OCD Awareness Week (10/13-10/18)

This week is OCD Awareness Week.

OCD Awareness Week is a worldwide event that serves to dispel myths about obsessive compulsive disorder, break the stigma around mental illness, provide education about the disorder, and share how to support those affected. There are over 200 million people worldwide living with OCD, and public misconception can prevent them from accessing timely and effective treatment needed to advance from suffering to thriving. This week, whether you share facts, tell your own story, or otherwise support OCD Awareness Week, you are making a powerful difference.

I was officially diagnosed with OCD at 21, meaning I lived a long time not understanding what my brain was doing to itself. Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is also called the doubting disorder. It not only makes you doubt yourself and all aspects of your life, but, most of the thoughts that come with OCD are entirely illogical, which makes you doubt others, including those you love and trust most, and your basic understanding of reality.

Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, or urges that trigger intensely distressing feelings. Compulsions are behaviors an individual engages in to attempt to get rid of the obsessions and/or decrease distress. Together, they create harmful cycles of thinking and patterns of behavior. There is a public misconception that OCD is just a minor personality quirk or preference and that everyone is “a little bit OCD.” In reality, OCD is a serious and often debilitating mental health disorder that affects people of all ages and walks of life.

One of the unintended consequences of mental health education and advocacy amidst a time of social media is the watering down of clinical terminology. Many people can experience obsessive thoughts and/or compulsive behaviors at some point in their lives, but that does not mean that we “all have some OCD.” In order for a diagnosis of OCD to be made, this cycle of obsessions and compulsions must be so extreme that it consumes a lot of time, causes intense distress, or gets in the way of important activities that the person values.

Again, not all behaviors associated with OCD are indicative of a mental disorder, and a comprehensive evaluation from a qualified mental health professional is highly encouraged before self diagnosing. Obviously, I passed my tests with flying colors; no studying needed. I was in talk therapy, working out my thought processes with a mental health professional when she simply suggested the idea. The recognition and affirmation shocked my system. I was connected with a psychiatrist who gave me a lot more information on the specific diagnosis, connecting me with OCD specific resources. Going to therapy with OCD has been described as being in a boxing ring with an imaginary opponent, and I can attest to that. A lot of it is straight up exposure therapy or forcing yourself out of thoughts and behaviors that have been crafted for a sense of safety.

This week, I challenge you to share your story, listen to the stories of those living with OCD, share findings on the reality of it, and challenge myths and misinformation you see regarding this diagnosis.

Elizabeth Riley hails from Tennessee and is a graduate of English Literature and Professional Writing & Rhetoric from Baylor University. With passions in archival preservation, communal connection, and women in sports, she writes because it matters, with hopes of bridging villages and fostering revelry amongst them.