do you think ocd is something i should let my teachers know i have? my ocd gets in the way of my work sometimes especially during english class, reading is especially hard to do and doing a lot of writing really triggers my perfectionism. i just don’t know whether it’s something to tell my teachers or not. part of me thinks yes bc maybe it’ll help teachers understand that some things might be a little more tough for me and obviously i’m not looking for any like pity or excuses or anything just like letting them know that i might need some extra help sometimes or just for them to be a little patient with me or let me have a little break on my desk to maybe stop writing for a few minutes and just take a few deep breaths you know what i mean? what do you guys think?

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 had the feeling I had ocd ever since I found out about it at the age of eleven, I don’t want to self diagnose thought but I want to find out and I would ask a professional but I am a minor and live with my parents, my family is not from America and any disorder even stuff like depression or anxiety means crazy to them so I’m scared to talk abt it to anybody. Ever since I was like 7 I noticed that if something happens or I feel something in one part of my body I immediately have to do it to the other cause it just won’t feel right, as a kid I even explained it to my parents in the car once and asked if they feel like that sometimes too. I used the example of me accidentally touching water on one foot and then having to do it to the other or else it just isn’t fair to the other foot and I’m like evil. It’s also like that for me if I like hit my arm then I have to do it to the other too. I have many other symptoms of OCD but idk if I actually have it. For example every-time somebody leaves me on read or something I feel like they hate me and don’t wanna be friends with me anymore. Idk it just feels so weird sometimes. Also sometimes when I’m writing something maybe for school or anywhere I always have to reconsider every single sentence because what if somebody takes it the wrong way or it makes somebody mad. And sometimes I feel like the rudest and meanest person in the world. I actually don’t know if that’s an ocd thing idk at this point. edit: after thinking some other things that could be a sign of ocd might be when I was about ten or nine, for about a year I had the biggest fear of losing my mom, it came out of nowhere and I would cry begging not to go to school because my mom won’t be there bc what if she dies. I cried at tennis practice once even tho I toke it with my mom because she went to the bathroom. I was genuinely so scared idk what made it go away tho. Like whenever I had a thought of her it would immediately make me think she’s dying and I would just sob. tysm for reading!! 💕💕

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.