My grandma let me stay home from school today because I’ve been doing really bad and I had an upset stomach so I was stuck in the restroom but I completely forgot we had a test for band and a football game (season ended, it’s like an extra game) so I’m getting 3 zeros and I feel super anxious/guilty for not going now. But at the same time, I am struggling terribly to keep up. I’m in band, the math team, high q and academic decathlon. Additionally, I’m in calculus , an AP course which is also very time consuming and demanding. I have meetings for one of the clubs every day. So I usually get home around 5 or 6 depending on the day and then I spend an hour trying to do my calculus homework that I’m really not understanding, I shower and eat and then get maybe 2 hours to myself before I have to go to sleep and do it all over again the next day. My calculus/math team teacher is disappointed in me because of my low grade but I really do try. I don’t study every day like she wants me to, but I squeeze in when I can and I show up the mornings that I need help and stay for her math practice for two hours. My band teacher’s try to be understanding which is why I feel guilty and on Tuesday’s I have sectionals but I can’t go because I have math team practice and my math team teacher said if I go and miss practice more than once she’ll kick me off the team. My academic decathlon teacher is the biggest sweetheart ever and always so understanding but if I decide to go to his meetings I miss out on practicing my clarinet so that my band director isn’t upset. (I’m first chair in his top band). Weekends are the Only time I have off and that was only recently , when marching season was going on a few weeks ago I had competitions every Saturday. I’m also supposed to be applying to colleges but I’m struggling to find the motivation for anything. And while all this is going on, my home life is a mess. My sister struggles severely with depression and has even been diagnosed with psychotic tendencies. It makes me so anxious/upset/hurt and frustrated when she threatens my family. She’s constantly in and out of the mental hospital and always takes my stuff without asking and leaves glue/paint all over it. My grandparents are very stubborn and see things the way they want , which means they have a lot of misconceptions about mental health that don’t make it any easier on my sister and I. My mom I only see every couple of days and let’s just say my relationship with her isn’t the best and she also has her own problems going on. My relationship is long distance too which is very difficult but my partner is so supportive and loving which helps me so much and the fact that we’re long distance means I have time to myself which is good because of how busy I am but sometimes I miss his presence so much. But worst of all is that underneath everything I am struggling so much with my ocd. It doesn’t even feel ocd some days. Everyday in band, in calculus, at football games, in the restroom at school I’m just ruminating and googling, having intrusive thoughts/urges about sexual orientation ocd. Everyday I grieve for the girl I used to be and I grieve for the love and attraction I had for my beautiful boyfriend who I really want to marry one day but I feel doomed to become something I don’t want to be. Those thoughts are what drains the life out of me, the reason I don’t want to go to school or enjoy my extracurricular actives , the reason I don’t study as much or read as much. Because I feel so sad to have my identity compromised , to have to stolen from me. To feel less than I am, to feel unworthy of the love I receive. To wonder if there is something wrong with me, that hurts me more than anything. That was just a large vent I needed to put out there

I’m feeling kind of sad cause today was not a really good day in terms of my ocd. I was feeling kind of foggy/numb and that send me to spiraling. I’m 21 years old currently studying but my family has been having trouble with money for the last couple years(we’re just me and my mom) and I kinda want to get a job but everything is far from my home and I wouldn’t be able to return back at night, also it’s either way more expensive to move or the schedule wouldn’t let me take my classes. The point is that because of that every time my mom is stress tends to treat me bad, she speaks to me like I’m stupid or she just screams to nothing cursing all life and everything and that actually makes me feel soo bad and guilty for not doing anything, I know it’s hard for me to get a job that actually helps us without quitting school but that doesn’t stop me from feeling like I’m a burden. I want to help, I want to maybe hug her or something but I know she will be angrier and probably will reject it. So that’s it, I just feel like she punishes me for the stress she’s carrying and I get it but one day is happy and it feels like all love and the next is treating me like that, Idk it’s hard (also I feel like I shouldn’t be saying this cause it’s all my fault) 🫤

back in october i made my first post about my specific type of ocd, how it mixes in with my day to day and how i “deal” with it. i talked about the starting point, how it gradually got worse, and then how it was going just a few months ago. i always think it’s insane how much can change in just the course of a small to a large amount of time. right now, i honestly feel like garbage. to be quite sincere i really want to give up, i’m barely holding on by a thread. and if i cut that thread, i really doubt anyone would care. i’ve never considered myself to be a suicidal person, and i still don’t consider myself that right now. it just gets to a point where it’s just, a lot to deal with. i don’t really enjoy things a lot nowadays. sure i have good days like everyone does, like today, when i was just enjoying my day without worries. but then it all comes crawling back twice as bad the following days. i take online college so i’m usually just stuck at home most of the time. but, when i do decide to actually go out and leave my house, my ocd just explodes because i have this whole routine i need to do or else i feel like i’ll contaminate wherever i end up going. i’m not going to go really deep into my compulsions because it’s hard enough to live with them, much more having to type them all out in detail. but when i go out my compulsions go from wiping down all my stuff i’m going to use after showering, to washing my clothes/cleaning the washer + dryer. i also have separate things (or two of the same thing) i use specifically in my house, and items i use when going out. such as shampoo/body wash, deodorant, lotion, hair curler, etc. as if that’s not draining enough, i also feel the need to fast a couple days prior to any plan i make because i’ve forced myself to believe i need to feel empty in order to be clean. i’m not sure if that’s my past eating disorder talking, or my ocd, but my brain can’t help but think any food in my house is utterly and completely contaminated. i’m so tired of this feeling, feeling like nothing will ever be clean again. feeling like my ocd is trapped in my childhood home. feeling that wave of diseases rushing through my veins the moment i step foot into what’s supposed to be “home”. and i’m so scared of therapy because what if i do get healed, and then everything comes rushing back the second i step into my room. i’m planning on moving somewhere far from my current house in this next coming year, so sometimes i feel like just waiting it out. but it’s insufferable when going to hangout with someone. i miss my friends, my family, and my partner. it’s crazy to me that i’m dealing with all this at the young age of 18 but, i’m sure lots of people have it way worse. i just want to find a way out, any possible way. but i keep pushing myself deeper and deeper that when i finally find a way, it will no longer exist.

I don’t have much of a support system outside of my bf, so I find myself here a lot. I think I just need to vent, so forgive me if I do this too often. It helps to have a community of people who truly understand. I haven’t felt this debilitated by mental illness in months. There has to be some explanation, maybe it’s hormonal, because I feel like I’ve completely lost myself. The panic hits in waves, sudden and overwhelming, like my head is submerged in lava, burning and suffocating. Then, for a brief moment, I feel almost normal and wonder what all the fear was about. But it never lasts. The chaos always comes back. I even considered going to the ER because I’m not sure I can trust myself anymore. Something has to be wrong, because this isn’t me. My life isn’t perfect, but it’s not unbearable either. Since I withdrew from school, I’ve been so much less stressed that even my cycle, which has been irregular for years, has somehow regulated itself. But even with that, I feel like a failure. I was one semester away from finishing, so close, but OCD hit me harder than it ever has. It felt like drowning, gasping for air, reaching for something solid, only to be dragged under again and again. Now, I feel like that again, but worse. I feel hollow, like something is wrong with me at my core. I don’t just feel sad; I feel broken. I break down into uncontrollable sobs every few hours, and I don’t even know why. I just know that whatever is happening, OCD is taking full advantage of how vulnerable I feel. Is this what MDD feels like? Everyone tells me I have it, and it’s been confirmed by my psych, my pcp, and my therapist, but I still can’t seem to fully see it. I don’t know how to separate what’s OCD from what might be another disorder. I’m sorry to anyone also going through such a hard time, my heart goes out to you 🤍