Having a difficult time talking to my mom about my OCD diagnosis. She thinks that’s not what I have and that I’m probably just searching for something to call it. She associates OCD with the hand-washing and cleanliness, however I deal with harm and religious OCD. Explained I thought it was general anxiety but with the obsessive intrusive thoughts and mental compulsions I’ve been experiencing I suspected it could be OCD and had that confirmed by my therapist. Anyone else have a hard time talking with their families on the subject?

I was super recently diagnosed with OCD and nervous to share my diagnosis with my family. I’m a somewhat messy person and don’t have germophobic tendencies, so since I don’t have the stereotypical OCD presentation I was terrified that nobody would believe me. I ended up talking to my mom and making a silly TikTok post about it, which my grandma saw. Not only did they believe and support me–I learned that my grandma has it too! Funny to look back on, but really cool to see that the worst outcome doesn’t always happen. (:

I have been in ERP therapy for my OCD for nearly a year now. Before my diagnosis and doing ERP, I really didn't drive a car for five years and rarely left the house. Now I drive to work, coffee and other outings. Most of the people close in my life don’t really know about my OCD. They do see me doing lots of things I haven't done in the past. I don't really know if I should explain about why this progress happened. I hope they don't think I was just being lazy up until then. They will talk about how someone is “so OCD” because they keep their room clean and really enjoy things neat. Anytime I hear this, I just think that if they hear about my diagnosis of OCD and what it entails they will think I’m crazy. I feel very conflicted about how to go about this, so advice is welcome.

I’ve recently had my meds upped after a really bad spiral / episode and i’m doing a bit better. My mum wanted me to go to the GP, a doctor she really trusts to affirm the dosage is ok, what’s really going on etc. I went to the GP and it was an experience that honestly didn’t sit right with me. I just wanted some community to know if i’m over analysing. I feel like I cannot tell my mum because she trusts this doctor so much. My mum came with me and kind of brought up how I was thinking it could be OCD but the doctor immediately wrote me off and was like it’s definitely not it’s just anxiety and depression and then he brought up how OCD is more like I wouldn’t be able to go through the door without tapping and checking and how he knew a friend with OCD in school and he couldn’t even leave his locker for 30 minutes because he had to keep checking. I 100% know this is OCD and this is what it looks like for some people and how debilitating it is but from what I’ve learnt and researched it’s not JUST that and I don’t really like the way he turned me down without asking what symptoms I have. I also feel like he didn’t have a good grasp on what it really is at its core because yes I don’t physically check but I don’t think it’s crazy that I thought (think?) I might have it (i have obsessive intrusive thoughts, ruminate, mental compulsions and body check). Then he kind of went on to psycho analyse me and ended up asking about personal stuff and kind of blamed all my intrusive thoughts on my relationship with my dad who is estranged, which was awkward and a little insulting. I’m not saying that has no impact on my mental health but it just felt uncomfortable and weird to me. Anyways even if I don’t have OCD, I’m not sure I do, I’m no doctor but I relate to many of you and I know that OCD is not visible in that way for many so it’s sad to think many others will be ignored or brushed off. Does anyone else have any stories of GP’s treating OCD this way ? :((