I told my close friends about my OCD a few months ago and they were really supportive at first however there is this one girl who is really horrible about it. She tells me regularly that I should ‘just stop’ and that if she had OCD, she would just find a way to turn it off which makes it seem as though I am making my problems up! As well as this, she will often laugh at me for doing my compulsions even though I have explained to her on numerous occasions what they are and why I need to do them. Does anyone have any ideas about how to explain to her why I am like this? I feel like I have tried everything! Any advice would be greatly appreciated ☺️

She sounds immature and ignorant. I wouldn’t call someone like her a friend. A friend should never belittle and ridicule you. You don’t need someone negative in your life to make things worse for you. Negativity will affect your OCD for the worse. She thinks it’s something we choose to have. Tell her it’s a disorder. It’s something you can’t just “quit”. In a way it’s an addiction. We are addicted to doing our compulsions to get rid of the anxiety. If she had OCD, she wouldn’t even have the audacity to say “I’ll turn it off”. Someone like her really gets me angry. But seriously you deserve a better friend. She doesn’t understand and won’t even try to understand what you say. She’s not worth your friendship.

You need supportive friends. People who will at least try to research and understand what you are going through. She’s not a friend.

Well if she said you should go “cold turkey” with your OCD then I say you should go “cold turkey” with her. Lol we are here for you! You’re not alone in this battle. These things are only truly understandable by those who are affected by it. Maybe it’s a blessing in disguise. Losing a friend is hard but you will find and be surrounded by supportive peers. She actually sounds like my sister. She always had this motto of “I’m older than you so I don’t have to listen to you. I’m older so I know better” which is ironic because she had a very sheltered life. I knew she was bad to be around. And now She’s one less thing I need to stress over. You deserve a healthy environment in which you can get constructive support in treating your OCD. .

This girl has a profound misunderstanding of what OCD is. However, it also does not seem like she wants to understand. I agree with the others that she is not a helpful person to associate yourself with. Perhaps you can describe getting rid of your compulsions as working out ?? a part of your mind. You have to build up muscles to override this mental error. It’s not your fault and it’s not going to change overnight. If possible, I would try to surround myself with more encouraging people because she seems to lack compassion for you.

If I was a b-word I would just stop. :)

I sometimes think of it as an idea which has fallen into the part of my brain other people save for survival or high-performance situations. Like if the ARMY was preparing for war against parking tickets.

She’s not taking you seriously.

Thank you, sometimes it helps to see it from a different perspective. You are right about her I think. I have tried to describe it as being like an addiction but she told me I should go ‘cold turkey’ and that it can’t be that difficult. I swear to god, I think she has an answer for everything! I’ll probably distance myself from her over the coming weeks. It is just disappointing because she was a good friend for so long but as soon as I told her I had a mental illness, she never acted the same around me. Thank you for you help though, I really appreciate it ☺️

Thank you both, it is really helpful to know that I’m not overreacting!

Nope, you’re not overreacting. If anything she’s undermining your suffering. We are here for you ❤️

@DollarMustache I love your analogy!

@DollarMusctache I love your analogy too! ☺️