Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) Support Group

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a psychiatric disorder, more specifically, an anxiety disorder. OCD is manifested in a variety of forms, but is most commonly characterized by a subject's obsessive (repetitive, distressing, intrusive) thoughts and related compulsions (tasks or rituals) which attempt to neutralize the obsessions.

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ocdgirl 12/09/2011

I retrace my steps a lot and wash my hands often, those are my prominent outwardly compulsions. I used to pretend I forgot something and had to turn back or I was looking at something. I simply shrug and say I have OCD now. I'm tired of covering it up. People staring at me still annoys me and I want to smack those people, but hey, no reason to hide it, right?

What do you do if you have compulsions people can see?

deleted_user 12/09/2011

Hey

Mostly I obsess but I have done my fair share of hand-washing. I pretend I'm a clean freak...Actually maybe my compulsion might be that I feel this great need to confess things to people, like secrets so they know i'm not so great. These can be difficult to subtly slip into conversation.

But really I try not to tell anyone about my ocd. I find they arrive at so many cliched conclusions about how i must feel OR EVEN WOSE they say 'oh I have that too! I have to *insert clean/ordering behaviour which is quirky and takes five seconds* here. That just insults me.

deleted_user 12/10/2011

I think that it's okay to tell people the things that you are struggling with, such as hand washing and retracing your steps. Some OCD things should be kept a little more private, such as intrusive thoughts, sharing them with friends, family, counselors, and supportive people. But it sounds like you don't deal with those things.

ocdPositive 12/10/2011

I have found that after I have become friends with someone and they like me and accept me for who I am, then I can tell them about my OCD. My OCD does deal with intrusive thoughts so that is why I am a little more private.

xbrando7 12/10/2011

So far I have told two of my closer friends that I have OCD, and a couple other friends that I have anxiety issues. They don't react weirdly, and are actually very supportive. However, there are some people I simply refuse to tell, such as my grandparents, who wouldn't understand.

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