Question on OCD

Hello everyone, I am fairly new to learning about OCD and an acquaintance of mine commented yesterday that they had been tested for OCD and scored quite high. However, later someone (doctor or professional, not sure) told her it was not OCD because she was able to work and travel and she is now under the impression that true OCD is debilitating and “utterly consuming”. She was then diagnosed with autism. I am wondering how valid this statement about OCD is. It doesn’t feel right to me but..not completely sure. Thank you.

Username: HobbitHobbit

Date posted: 30w ago

I have OCD and I've been able to work and travel. In fact, I've had OCD for most of my life and my symptoms have been mostly invisible to everyone except my long-time partner, my OCD-knowledgeable therapist, and myself. At the same time, it wouldn't surprise me if other disorders can cause OCD-like symptoms and OCD can cause symptoms that look like other disorders (I've experienced the latter).

Username: AnonymousAnonymous

Date posted: 30w ago

@Hobbit Yes. Thank you for sharing. I’d agree with that, one disorder causing symptoms that looked like another disorder. I was sure I had a different disorder before coming across information about OCD.

Username: Honeyshark Honeyshark

User type: OCD Conqueror

Date posted: 30w ago

I’ve had OCD utterly consume me but it looked like me failing out of college, working out 4-6 hours a day, showing up to work on time and doing well, constantly seeking reassurance and feeling high amounts of distress by my thoughts. OCD is on a spectrum just like everything else.

Username: AnonymousAnonymous

Date posted: 30w ago

@Honeyshark Yes. That resonates with my life as well. Thank you for sharing.

Username: HeartMamaHeartMama

Date posted: 30w ago

Ocd is extremely misunderstood. I have a very typical presentment/theme of contamination, but I have been able to hide it from work and even good friends and my husband for many years. My disability coming into nocd was extremely low, but I am still ocd and have been for many years. I would recommend that your friend seek a diagnosis from nocd or someone specifically trained in ocd. It's possible that she could have autism, it's also possible that she could have ocd or maybe both, but making sure that the diagnosis is done properly by a specialist will help your friend get treatment that is helpful for their situation. There is a large range of symptoms in both conditions.

Username: AnonymousAnonymous

Date posted: 30w ago

@HeartMama Thank you. I agree, seeing a specialist is very different than seeing someone who isn’t. I’ve experienced that myself as well. Thank you for sharing.

Username: LK-4D4

Date posted: 24w ago

My psychiatrist didn't diagnose me with OCD

I went to see a psychiatrist today. She was pretty nice, but even though I was listing ALL symptoms of OCD, all the obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors, she was uncertain about it, as if she did not understand what was going on. She didn't rule out the possibility of me having OCD, but she didn't confirm it. I understand that doctors usually won't diagnose patients in their first visit, but goddamn... I'm so scared right now. I keep doubting that I have OCD myself, I identify with all the symptoms but I doubt it all the time and feel the need to reassure myself that I have the disorder. If I don't have OCD, my life is fucking over. She gave me a diagnosis for Generalized Anxiety Disorder and prescribed me some medication. I received that diagnosis because I shared some of the trouble I'm going through at work. But if I fear that I don't really have OCD if an actual mental health professional can't recognize that as OCD. All the relentless researching, rumination, mental checking/testing, spending hours doing these things to achieve a sense of certainty and avoiding things out of fear of getting triggered.

Username: malevvolent

Date posted: 22w ago

pleas help me

I dont know if I have ocd really but I think I do because I have the intrusive thoughts and I always try and do things to soothe the anxiety. I've been dealing with this for a few months and this is a debilitating cycle and I wish I wad normal. when I first spoke to my therapist about it, she said that people with ocd like to clean and count a certain amount of tiles and stuff like that. I really want to get tested because I want help but im scared that if they say I don't have ocd then that means my intrusive thoughts are true and that I'm the person that my mind makes me think I am and it scares me. I mostly deal with symptoms of pocd so I try my best to avoid kids and sometimes I won't even want to go in public because of it and I count in my head a lot and try and see if my body is reacting any kind of way. I also try and just push the thoughts a way and do research and sometimes it makes me feel better but in reality it's just a cycle and it's terrifying so can someone please comfort me or give me advice and tips to help me feel better because I really need it. I just want to get help and stop this cycle because it's slowly killing me. I don't want to be the person my head thinks I am but in my head it's just constant fear anxiety and uncertainty.

Username: Anonymous

Date posted: 19w ago

New here, wondering about "pure" ocd

Hello! I'm new here and new to OCD. My therapist suggested I might have OCD due to my tendency to ruminate endlessly on doubts and fears. These thoughts are indeed intrusive and I can't seem to stop them. The thing I'm kind of stuck on is that I can't see where the compulsions come in. Unless the thoughts themselves are compulsions. Can anyone relate to this?

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