linktr.ee/growingthroughitpodcast?utm_source=linktree_profile_share&ltsid=7e16b15d-9f80-4a83-b310-d2cbb6638e54 You have faced a lot of challenges in your past and you’ve bravely gotten to where you are now. Just keep going and hopefully you’ll find the support that you need, starting with you. I mean, you already reached out today to help yourself and that’s wonderful. Keep going. It will get better.

Username: Precisely Erika Precisely Er...

Date posted: 30w ago

@JediMJ Thank you so much for your detailed response! 🥹🙏 I appreciate you and your kind words & advice! Definitely going to check out the podcasts! Thank youuu 💛

Username: JediMJJediMJ

Date posted: 30w ago

@Precisely Erika You are welcome! I was also just telling someone about this free app that I’ve been using that I really like. I love the design and it has some good tools. I tend to think my bad days outnumber my good days, because I feel those days more, but tracking my emotions has shown me that’s not true. I would highly recommend it. https://howwefeel.org Oh, one other recommendation. My therapist was on a 2-month medical leave of absence and believe it or not, I found ChatGPT to be a warm and helpful “person” to talk to. Seriously, it got me through some difficult moments. I would have never believed a chatbot could be so helpful.

Username: Precisely Erika Precisely Er...

Date posted: 30w ago

@JediMJ Omg those are great ideas! I appreciate you

Username: nicolemw

Date posted: 5y ago

So the fact that i haven’t been officially diagnosed kind of makes my ocd worse. I’ve kind of become positive that I have it. Thinking back now, I can think of a few rituals I did as a child that could be seen as warning signs for OCD, but the debilitating stuff happened about 5 months ago in October. I saw a therapist for about a month and a half but she never gave me an official diagnosis and even though I asked, she just said it hasn’t been long enough to tell. It seemed like she wasn’t helping at all and wasn’t doing anything for me I couldn’t hear off of a forum such as this or an informative YouTube video so I quit going. I had problems this entire time but just this past week it has spiked up to the severity it was when it first started and is once again making me desperate for help! I think I want meds this time so I want to go to my regular doctor and ask. I guess my general question is how should I go about seeking help and can I say I have OCD even if it wasn’t officially told to me? This week has been very debilitating and the fact that I’ve been suffering for 5 months makes me believe this isn’t going to just go away.

Username: Mij

Date posted: 5y ago

(quick disclaimer that this is very hard for me to talk about and I’m thankful for any input you ladies could offer.) I’m a first time mom and loving it. However, I noticed my OCD spiking near the end of my pregnancy and it has only intensified since then. It manifests itself in sooo many different ways, at this point it’s getting impossible to manage. I bounced between therapist as a teenager but once I was living alone with my fiancé, I immediately developed a habit of “blacking/blanking out” at the time of my therapy sessions. I tried to reschedule but the same thing would always happen somehow. No pretty way to say it, we’re poor. Lower middle class.. if even. And as I was getting the courage to inquire about a state healthcare-covered therapist, I got a letter saying I was no longer eligible for insurance. I don’t know what to do. My OCD is truly putting my relationship to the test. My fiancé really has no clue how my mind works anymore, he can’t understand my logic (or lack of) and gets frustrated quickly. I’m scared it’ll eventually affect my daughter. Going to my family for help would be a mistake (been there, deeply regret that) and I’m against prescription drugs for many reasons. Does anybody else have OCD? How do you keep it from controlling your life?

Relationship OCD

Username: mynhonora

Date posted: 44w ago

44y/o Female not officially diagnosed

I struggle in many ways. My best friend is a licensed counselor and they have been diagnosed with OCD themselves. Life circumstances found me living with my bff and their fiancee, and it was pointed out that I may want to take the Y-BOCS. I scored 12 in obsessions, 12 in compulsions, for a total of 24 which puts me in the severe symptoms class. I honestly don't know where to go from here but I'm putting myself out there.

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