Think back to when you were a kid. When you were running down the streets and sidewalks and you played the game that you couldn't step on the cracks. Now try to imagine that kind of game with everything you do multiplied by 1000. Now take the feelings of being paranoid to step on the cracks and multiply that by 1000.
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, otherwise known as OCD, is "an anxiety disorder in which people have unwanted and repeated thoughts, feelings, ideas, sensations (obsessions), or behaviors that make them feel driven to do something (compulsions)" as psychologytoday.com defines it. OCD effects millions of people daily and many people do not know how to respond to it.
Since around the age of fifteen I was diagnosed with OCD. I couldn't control it. I I have been made fun of, people try to make me do OCD moments on purpose, teasing me about it, and so much more. Imagine if you had OCD and every second of the day you were more then worried about something. You are scared about something 24/7. Everywhere you go, everyone you talk to, everything you see, everything you touch, and everything you hear can be a trigger for your OCD and can be very scary. OCD can be so unpredictable, embarrassing, upsetting, and beyond hard to deal with. When people try to say to people with OCD "do not do your OCD moment" and think that they can just not do it, they can't. Life with OCD is every second of every day. From walking to sitting down to looking at things in certain ways to touching things to saying things to writing things to even thinking things. There are different severities of OCD and everyones case is different. There are different types of OCD such as the stereotypical OCD of being clean, which is very real, and so many other types.
While I am really happy to say over the past few years my OCD severity has gone down, it is still there. And it is still there for millions of people. People joke around about having OCD just because something bothers them, however as J.J. Keeler puts it - "OCD is not a disease that bothers; it is a disease that tortures."
Please respect the people that go through their daily lives in fear. Not because they want to, but because they have no other choice and they have to. OCD is a war zone with not only yourself, but everything around you.
