My sister just told me I was crazy for having OCD and needing to go to therapy, and I shouldn’t go to school to be a psychiatrist because “crazy can’t help crazy.” Are we crazy? I’m seriously going to cry.

I disagree with your sister. I’m going to school to become a therapist and I have OCD. I have through the ups and downs of it and currently going back to the struggling but I digress. I think by having experience with mental illness you can understand and empathize with people more. Crazy is such bad term for those who are still trying to get control of their mental illnesses. You are not alone, we are in the same group as you. Don’t let what your sister says stop you from achieving your goals.

I strongly disagree. Having ocd will be an advantage to you because you can accept and understand your future psychiatry patients who struggle with it <3

I like to think of it as we’re unique :)

That sounds so hurtful and painful to hear. I'm so sorry your feelings were hurt or if that generated another spiral of self-conscious thoughts or worries. OCD wants you to think that you are out of control or crazy; a big part of OCD's tricks I know is that it wants to convince you that you WILL lose control no matter what your better, grounded judgement knows. OCD is a separate current attached to your brain but not a usual function of your brain; it's an anxiety disorder because it is NOT natural. You HAVE OCD with you, but you are NOT your OCD thoughts. It's really cool that you are getting some the help that you need. And I think it's super awesome you want to be a psychiatrist. Oh my gosh!! You will improve so many people's lives and give them hope when they feel desperate or scared. I guess a past therapist told me to "get mad at my OCD" for the LIES that it tells me about everything that I care about!!!! I know you know that if something is really valuable to you, then OCD is going to sabotage your thoughts about this thing. If you want to be a psychiatrist but are triggered by what your sister said and are now enduring a wave of scared thoughts and feelings, I do not know for certain of course, but maybe your OCD is attacking there. I hope you know how powerful and capable your mind is. You can do so much wonder. I hope you're doing okay.

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