I’m on vacation and just called someone out for stereotyping OCD at the mall. She said she didn’t want to buy these boots because they would “drive her OCD crazy.” I asked her if she had diagnosed OCD and she said “No, the boots just bother me.” So I said, “Well, I do. I’ve had it a long time, and as an advocate I just want to point out that it is a very debilitating condition and you never know who could hear you make comments like that, and for some sufferers it could be offensive.” She said, “I understand,” and I thanked her for hearing me out. I was super nervous to do it, but kept my cool and even if she just dismissed me as some crazy person, I’m glad I stood up for myself and the rest of the OCD community.

I love how this situation was handled. I absolutely can’t stand when people throw around ocd like it’s just a word when it’s actually a real mental disorder that can sometimes even be a disability. But I also understand that some people are uneducated about ocd. If I am talking to someone I know that doesn’t have ocd and says something like that, I explain how it is offensive and a lot of the time they understand. I’m glad that this person understands and didn’t make a big deal from their mistake.

i’m glad you stood up. i’ve always been annoyed by people who use mental illnesses as adjectives. (“oh i’m so depressed they took that off the menu” “i like things clean, guess i’m a little ocd” etc) but 2 months ago i was actually diagnosed with ocd and since then it’s not just annoying, it hurts. so thank you! :)

Great job! I try to call out on people when people glorify mental illnesses too. It’s scary because you don’t want to cause any fight. I also stopped caring what people might think when I do my compulsions. I’m not hurting anyone and because of it, two people have asked me what I was doing. I explained to them and they were very kind about it. They may pretend to understand but we really need to educate people because it’s not something you learn in depth in school and people only see our symptoms and unfortunately they see a lot of cleaning and organizing.

I would've slapped her

Great job as an advocate. Way to educate lay people about real OCD