I'm remember having OCD at age 6. when did you all start having those problems?

I remember obsessively praying out of fear as early as 7 or 8. Then as time wore on, I would have other habits showing up (10-12) where I couldn’t sleep without my door locked to my bedroom even though it was against my moms rules. I didn’t know it then, but I see those now as OCD traits.

@Amaranthe I also obsessively prayed out of fear around that age! It’s so crazy how our stories can be so similar

I started having these problems ever since I could remember. I saw that no one else did what I did so I thought I was the only one and kept it to myself. As I got older and it got worst I started thinking that other people must be going thru what I am so that is how I found OCD by researching.

same! I thought I was the only one but then my parents found out about my rituals

It’s so liberating to hear that I wasn’t the only kid with intrusive thoughts. I was probably 7 when it started. I wasn’t diagnosed until 25. I just recently began to connect some of my deep childhood fears to OCD after seeing how my deep fears of religious obsessions were something other people had! It gives me hope and helps take some of the power from the obsession to think “I’m not that original. Other people think this and it’s just a thought” Thanks to everyone for sharing their stories and helping is all feel less alone!

I was diagnosed with OCD at the age of 9. I would stay up all night because I was scared of the house burning down. I’ve lived with it from then on, but it has really damaged my life in the year and a half. I’m 25.

wow It's crazy how young it strikes but how old you realize it sometimes. I was diagnosed at age 11

2nd grade

I was 13 I got an intrusive thought about hurting my dad. It scared the shit out of me and I thought at first i was possessed by a demon

I'm 24 and have only really felt the symptoms come about then

sorry David it must have been hard I'm still a teenager and don't know what's gonna happen

Mine started around 7-8 but honestly I can’t remember a time when I didn’t struggle with it. It took me 13 years to realize I had OCD and it wasn’t until this year that I started to receive help. I’m 21 now and it has been a journey for sure

Sorry 18 years not 13

Mine started at age 14. In the year 1975. Been a long 43 years

Best to all the OCD sufferers

Complicated answer but...growing up with a parent with (undiagnosed) OCD that controlled everything our family did, my OCD things never stood out as abnormal. So it’s hard to place when it because bad because bad was our normal. I can place some things that were definitely OCD around 11 or 12 years old but before that I’m still trying to understand and remember. I was only diagnosed in recent months and I’m almost 26 now

I remember that it got really bad when I was in 6th grade. Didn’t get diagnosed until five years later.

Hi Finny Ann. My OCD started when is was very young (around 7 or 8 is my best guess). I just turned 49 a few days ago and continue to fight this disorder.

Mine started in my early 20s I think

I noticed it when I was about 15 in 1970. I didn’t learn the name and details of it until about 1993. I’m trying harder to manage it in recent years. It’s taken time to see and deal with how it gets in my way.

I was in elementary school when my OCD started.

So I’m wondering most of you it seems to have started in early teens but I didn’t notice anything until my 20s. Is that weird?

I think it depends on the individual! For some people it happens after a traumatic event. For me, it’s largely genetic probably so it makes sense it would have started early

of course!