My ocd is already bad and my parents make it worse by saying things like, "why don't you just come out of it?", "why can't you be normal, like everyone else", "why do you trouble us so much".. I feel my therapist isn't very helpful either.. I feel as if he doesn't understand me properly.. I might be wrong I guess. I've tried yoga, meditation, exercise, but nothing seems to help, I don't see any improvements after all this, my parents just accuse me of lying and not doing all these exercises and meditation. Ocd has affected my productivity at school, grades have nosedived since last year, and I'm struggling to keep up. My parents still compare me and ask why can't I be like everyone else again. Everyone else is having happy lives, living without any fears, here I am, writing my heart out because I have no one who understands me or listens to me. If you've come this far, thank you so much! A few words of encouragement would help.

I relate a lot to what you’re feeling. I’ve had fights with my parents over OCD every night for about a week now, and I can feel it affecting my relationship with everyone around me. My grades are tanking as well. These are all struggles that OCD brings on, but just know that there are ways to fix it and reduce the effects of it. There is a way to get your life back. If your therapist isn’t helpful, would it be that bad if you tried another one?

As someone who kept my OCD to myself for 4 years, I can tell you that you CANNOT beat it on your own. There’s just no way. It’s a disorder, and you need someone who doesn’t have a disorder to help you get through it. That doesn’t mean you should give up, but it means that you’ll have a lot more success in managing it if you find someone you trust to help you get through it. Are you sure your parents won’t help you?

My siblings don’t even believe me when I say I have these problems. They think I’m being extra and overreacting. So I learned to not give a shit about what they think, all that matters is my mental health. If they choose to believe me,great, if not we’ll shit. Nothing I can do about that. Wish you the best of luck!

it’s tough. people always talk about the social stigma around mental health, but I didn’t know how serious it was until I asked for help and people started looking at me different

I can relate as well back before I actually found out I had OCD my mom used to say the same things why don't you just snap out of it...the only problem was I couldn't and the doctor put me on meds and always do whenever I try to go and get help to better manage my OCD but I have always been reluctant to go on meds for it.So I have now decided to try to learn to manage it on my own.

EXACTLY...and the side effects is what I was worried about when it comes to meds.

I can relate a lot to what you’re going through. My OCD has morphed into just about every aspect of my life. I have been told these things too and I find myself feeling & thinking like “why can’t I just calm down and why can’t I just be like eve else?” I have a very hard time accepting my disorder but I know I have to if I ever want to get better. It may feel like it, but I promise u ur not alone. My anxiety has been EXTREMELY high lately. I’m honestly not sure why, but I constantly feel like I need to find out why and make myself “normal” again or “how I should be” I’m trying so hard to not react to my anxiety but it feels like I’m going to die from something if I don’t. I just want to be ok, but I know that I may never be ok again, and that makes me so sad. I miss who and how I was before OCD and anxiety took control of my life. Also everyone else probably isn’t having a happy life even though u may think they are. Everyone has anxiety about something it’s just that ours is a bit different and more persistent than others.

I’m so sorry you’re dealing with them. That’s really disheartening and I’m sure it hurts your feelings. Your OCD is real and you’re doing the best you can with what you’ve got. Have you looked into group therapy? Many areas have local support groups for people with OCD. And some are even for both OCD sufferers and their families. If your therapist isn’t being helpful, a group might at least help you feel less alone. And if your family can join, hopefully they can see other families being more supportive and learn to stop being such assholes to their kid who’s clearly suffering and needs support.