I wish I knew the reason I have OCD. Is this a defense mechanism from something that happened in my life and it’s my brains messed up way of trying to protect me? I know a lot of mental disorders are. This isn’t reassurance or anything it helps me to know the reason behind stuff. But I guess we may never know.

Yeah I’ve heard different things too :/ I hope one day real soon there will be a TON of research and we’ll get a lot more answers

@Where’sMySerotonin🦋🥵 Yeah there is a ton of research going on now. We are making strides in our understanding of the human brain. I’m so grateful for the smart people who have a passion for this. You can google new advancements in ocd treatments or something like that.

Interesting

Trauma can cause it too from what I’ve read into as well

@Dre83 Yes. The aspect of trauma is a bit complicated ("what came first, the chicken or the egg?") Because genes and biological mutations preceed trauma, there are a lot of theories which say (I'm paraphrasing most of the research) that trauma only 'awakens' the OCD and that the patient had the capability of developing OCD regardless of trauma or not. Trauma is usually perceived as the triggering point. To be honest, I'm not sure what to believe. My onset was around age 5 after a very traumatizing experience. However, most of my family members have Pure O. So which came first? Trauma or biological function? It really doesn't matter because it is a terrible disorder either way. But I have LOTS of hope for the future :).

@NOCD Advocate - Kylee C. Yeah that’s interesting cause I don’t have any family members that I know of that have ocd but I do have family members who have or had anxiety and I didn’t get ocd until I was 36 after a traumatic year for me. I’ve questioned if I have ocd even though 4 people confirmed that I do lol Dr. McGrath from NOCD being one of them.

@Dre83 That is interesting. I've seen articles that reflect your experience almost identically. Give me a moment and I can probably find a few articles that might be similar to your situation. I'm not sure it'll help you, but it might make you feel less alone :).

@Dre83 The first one is an interesting story about a man in his 20s with late onset OCD. The second is a general scholarly article about late vs early onset. The last is an article about a lady in her 30s with late onset OCD from trauma.

@NOCD Advocate - Kylee C. Thanks I appreciate it. I still feel stuck with my obsessions and I do erp daily. I guess my understanding of time and how long it takes to be recovered is not realistic. I will keep pushing though.

Wow!!! This is AMAZING. Thank you for telling us this! It gives me a lot of hope. I’m so thankful for these studies! I actually have heard of PANDAS before! My dad has never been diagnosed with ocd but he definitely has characteristics, and my mom does a little bit too. for me that may be a cause! I can remember the exact event that triggered my first thought so I think I was genetically predisposed then between my parents and the situation that started it may have caused my ocd.

@Where’sMySerotonin🦋🥵 No problem :) I'm glad to help. I really think that research is the best way to combat OCD, and I'm seeing a lot of progress in this field. 70 years ago, all of us would have been locked in an asylum. Yet here we are today - working hard through our obstacles and educating the world about the way we see things. If that doesn't humble you, I don't know what will. On a side note, something I've noticed in my experience, is how willing OCD patients are to fix their problems. This is almost unheard of in many other mental illnesses. Denial is usually a huge factor but the opposite is true with OCD patients. They're almost always willing to accept their condition and start working immediately on progress. But what brings me to tears is that this community fights so hard everyday. You all are so committed to what you do and that's special.

@NOCD Advocate - Kylee C. Right! It’s amazing, I see how strong everyone on this app is and I’m realizing how strong I’m becoming too. It’s a daily battle with our own brains but I know we will win ☺️🧡