Do any of you just wish you could change some of your rituals? Like some of mine are so complex and it seems impossible to tackle — I just wish I could “trade” that ritual for another one to get a fresh perspective on exposures to do.

A lot of my rituals / obsessions are around things that I can’t avoid as well — namely personal hygiene and school. And I have Anorexia which makes it hard to eat adequately. It’s like OCD (and other disorders) latch onto the worst possible aspects of life — always things that are necessary to do in daily life (eating, showering, brushing teeth, homework, packing a backpack, etc.).

Aww thanks! 😊 I’m so sorry that your rituals have come out of no where. OCD really makes daily life difficult. 😔 Currently I have no therapist because the care was discontinued. I’m on a wait list for a CBT therapist, and I have no idea if I’ll even get off of it. I’m not alone though. I have support by my psychiatrist, eating disorder specialist, and my dietician. I also have my parents to look after me, as I’m only 16. Things are difficult, and I’m seeking out a higher level of care (residential hospitalization) for my eating disorder over the summer. As of now, I’m doing the best I can and things are okay :) I hope you are doing okay as well (and if not, I hope things get better very soon)! ❤️

@em.jem Aw bless you, I'm glad you've got a good level of support from your family and health support then that's great you're really trying to sort this all out before it gets worse ❤️ and thank you that's really kind!

@Ark Thank you 😊

I’m sorry to hear that, it sounds awful. I’ve had rituals like that in the past. It always felt like there was no way out and that there was no way that it would ever get better. But, somehow, they have. Have you considered taking or increasing your medication? I know that when my rituals start getting out of hand, I have to increase my meds.

@em.jem i’m not on any medication yet. i really want to be as i think it could help a lot but no one in my family takes my ocd seriously and think my compulsions are just weird things i do. i wish i could get diagnosed but i’m still on my parents insurance and they would never take me to get help or medication:/

@Cupcakes82! Oh my gosh! That’s awful!!! I’m so sorry to hear that your family doesn’t understand. It took a while for my family to accept that I had OCD — sort of like a “Not my child — she doesn’t have mental illness!” kind of thing. Try talking to your parents. Maybe showing them videos or articles on the iocdf website would help when explaining it to them and for helping them to believe you. If that doesn’t work, you can try over-the-counter medications like St John’s Wort. Your family might be more open to natural / herbal medicines to treat anxiety. IMO, people are much more willing to accept the idea of excessive anxiety than they are anxiety disorders (like OCD).