How does one do school and also have OCD? I used to be alright at school, now I can barely get anything done. I really don’t want to fail but every time I start working I get overwhelmed and my head hurts.

That’s what I had to do. It’s okay. School will always be there your health comes first and this shit is hard to deal with. No one will judge you for taking care of uourself

I took a year break from university because it was WAY too much change for me at once. I lived completely on my own for the first time, I wasn’t close to home, my parents got divorced, I couldn’t make friends because I was too nervous. I ended up going through a major depressive episode that lasted two semesters. I failed almost every class the second one. BUT after taking a break, joining a new family, finding a place where I’m loved and taken care of- I’m trying to go back to school this spring, with a new game plan. I’m very excited!

Take a mental braeak

I’ve had to take two medical withdrawals...once primarily due to my grief (but OCD and depression played a part) and the second time for the same reasons, but to a lesser degree. When my mom died, my OCD went haywire among other things. I realized after some therapy (not for OCD) that she used to reassure me a lot when I was having bad perfectionistic writing anxiety. Now that she is gone, doing school assignments sometimes feels impossible. Amazingly I managed to get my Bachelor’s. The two withdrawals were for the second degree I tried to pursue after my mom died.

Sometimes for me, school is the only thing that takes my mind off of intrusive thoughts. Not all of the time, though. It really is a struggle

I think it’s all a matter of figuring out an environment that you will flourish in.

Do you have perfectionism OCD? I do and I ended up taking a semester off of school to get ERP. Depending on your situation, it might be a good option for you. It might also be possible for you to get accommodations for your OCD through disability services if you decide you want to disclose your OCD to your school.

OCD freaks out over the tiny things. It sucks. I am still in disbelief that my teachers and family didn’t notice there was something wrong with me. I didn’t realize my extreme perfectionism was OCD-related until a couple of years ago.

When my OCD was really bad I couldn’t concentrate on lessons at all so I get it

Like drop out for a little bit?

@SunflowerGirl I have perfectionism OCD, particularly when it comes to school assignments. It’s worse with my mom gone. The struggle is very real.

Flamewheel it is the WORST with school assignments for me too. All through high school I was developing intrusive thoughts like: my teacher will kill me or yell at me and tell me I’m stupid if I make a mistake on this paper. Now I know these thoughts are OCD and I don’t have them as much but I am still struggling HARD with the habits of compulsively checking and avoiding.