- Date posted
- 5y
- Date posted
- 5y
I think of openness about mental health as a continuum. On one extreme end is going to great lengths to hide symptoms and distress. This might even involve actively lying about your experience. On the other end is talking about every thought and feeling nonstop, as in confessing compulsions, or when we identify too strongly with the diagnosis. The healthy range of openness is in the middle. It can differ between each relationship you have. A happy medium is what boundaries are all about.
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you for your comment. That's very helpful
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 5y
I think it depends why you are telling them. It it’s done to “confess” and get rid of anxiety, it’s a compulsion. If you genuinely trust them and want them to know what’s going on so the know how to better help you then that’s perfectly fine. It’s defintely hard to open up to loved ones and friends about how you feel , especially because with OCD , there is a risk involved that they won’t understand it and will judge. Obviously usually they’ll be cool about it , but it’s one of those topics that people don’t know enough about so they make assumptions
- Date posted
- 5y
I need an answer to this too. I haven’t told anyone but I feel like I should as I’m really suffering
- Date posted
- 5y
What I've found helpful is to just let someone I love know what's going but not opening up about exactly what I think about. I don't know if that would work for you because for me, personally, I only focus on a certain thought for a short period of time before moving onto something else. Therefore, it'd be difficult to tell someone everything.
Related posts
- Date posted
- 18w
Have u told ur partners about ur intrusive thoughts? I know you dont have to..but I am curious..And if you dont do you feel guilty ? And like you hide from them? If u do, how do you deal with that?
- Date posted
- 15w
How do I tell them? I think I’m ready to do so. I’ve lived in silence for years. I’m wondering how long it took for you all to tell your family or friends. P.S. I’m not looking to confess. I want my family to know to feel less alone in this.
- Date posted
- 14w
Afraid to tell people about when I'm down. I've been told that certain people don't want to hang out with me because if I encounter a trigger then my mood changes and makes everybody else be down too. To me, this means I have to hide what I'm feeling because they don't want to deal with it. I should be able to openly talk to these people without judgments and without worrying if they'll get tired of my condition. I grew up with one of the people who told me that and she used to be depressed. Never did I feel like I wanted to distance myself when she was feeling down so how could someone say that to me. I feel like I don't have anybody to talk to anymore. One of the other people who told me that is my mom and she has said before that I'm lucky that they are still with me because anyone else would have left a long time ago. I feel like I'll never find someone who wants to stay with me because they won't want to deal with my sadness and the depression that ocd brings me. I don't know what to do anymore. I don't. My family and I were gonna go to the beach but I started feeling really sad all of the sudden. last night my brother looked down so at night I blew him a kiss and the my mom was like go give her a hug to him but hugging and physical touch makes me uncomfortable because of my ocd and she knows that and not only did it bother me that she kept insisting despite all the times I've told her jsut that but it bothered me most that she kept insisting with him right there. I don't want to make him feel bad or feel like I'm not hugging him bc it's him. and idk but I couldn't go to sleep until I explained that to him so I had sent him a text last night before either went to bed. and then I explained in person today earlier too and I told my mom over the phone since she was out all day about how it bothered me and that it bothers me as it is because I'm an affectionate person and the ocd takes that away from me constantly I don't need her to keep pushing me to do what makes me uncomfortable you know? but odk why I suddenly got a wave of sadness now but I didn't want to bring the mood down at the beach and I also kinda just needed to be alone and cry alone
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