OCD compulsions are not just physical, they’re also mental. Please be aware, this is not a complete list of every OCD compulsion. Anything can become an OCD compulsion, it’s individual to the person. Treatment for OCD includes: Exposure Response Prevention, Inference Based CBT, Acceptance and Commitment Therapy.

People who have OCD are misdiagnosed everyday, symptoms can be misunderstood and are often attributed to generalised anxiety disorder, ADHD, autism and even bipolar disorder. That’s not to say that you can’t have these disorders and OCD but when OCD isn’t identified and validated it prevents people from getting the right care and support & can ultimately make symptoms worse. There is a lot of overlap with generalised anxiety disorder and OCD but there are some key differences: 💜 GAD sufferers worry about a range of different everyday situations and quickly move onto new problems 💜 OCD suffered often become stuck on one particular fear or worry (or a combination of themes) for prolonged periods, going over them again and again each day. 💜 GAD sufferers can benefit from problem solving, rationalising and challenging negative assumptions 💜OCD fears cannot be rationalised long term as it’s nearly impossible to achieve a level of certainty you are content with 💜 both OCD and GAD have high levels of rumination and catastrophising which perpetuate the problem 💜 In OCD a key difference is that worries are followed the compulsive mental or physical behaviours.

What other lies does OCD/anxiety try to tell you?

Having a loved one with OCD can be challenging & difficult to navigate. There’s a blurry line between helping & enabling. Communication, education, working together and having support are all KEY to better managing the challenges of OCD.

I have cleaning/contamination OCD. I tend to focus on fear or intense feelings of discomfort that results from contamination or uncleanliness.. I have this situation.. it's annoying

Can obsessive compulsive disease change with the time? Or it’s a permanent disease?

While at OCD Con, I spoke with a woman on the elevator who asked what the conference was for. I explained that it was for sufferers of and professionals who work in the field of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. She said, “Oh! A lot of my clients have OCD about organizing their homes. They tell me they’re OCD because they like things arranged a certain way.” I took the opportunity to gently educate her that liking things arranged a certain way is, in fact, not OCD. It’s just being particular. She then asked: “Well, what *is* OCD?” Outside of our amazing community OCD is still seen as the cleaning disorder or a fun quirk. Most people, just like the lady I encountered, have no idea what real ocd is. Real OCD is a debilitating disorder that latches onto the things you love the most. It gives you terrible and distressing unwanted and repetitive intrusive thoughts about those things. Thoughts that go against your values and can fill you with guilt and shame. The distress from those thoughts drives sufferers to carry out irrational behaviors called compulsions which are intended to relieve the distress. There is nothing fun or quirky about it. When I wash my dry cracked and bleeding hands for the 100th time because I’m terrified I’ll pass a fatal illness to my son, I’m not enjoying it. When I lay in bed ruminating over the deaths of my loved ones, I’m also not having fun. OCD is not fun. It’s not all about cleaning and organizing. It’s an irrational debilitating and all-consuming disorder that ruins, and even takes, lives. It’s important for the public to know just how serious OCD is so that when someone like me starts having symptoms they recognize it and can get proper help. If you like organizing your belongings, cleaning or having things done a certain way, that’s great, but it’s not OCD. If you enjoy it, it isn’t OCD.

I usually make sure the door is closed 4 times, is that OCD?