"If only I’d known…"

That my OCD is actually OCD and not just a bad habit and I can break on my own.

Reassurance seeking and avoidance are both compulsions

I wish I would’ve known how sneaky OCD is. A lot of the things I used to do daily were because of OCD. I wish I would’ve known because it would’ve saved me years of shame, guilt and pain.

If I’d only known that the content of my intrusive thoughts bother me so much because they directly attack my core values, then I wouldn’t have spent so much time wondering if I believed in or “liked” having said thoughts. It would have also led to way less time fighting and resisting!

That it even exists. I was told growing up OCD was excessive cleanliness. The misinformation behind OCD has prevented me and, who knows, maybe hundreds of thousands of people from getting help. We all think we’re alone, and that we’re insane or evil. Something has to change!

That OCD is not known by a lot of people (even in the fields of medicine), so don’t blame yourself for your years of suffering because it was difficult to find a diagnosis. Instead work on the new knowledge you have to make things better!

it actually does get better, and can get better

the thoughts wont actually go away, but just become so small that I don't care about that

You are not your intrusive thoughts.

I wish that the psychiatrist who diagnosed me at age 9 would have explained it to me so I could actually understand it. I spent the first 9 years after being diagnosed with OCD denying that I had it because I legitimately didn't know what it was. I finally did some research when I was 18 and that's when finally accepted that I have OCD. I even said to myself, "If I knew what this was sooner, I would have been able to get the help I needed." After several years of figuring things out and finally doing ERP, I'm happy to say that I'm a mostly functional adult.

That with OCD “effort works backwards”. The less effort that I put into trying to get rid of my intrusive thoughts, the easier it gets to move along.

That talking back to the ocd in my head was a mental compulsion.

I wish I had known that other people have OCD too—that it’s an illness and I wasn’t alone.

I wish that I had found this community sooner. Because I suffered in silence and didn't realize there were others that had OCD and that I finally had a name for it.

I would say that for rumination, I don’t have to argue or figure out the thoughts or have all the answers in order to live out my life. That I can still enjoy my life in the present without having certainty with what OCD is trying to make me obsess about.

I wish I would’ve known more about OCD and been diagnosed sooner, but better late than never (42 years old)!

Most of my compulsions are mental, this doesn’t make them any less real or scary than the physical ones

That all the things I've thought were "helping" reduce my anxiety were actually compulsive behaviors. That the feeling telling me I HAD to do things or else something bad would happen was OCD and not based in any kind of reality. I don't HAVE to seek reassurance. I don't have to confess anything to anyone. I don't have to compulsively research/google or get certainty. I don't HAVE to do any of those things.

That acceptance is the best way forward= no resistance

The thought themselves don’t matter, you can’t solve them

I wished I had known early that having OCD doesn’t make me a bad person and it’s okay to seek help. I went years trying to figure out why I was such a bad person and hating myself for it.

For I long time I did not know I had ocd and I really was worried something was seriously wrong with me or I would loss control and hurt other people. Learning I had ocd and how to treat it really helped me. Learning I had OCD and was not a psychopath was one of the best days of my life.

I wish I knew how diverse OCD truly is.

That ERP can be effective for Pure-O obsessions. Even an OCD therapist in the past told me that ERP doesn’t work for Pure-O.

I wish I'd known that OCD can result in an early obsession in a new relationship, making it incredibly intense early on. It would have made a huge difference in how I handled relationships

I wish I would’ve known more about how OCD works. I don’t think a lot of practitioners / therapists know how to treat it.

That I can get better!! Honestly that there was hope for me because it felt like there wasn’t for so long

That ocd can be misdiagnosed as general anxiety or bipolar

That intrusive thoughts don’t mean anything about my values or the type of person I am, but that my brain is hijacking my fight or flight system and using it to try and achieve a certainty that doesn’t exist.

That you get to choose how you show up each day and live a value based live, regardless of feelings or thoughts. Intensity levels vary, acceptance is an action not just a word, and expectations- toss them out the window. Every day is a new day, and enjoy the journey. We should be blessed to have the ability to feel and experience all spectrums of the “human experience”. And shout out to my Therapist Joanna! She’s a staple in my evolution!🙏🏼

That it manifests in a variety of ways, other than just being “neat.”

That OCD is slippery. You get one obsession under control and another takes its place.

Knowing that all along I had OCD and not me thinking I was turning crazy and missing out on things because I was too busy in my own thoughts 😢

Why the hell do I give my obsessive thoughts so much value? Because right now, they are complete opposite of me as a person, and they try their best to convince me these thoughts are real and that I should be concerned. So why the hell do I pay attention to these specific thoughts related to harm ocd?

That I had it…..

I wish that someone would have explained to me what OCD was before seeking treatment so that I could have received treatment sooner. I also wish that I was better educated on what obsessions and compulsions were prior to starting treatment.

That pocd exists

I wish I would have known that I can’t avoid anything and everything that may make my fears come true, I only dug myself deeper into the hole I was in by not letting myself enjoy things anymore. Everything in my daily life was a concern and had more thought put into them than anyone else would. I was depriving myself of the serotonin that I would normally get from those activities

Trying to prove the thoughts wrong is actually the problem

That I can handle all the discomfort and anxiety the thoughts give!

I don’t know if this falls under something I wish I’d know sooner but better realizing when OCD or/and rumination is developing has helped me a lot.

That I had/have disordered thoughts that requires professional help. Instead thinking everyone feels this way, they just have it figured out.

That I have ocd like bad lol

My diagnosis 😅

That it doesn't have to be a weakness

What rumination was

How long it takes and how your brain develops knowing that there isn't a instant answer or something to make it "better"

That what's rationalized out of OCD will be irrational to those without OCD.

That ocd ain’t just things you do physically repetitive and obsessive thoughts

How absolutely compelling and real it feels.

That I had it and I want the only one

Also too, that certain thoughts, obsessive thoughts don’t lead to action.

i cant just "not do" a compulsion because other people dont.

That the more I give in the harder it is to get unstuck. It’s like a porcupine quill. It goes in easy but it’s painful to pull out.

I wish I had known how “meta- OCD” can manifest.

That only a small part of OCD sufferers are obssesed with germs!

That just because I don’t have *every* theme doesn’t mean I don’t have *any* theme! Also, that I can take my distress seriously