How do you explain ocd to your family? They don’t seem to understand how my brain works differently no matter how many articles I send. I have contamination ocd which they kind of get but tend to say I’m normal and it’s not a bad thing I’m worried because I’m being safe but they don’t understand how irrational it is. They think bc I’m a smart person i wouldn’t have irrational mental and physical compulsions but I can’t get them to understand it’s not about intelligence. Even I don’t really understand how I can logically know something but still feel this way. What’s worse is I struggle mostly with POCD and wish I could explain it to them but feel like they would either be scared of me or think it’s silly and I’m stupid. Do any of you have tips/relate?

It’s a struggle to explain it to non sufferers and especially family. My advice is to be patient, stand up for yourself, and reinforce the truth when it comes up. For example: If they try to tell you it’s normal or not bad, simply say “no it’s not normal, it’s a mental disorder that causes significant distress and difficulty functioning. It’s manageable with proper treatment, but it is a real and significant mental health problem. I need you to stop minimizing this disorder by saying it’s normal. Can you do that?” If they say “we’re all a little ocd,” say “No, we all have certain quirks about how we like things. That has absolutely nothing to do with ocd. OCD is a real mental health disorder that you do not have. I need you to stop claiming everyone has this mental health disorder. It effects about 1% of the population, including me.” If they tell you it’s good to be safe, say “yes it is good to be safe. But my ocd doesn’t keep me safe. when untreated, it actually threatens my ability to function. That is in fact very unsafe. It is a real threat to my happiness and ability to live any life day to day. I need you to stop saying it’s good for me. Can you do that?”

Or when they act like it’s my fault for what they seem to think is me deciding to worry about. When I show them I’m worried they act like I’m deciding to let myself be. Whereas they are perfectly content when I’m hiding it 24/7 and seek to think I’m better during these times when I’m actually fighting incredibly hard all the time and need to share how I feel on occasion.

Thank you for all of your help by the way

Thank you so much. I used the one percent of the population bit when my mom told me I’m normal and trying to be safe. I’ll try some of the others. Do you have any advice for explaining that even though I’m smart and can think rationally that I cannot rationalize my ocd away?

*worry about something

*seem

They seem to think I’m not anxious most of the time so why am I letting myself be anxious when I choose to express myself.

One last thing, they don’t seem to get that the content of my ocd isn’t the problem and they don’t need to solve what ocd is telling me. How would I get them to start to understand this?