Was anyone else ever misdiagnosed as having something instead of OCD? Because when I started obsessing five years ago, I had intrusive thoughts about death, which led the doctors to believe that I wanted to harm myself when in reality it was my OCD. So, I was diagnosed with depression, and got treatment for that rather than OCD. It wasn’t until earlier this year they realized I was suffering from OCD.

Yes, I went to therapy for a long time before I was diagnosed with OCD by a psychologist. None of my therapists before that even mentioned the possibility of OCD, even though I had the symptoms then. But once you are diagnosed it is so helpful, because now you can start treating OCD specifically.

Looking back, it seems so obvious that it was OCD. I wonder what it would’ve been like if I had gotten treatment all the way back then.

I feel the same way! It seems so obvious now. I wonder that too, if I would have my OCD under control by now.

@Jayge I literally experienced the same exact situation. My thoughts came after experiencing a major trauma but I had the same kind of thoughts. I was diagnosed as MDD and proceeded with talk therapy for the next 5 years. It did very little to help. In fact when I look back a lot of what happened in therapy only perpetuated the OCD. In hindsight it was so obviously OCD. Ten years later and only 2 months ago did I receive this diagnosis.

I feel the same. Speech therapy didn’t help at all with my OCD, which made me feel so hopeless. I wonder how common that story is. I think there is a general lack of knowledge among a lot of doctors and therapists concerning OCD.

I also got misdiagnosed, for 20 years. I have relationship ocd (obsessive jealousy), which isn’t well known or common. So most of my therapists told me I had attachment issues or was insecure due to a shitty childhood. I actually did my own research (Dr google!) and found (very few) things online about ROCD - but still something - that made me think “huh, this is not just simple insecurity!”. I went to an ocd specialist and told them what I thought, and they immediately got it (finally)! But that was just 2yrs ago, so I’ve been suffering with no knowledge of what was going on for 20 years!

I was sent to a psychiatric facility when I was 15. By this time i had been experiencing symptoms as far back as I could remember, but I hid them. About a year earlier I realized I had OCD when I read a book about it. I told the doctor in the facility and he scoffed at me. I didn't know it then, but my mom told me later I was diagnosed with schizophrenia (totally unrelated and ethically wrong to diagnose a kid with this who showed no symptoms) because I didn't know i had that diagnosis anytime I went to psychiatrists and said I have OCD, they read in my chart that I had schizophrenia but also did not tell me that. I also was diagnosed with Tourettes at one point. Only this year, at age 35, did I receive the diagnosis I knew all along I had, over 20 years ago. So I'd say yeah, western medical health is very far behind and does not respect or listen to people about their own minds and bodies. By the way it's EXTREMELY obvious I have OCD so there's no excuse for any of them ;,)

I was called “just anxious”