I'm looking for some comfort. I'm having a hard time at work this morning unfortunately, because I mistakenly mentioned my OCD to a coworker who is completely ignorant to anything anxiety related. He replied, "I dont like labels, you just have tendencies" he seemed to scoff at the idea of needing a therapist. I was reminded of how fragile i am, because I got so angry at the thought of all the internal suffering and torment i went through because of ocd, and that some people have no clue just how severe it can be.. And to think someone completely ignorant to it thinks they know what I went through when they dont even have an inkling..I'm hoping someone here will reply and remind me there are people who get it. It's not a joke, it's not exclusive to keeping things orderly, it's not something you can just get over

I completely agree! I’ve had OCD and intrusive thoughts my entire life and some just don’t understand. I have my episodes every six months and I’m having a hard time right now. I don’t ask for advice unless it’s a therapist or someone I know that has anxiety. The problem for me is that I have the most severe case of it, out of my entire family and even when I ask they seem to not understand. Also I’m the only one in the household with anxiety/ OCD and it takes a toll on me. I hope this comforts and helps you because I truly understand what you’re going through since I’ve had every type of OCD about everything such as contamination, intrusive bad thoughts, and constant checking to make sure I locked the door and etc. Have a great day and know that we will get through this together!!

Don’t listen to them. It takes a lot of strength to live with this. It’s like being tortured by your own subconscious. If they were able to feel what you felt for even a few moments I guarantee that their whole perspective would change ❤️

Thank you for your comment :) I have intrusive thoughts, and in the past they have ruined me as a person, and I'm still so heartbroken about it, because it's so hard to break through this discomfort sometimes. And I had to rebuild myself from the bottom up. And to hear that crap from people like my coworker who is free from that anguish makes me feel kinda terrible. Hes lucky he doesnt have to go through it..

Thanks Isabella, I think you're right about that. My other therapist (I'm seeing 2) told me I show extreme resilience, which I believe people like us must have in order to keep going

Hey there - thank you so much for your vulnerability in sharing. Your strength is definitely seen - especially in being willingly to share your struggles with a coworker, even though they didn’t respond as we would have liked. It always makes me so sad the lack of knowledge that there is around OCD which is why we are working so hard to bring more advocacy to it! Keep staying strong my friend!

Thanks for your comment Becca, I've tried to allow myself (within reason) to be vulnerable, because being honest about everything is the only way I can get help and also hopefully encourages others to do the same. To allow myself to face all sorts of feelings including the negative ones helps a lot. The same type of concept goes for recovering from ocd I'd say, dont you think? :)