How has everyone else's OCD progressed throughout their lives? Has everyone else always had severe OCD or did you live regular lives beforehand and encounter one point where it went from 0 to 100. Where are you now in your OCD Journey? I'm very curious as to everyone else's stories and have left mine below if you’d like to read it. From what I can remember, I went relatively undisturbed by OCD  the majority of my middle/late childhood, only having about 1-3 thoughts a year that weren't super bothersome but did create a level of distress uncomparable to regular intrusive thoughts. They were mainly about my health and about my parents safety & wellbeing. The earliest memory about my OCD that really stood out was back in 5th Grade, when I hit my head on a swing set and immediately began reciting every moment leading up to injury as well as every math equation I knew to make sure my memory was still intact. The greater part of my adolescence was essentially the same and resembled what I believed to be a normal life,  just with a couple of OCD thoughts sprinkled throughout it. I was able to function pretty well albeit depressed and somewhat anxious. It wasn't until I was close to my highschool graduation that I experienced the worst panic attack(at the time) at the idea that I would hurt my parents. It was so distressing because the thought felt so loud that I believed it was genuine which only caused more distress. I was so scared that I would act on the thought that I discarded all of my sharp objects and locked myself in my room. That was my first ever severe reaction I experienced due to OCD and was back in May of this year. I actually learned what OCD was the same night and realized that many of my newly found fears including mold growing in my walls  and my parents disliking me were also caused by the OCD. Unfortunately learning that it was probably OCD wasn't enough to quell my fear and I engaged in a bunch of compulsions in the months to come, worsening my OCD In the process. June was alright. July was worse(I only had like three topics for obsessions which sounds great now). Late July-Early August was my tipping point . Things went from worse to profoundly terrible in a short period. I found this app late August which was great because I had grown exhausted. September was pretty bad but not as bad as August. Now it's October and life is somewhat good now. I've become more knowledgeable of OCD (big thanks to this app and my therapist) but I'm very far from done. There's still this looming sense of anxiety that follows me everywhere. I have like 20 obsessions now, some being larger and scarier than others but those smaller ones are still apparent. But, the fear has decreased as well as the mental compulsions that came with it. My mind is quieter now. However the anxiety has stayed the same. My heart still drops whenever my worst obsession is triggered. Headaches, brain fog, sweating, rapid heart rate, sense of being paralyzed, racing mind are commonplace in my life but I've learned to sit with  the physical discomfort (not that it makes it any less terrifying). Anyways, I'm here now which is cool. I’d like to listen to others' experiences to get a better understanding of OCD and maybe feel a bit less alone. feel free to ask any questions.

Mine is a bit of a different presentation. It is somewhat episodic or it waxes and wanes. I had my first episode when I was 7 and convinced that I was contaminated with poison and that I subsequently was going to die and kill all of my family. That lasted for a few months until my avoidance behaviors stopped. I didn’t have another episode until I was 12 and became convinced that I was possessed by a demon and going to kill my family. That one was really intense but lasted a shorter period of time. Then I experienced mild levels of depression and significant generalized anxiety throughout high school until I had a terrible episode of ROCD after a traumatic experience when I was 18. Since then I have had significantly higher levels of anxiety with some compulsive behaviors and avoidance and also have been going to therapy. It wasn’t until two years later after that I was diagnosed by my psychologist with OCD (which was just a month ago) as I had a bad episode this summer that incapacitated me for a while and I’m working through at the moment but I am doing better at the moment. I wish you all of the best with your journey!!!

My OCD was subclinical as a child. My OCD at that time was contamination based. I think my parents had chalked it up to being a personality thing or me being sensitive, but as a child I genuinely remember being afraid of getting contaminated by germs and dirt. Cleaning my room was a nightmare and I would often feel tingly after cleaning. Like I would legitimately feel like I was contaminated and I would have to wash until the tingles went away. My OCD didn’t become clinical until I was 14 though. That’s when I got SO OCD and it was very severe. At 15 I started having general sexual OCD. 16 I got scrupulousity and real event. Now, 19 going on 20, I just struggle with all of them except contamination. When I was 15, I saw someone who was completely unqualified in diagnosing and treating OCD. They dismissed me and didn’t give me help, but I ended up going back to them during my senior year of high school. I had begged my mom to let me see an OCD specialist but she refused to believe me so she took me back to someone who couldn’t even treat me. They did talk therapy which doesn’t help OCD. I did get medication, but I really needed therapy. I like to think ages 16-17 I had mild-moderate OCD. At age 18, it became severe again. I ended up having to get my own therapist through NOCD after my spike. I was doing well, but recently I’ve been doing bad again. Between being in college, dealing with family problems, having complications with medication, and now only doing therapy once a month, it’s been horrible. Two months ago my OCD would’ve been mild maybe even subclinical. Now it’s moderate.

Mine started when I was around 8. I was so scared because I had awful thoughts about stabbing myself, my parents, or even strangling my baby brother. I also worried about calling my dad swear words that randomly came to my mind. I had no idea it was OCS. Many years later, I got a boyfriend. Everything was perfect and amazing and I couldn't believe how lucky I was to find such an amazing guy who fit me perfectly. A few weeks into my relationship, all hell broke loose. I started worrying about everything. That I was gonna hurt him, murder him, or leave him....just like the thoughts I've had as a little eight year old. I started doing more research, panicking on if I was going insane. Then I found out about hard ocd and relationship ocd. It escalated super quickly from 0-a million in a span of days and started affecting my daily life. More ocd themes popped up like sexual ocd, sexual orientation ocd, and a few more. After a few weeks of constant thoughts and stress and anxiety, I got officially diagnosed with ocd of many different themes at an OCD center. Thankfully, my boyfriend understands my condition and doesn't get mad or anything with stuff I think. He's so understanding and he tries his best to help support me as I try and get through this tough time. I'm gonna get ERP soon hopefully so this nightmare can be over!!

My story is kind of complicated. I had my first intrusive thought at the age of 8. There are some themes that I have had for many years. Some last for weeks or even months. I am 45 years. Up until about 3 months ago, OCD wasn't even on my radar. I thought OCD was just handwashing and being neat and organized. I never had either. But in July, I heard a podcast. The host was interviewing a woman who has OCD. I was shocked to realize that I had many of the same thoughts as the guest. I threw myself into researching OCD to convince myself I didn't have it. But it had the opposite effect. Once, I knew what to look for, I recognized various themes over the course of my life. But I started to doubt I really had it. So much so that when I had my 90 min assessment, I was convinced my counselor would tell me I didn't meet the criteria for OCD. Instead, I got a diagnosis. I threw myself into ERP. I made rapid progress. Honestly, ERP is one of the hardest things I have ever done. Some of the exposures I did were brutal. But it works. I am well on my way to recovery. My OCD is starting to fade into the background. My only regret is not starting treatment sooner. But I believed everyone struggled the way I did. I had no idea that what I was experiencing wasn't normal. Just prior to starting treatment, I was at a very low point. I felt hopeless and like nothing would ever change. Before I knew I had OCD, I did about 10 years of talk therapy. I would go weekly for up to 2 years. I never made any progress. I did everything I was supposed. I would eventually get frustrated and quit. Even switching counselors didn't help. I felt worse at the end than I did at the beginning. Its like I was trying to put together a puzzle. But a lot of the pieces were missing. I had a few pieces that kind of fit together. Once I added the OCD pieces, everything started clicking and the puzzle was finally completely. It looked completely different than I thought it would. But it all fit together. I have made more progress in 3 months with my NOCD therapist than I did in years of regular therapy. Its amazing the difference applying the correct treatment to the correct problem can make.