The Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Support and Discussion Thread

Hi guys, another one here!

I'm so glad there's a thread here on TSR about it. I don't like admitting I had OCD but I'm in a bad way at the moment.

I'm not so much about order as my things are generally scattered around, but I'm more of the ritual variety. I have to make sure people are protected if I do certain things, and have to do them at the right time. It sucks when I'm out and I have to think things over in my head rather than saying them out loud. It was so hard when I was at work and constantly trying to wash my hands at every opportunity - I had to use hand wipes at my desk.

I'm petrified of people close to me or even celebrities being harmed. It doesn't help that people spread rumours and tweet about bad things happening - I try to avoid newspapers or else I'll go back to see what I've done to cause it It's horrible, especially when people I know have such a morbid humour. I'll want to cry and my blood runs cold and I won't get the thought of my head. If I have not heard from someone in a while, I will panic and be afraid to call them just in case the worst has happened. I go through all my rituals but I get more scared.

My next door neighbour has a child who cries and I worry that the worst has happened or that they're in trouble. I've been crying for the past hour as I didn't know what was going on. Even sirens can really upset me. I'm on citalopram and it helps a bit but I need CBT. I have made an appointment but I'm really embarrassed. I treat the concept of death like a small child, but I'm in my 20s. Sorry for such a long post. I need to get it out there

116 days without resetting my PCs and accounts online


This was posted from The Student Room's iPhone/iPad App

So I've been suffering from what I assume is OCD for at least four years now. It started as a slight fear of germs and a feeling of annoyance/unease when objects weren't straight, etc, but in the last year or so it's become steadily more extreme. I now wash my hands up to twenty times a day: after I come in from outside, after I touch an object that's been outside such as a set of keys or even my mobile, after I touch someone else's hand, and so on. I also only use one or two fingers to touch the door handles in public places so that the other fingers don't have to make contact with the handle. After I go to bed I always have to get up at least three times before I actually get to sleep to make sure that everything in my room is arranged as it should be (my chair is pushed right up to my desk, my dimmer switch is turned all the way up even though the light is off, things like that) otherwise I can't get to sleep.

This I can pretty much live with. My worry is that it's going to get even worse, and that I'll end up as some kind of recluse, like Howard Hughes but far less wealthy. What can I do to preven that? Who can I talk to about this? The main problem is that I feel so silly discussing it with anyone because I know that my compulsions are totally irrational and don't make sense to anyone who doesn't have the disorder.

Now you do Welcome, let us know how you are and how it goes!

I messaged you asking what it was like going to the doctor's with OCD. So what is it like? What do you do? What happens?
Thanks

It's okay, definitely not as nerve racking or scary as you think. I guess it will depends the type of GP etc, but it's okay. I was asked why I came there and I wrote some stuff down that I read out loud and then in the end gave them to read. If there's a problem your GP will tell you and you will get diagnosed. It's definitely not bad, your GP will then refer you to anyone else if needed and/or propose the best way to treat you (this will depends on several factors such as how severe your OCD is) and you'll probably be free to go at that point

Thanks, I feel kind of reassured that it won't be that bad. I might write some stuff down so that I don't forget everything I have to say. The part that I'm most worried about is the embarassment, it seems like no-one else will be able to understand my compulsions and I'll just look stupid

What did you do to work your way out of it?

There's a programme on OCD on at 10pm tonight, can't remember which channel. Should be interesting, but may just be aggravating if they fill it with 'horror stories' and some documentaries do.

I thought it was really well done; it explained OCD better than most programmes have done, and it was good that it showed the whole scale so there were those with slight OCD that wasn't as debilitating, then there were the extreme cases. I didn't like the bit on ERPT though; just reading about the touching the toilet seat thing freaks me out, so watching it was horrible. Overall a brilliant programme though; Jon Richardson did a great job too it's good that C4 has this focus on mental health; it's been really interesting and informative so far this week

Only one person was a 'nutter' in the show and that was the nurse. I'd wager that the vast majority of people wouldn't want to go around caressing toilet seats, regardless of whether they have OCD or not.