What would a good start/hook be for a college essay about OCD. I mean I can’t just be like “when I was 10 I thought I was sexually attracted to my sister….” although that would definitely get their attention 😭
The shadow war of my mind?
What kind of essay is it exactly? Does it have a particular theme to it?
@Wolfram that’s a really cool title! I like it
@Wolfram I have to write an essay about myself for college, we have to choose what to write about ourselves. I chose to write about ocd because it’s been there for most of my life even if I didn’t realize it was there. It’s changed me, for better or worse.
@shazey_k What would you like for the essay to achieve? Not for your education, but for you?
@Wolfram I guess I want to let people know what I’ve gone through and to let my emotions out because I’ve never really gotten to talk about it before. I haven’t told either my friends or family about my ocd so I’ve been keeping it bottled up since I was a kid.
@shazey_k I don’t know tbh 😭
@shazey_k As the other guy said, I think saying maybe something along the lines of. Hi, my name is shazey and I have ocd. Proceed to explain ocd in the most steriotypical way that's protayed incorrectly in media like the other guy said Then, how it actually is for those commonly portrayed themes. Finally saying, but this is not me. Ocd can also be.. And tell your story Maybe something like that?
@Wolfram nahh I think I want to show them that even though I’ve been through a bunch of shit, I’ve persevered and I’m overall a strong person that they would want in their college or something like that 😭
@Wolfram I'm willing to help in any I can. You've helped me more than enough times.
@Wolfram yeah I think I might go with that. Thank you and FJustRightOCD for helping me 💕
Maybe share an anecdote of how it’s portrayed incorrectly in the media, and even in many medical communities, and then go on to share how the reality is very different and how you strive to persevere through the adversity of it by advocating for the reality of it, to de stigmatize it so future generations can know they’re not alone etc
@FJustRightOCD that’s a good idea! I might do that, thank youuu
@shazey_k Good luck, and remember, ocd may bring doubt into your writing process but keep going. Maybe set an intention to purposefully write a long but messy first draft. :)
@FJustRightOCD I will, thank you!
Last year during April I started to experience groinal responses when I looked at kids. I was terrified of what it could mean and decided to attempt two weeks later. The very next day I had those responses I decided to attempt. I didn’t really have the courage to do so at that time but I started experiencing images about disturbing things done to kids and as days went by it got worse. April 16 was the last straw and I couldn’t take it anymore. I ended up in a mental hospital but before I ended up there I had searched up what I was experiencing. That’s when I started to understand that it was OCD. I felt relieved for a few moments until I felt the urge to get more information. I saw lots and lots of things and many comments saying that it wasn’t normal and that people who went through this were disgusting people who shouldn’t be allowed to roam free. That’s when my anxiety and fear became worse and I tried to get rid of it but nothing worked. I shook the entire time I was awake, I didn’t have motivation for anything anymore, I just felt so disgusting. In the end, I’m so glad I ended up in that mental hospital or else I wouldn’t be here with my friends and family. Thank you for reading my story, I’m so glad that I’m not alone
I’ve always had OCD, and for most of my life it was little things that seemed manageable at the time or something that would phase out of my head within a couple days/weeks/months. But, the older I got the more severe it became, I’d find myself collapsing deeper and deeper within my own head trying to out think the thoughts that bothered me. About a year ago I had a thought that rattled me to my core. My brothers and I were watching a movie in our mother’s room when my youngest brother turned to me to say something. His close proximity to me triggered a fleeting sexually explicit image in my head and that thought caused me to spiral. Asking questions like, “are you attracted to your minor brother? Are you attracted to minors? Are you gay? Etc.” a couple days went by and my mental stability continued to crumble until I broke down to my mother, she was understanding and we found a a psychiatrist. I got on medication and for a while everything was slowly but surely trending in a positive direction. The thoughts would still pop into my head but they were becoming more manageable. As we all know OCD and mental illness comes in waves. Currently my OCD has been pretty severe. I feel those intrusive thoughts latching on in my head and it’s been very hard to kick them. It’s gotten to the point where I find myself being uncomfortable being in close proximity with my little brother because I feel as though I am capable of harming him in any way. And the more uncomfortable I become being around him the more I find myself lashing out in anger towards the people I care about the most. Those moments of anger cause me to spiral even farther as my head fills with ideas like “what if you are capable of hurting someone or even murdering them?” There’s times where these thoughts rattle me so much that I feel like it would be better to be in prison where I couldn’t harm someone or that even being dead would be a better solution than possibly running the risk of hurting someone in my life I care about. This is about the jist of it, a majority of the OCD I have is centered around the idea that I am capable of harming my little brother physically, mentally, sexually. It’s been exhausting and it feels like there is no end in sight.
So basically I didn’t know till my hocd started. But looking back at my life I had ocd since I was a kid. Like 6-7 years old. First time happening I remember that when I was doing stuff many times I had to say something like a little poem in my head to stop it. Then I had this thing were if I felt my left foot touch the floor 5 times I had to do the touch the floor with my right foot too. Then I had something I guess contamination??? Basically after washing my hands I had a sensation on my hand like I could still “feel” the germs and I had to wash them again. Then I started having thoughts of my family members getting hurt. I had intrusive thoughts about me hurting my dog. Then I had this obsession that a guy who used to be in my school is looking for me to beat me up. And how it’s this obsession about my sexuality even tho I never doubted or questioned it before. Is that possible??? Like can you be born with it? I’m pretty sure both my parents have it too. At least at some level. Take my father for example he had an obsession that he was going to die the moment he turned 30.
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