You may have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) if you experience unwanted, intrusive thoughts (obsessions) and feel driven to perform repetitive

April Kilduff, MA, LCPC

How to know if you have OCD

Stress doesn’t cause obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), but it can make symptoms worse or trigger flare-ups. In fact, research shows that about 60% of

Michaela McCloud

OCD and stress: What’s the connection?

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a treatable mental health disorder that can affect many parts of your life, including your relationships. When

Can relationship OCD (ROCD) affect friendships?

We've probably all put off an important task at some point, not because of laziness or bad time management, but because of the challenging emotions

5 tips for managing procrastination when you have OCD

You may have heard that obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can be very sneaky. As someone who lives with the disorder, I can confirm this to be true. You

3 tricks OCD uses to get your attention

OCD compulsions are repetitive physical or mental behaviors that a person feels driven to perform in response to obsessive thoughts. People engage in

What are OCD Compulsions?

OCD obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images, urges, feelings, or sensations that cause significant anxiety or distress. They are one of the

What are OCD Obsessions? Definition, Common Themes, and How to Treat Them

Undetected OCD symptoms are signs of obsessive-compulsive disorder that may go unnoticed because they don’t match the common stereotypes of OCD. Instead

Undetected OCD symptoms: Signs you might be missing

Everyone has strange, unwanted thoughts from time to time. But if your mind keeps serving up disturbing ideas you disagree with—like fears of harming

Do intrusive thoughts mean anything?

Living with OCD means there are days when the weight of your thoughts can feel crushing—days when your brain is so stuck in loops that even eating a

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“Life is like a box of chocolates. You never know what you’re going to get.” This classic quote from “Forrest Gump” rings particularly true for those of

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Many people use AI chatbots like ChatGPT to answer health questions, offer relationship advice, and even provide mental health support. But for people

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Living with OCD can, sadly, change the way you see the world. OCD forces its own perspective on nearly everything—seeing danger where there is none,

Can OCD change how you see yourself?

AI technology is evolving fast—and it's already making a big impact in mental healthcare. At NOCD, we use AI to support our human-first approach to OCD

Why learning to manage OCD requires a human touch

Everyone wants to feel heard and understood. It’s just human nature. It's also the reason why we often turn to the people in our lives for validation,

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As someone who has struggled with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) since I was a young child, I feel particularly compassionate for every kid with this

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Sometimes, all you want is for the people closest to you to understand how your brain works, especially when it comes to obsessive compulsive disorder

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Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) are two different mental health conditions: OCD is an anxiety

OCD vs. OCPD: Understanding Obsessive-Compulsive Personality Disorder

Life is a narrative, a story. That's how each of us perceives existence. We envisage ourselves as the protagonist, casting the psychological and metaphysical challenges we face into archetypal roles that humanity has been using since time immemorial. In our lives, we all have entities and individuals we perceive as allies, mentors, or shadows. We're all engaged in the same hero's journey, each with our unique story to share.  The journey I've shared with you today details my struggle with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder and highlights key experiences that have provided me with precious learning opportunities.

Journey Through the Maze: A Personal Account of Living with OCD

You are not alone. Millions of people just like you struggle with the same condition. OCD is vicious and unrelenting, targeting everything you love and care about. But you can do more than just survive with OCD: you can thrive. There are so many wonderful therapists, psychologists, and psychiatrists ready to help you, and with consistent effort and a long-term approach, you can implement life changes that will get you back on the right track. 

Learning to live with OCD

I used to think that having OCD meant that I was weak. But now, that has changed. I know how strong I am. Through seeking help I learned that I am resilient. I know and understand myself so much better now. OCD really forced me to figure out who I am and what I value. I have a renewed vision of what is strength and what is weakness now. I am far more compassionate and empathetic. I no longer feel the need to put on a mask and pretend to be okay. I have been in the depths of despair and darkness. And I have survived. I have even thrived.

Freedom from OCD is possible

Over time the theme of my OCD and its spikes changed, from relationship to existential OCD but they’ve all had one major feature, uncertainty. Not knowing the outcome of some event, whether I am with the right person, or whether I’m even okay. 

Take care of Michael

I would encourage anyone and everyone who isn’t aware of just how serious of a condition OCD can be, to educate themselves on this. This is a real disorder and a debilitating one for so many people. Be open to what others with lived OCD experience have to say about this. It may be difficult to understand or to put yourself in their shoes, but that's okay. What they need is your support, just knowing you are there for them and care enough about them to be there for them can mean a world of difference. 

Fighting for a better me

I wish I could say that at age 24, I was cured, that I never experienced distress from my OCD again. The truth is more complex and compelling. My OCD has taken many different forms throughout my life-whether it is that I am with the wrong person, or if I am making a terrible mistake at work, and everything in between. But my life has become so much more expansive since I received help for my OCD. Though I still get caught in compulsions and rituals and safety behaviors, I don't stay stuck as long. I still see a therapist at NOCD to help me through all the ways that my OCD has shifted over the years. Most importantly, my OCD has not kept me from living a beautiful life. I met and married an amazing man. I reconnected to art, writing, and advocating for people with OCD like myself. I don't let OCD and fear dictate my life.

Blanket statements

The key to reducing the power of these thoughts is not to run away from them, not to push them away, and not even to challenge them. It turns out that the most effective way we’ve found to deal with it so far is to simply sit with The Thoughts, and let them say their piece. Almost as if you were dealing with a child having a little temper tantrum, you just let all of the terrible, anxiety-inducing thoughts rage as they will, until they tire themselves out.  While under guided supervision, you are exposed to a situation that triggers intrusive thoughts, and throughout you must self-assess your anxiety levels. What are you feeling as your brain presents upsetting ideas to you? Be honest with yourself, and track how you feel as you continue. Eventually, though it may take quite a while, you’ll notice the anxiety will start to decrease. A quiet observation of the situation will lead you to a calmer state. Give no response except for acknowledgment of what you are going through. You, in a sense, build up a tolerance to the anxiety The Thoughts provoke. Eventually, they become nothing more than what they always truly were, even if they had once felt like something so much worse. Just thoughts.

The fear of failure

OCD was a result of my reaction to thoughts that were abhorrent to me. Unfortunately, trying to force them out of my head only meant I thought about them more. With my therapist’s help, I started to practice exposure and response prevention therapy (ERP). It was crazy how quickly my intrusive thoughts receded — I got to a point where I could remain calm and completely ignore these thoughts, even laugh at their absurdity, instead of being frightened by them. 

Let in the light

OCD no longer controls my life, my behaviors, and my family. OCD doesn’t have a crippling grip on my life any longer. I learned that I likely had OCD most of my life.Recovery is a process. It isn’t as though the OCD is suddenly gone, but I am recognizing it more. I am not allowing it to be in control. My advice to anyone suffering from this is to get help right away, don’t put it off. Face it head-on as hard as it is. Don’t give up, keep pushing forward. You will be so happy that you get treatment. There is no such thing as a ‘perfect’ recovery or treatment. When I have bumps in the road, I get back into therapy and get a quick refresher. You are never all the way back to zero, you cannot unlearn all of the tools you have been taught. You don’t lose progress. 

How OCD tried to come between me and my family

I was once tormented by OCDs “What ifs” and left in a state of panic, despair, and ruin, wondering if I would ever get my life back again. While I am not here to say that your life will always be sunshine and rainbows, I will tell you that with hard work and perseverance, you can live a completely healthy, and normal life.

What if it could turn out better than you ever imagined? 

These incidents continued to happen throughout my fifth-grade school year. I felt compelled to do many things, many seeming completely random, but they stuck and made day-to-day tasks almost impossible. “Write directly on the line, if you write over it you will fail the test” resulted in papers with holes in them from erasing so frequently. “Wash your hands every time you see a sink, or you will get yourself and others sick” meant I was developing eczema on my hands. “When you are in the car you have to say ‘That’s a cool car,’ or that car will hit you,” this meant I stopped leaving the house. “Count your steps. Make sure that you get somewhere in 4 steps or a multiple of 4 steps, or you will die” made me cry walking room to room in our house. I was only eleven years old.

How having OCD helped me help others

The Struggling Warrior is a 26-year-old Electrical and Electronics engineer with OCD. Throughout his experience with this detrimental disease, he found himself and his passion, to raise awareness of OCD and help people who suffer from it on a daily basis. He believes that through knowledge, education, and understanding of the sheer nature of the disease, people will jumpstart their recovery process and reclaim what OCD took away from them.

The story behind the struggle

The biggest thing I’ve learned with therapy is that you cannot unlearn all that you have already learned. OCD will always come up with one more “What if?”, “You HAVE to”, “I demand you do this or XYZ will happen”. You will have the tools in your toolbox to know how to deal with it. You will know how to be one step ahead of it. If it trips you up, it's not a failure. A lapse is not a relapse and recovery isn’t linear. You are not a terrible person and even thinking about wanting to get better shows how strong and courageous you really are. OCD will always want to keep you stuck. ERP is how you become unstuck.

I’m a mom living with POCD

I feel like people living with this disorder are the most resilient, strong, and compassionate of people. That makes me happy and hopeful. The biggest lesson I have learned so far from this journey, and this is something I have to give all the credit to my therapist Tara for, is that I can truly deal with all these difficult emotions. I don't have to run away, I never needed to run away. 

Looking fear in the face and not running

My mind, like many others with OCD, works like a sticky fly trap: it catches every little thing that floats by, even when (especially when) it’s not beneficial to my mental well-being. This means that every insult from a classmate growing up, every melancholy tale I accidentally read, and every scary movie I sneak-watched as a preteen has clung to the walls of my brain until this very day. But what makes the disorder so unbearable at times are cycles of severe intrusive thoughts that bring up those memories, presenting themselves as words, phrases, or images that play in my head. 

Idiosyncrasies: Navigating an Obsessive-Compulsive Mind

I recently became a NOCD community Alumni Member. I volunteer and help others who are struggling with OCD to regain control of their lives. I am spreading education and advocacy about this disorder. I am realizing that so many others struggle with similar problems. I am not alone. I am surprised by how quickly I was able to recover. I attribute this to allowing myself to truly give ERP a chance and throwing myself into treatment wholeheartedly. I want others to know that OCD can play the worst head games with you. I try and help friends and family understand what OCD is really like and how much of an impact it has had on my life. OCD is chronic and I want to spread awareness. Even though it is often chronic that doesn’t mean that you will always suffer or be debilitated by it. There is hope. There is help.

OCD is just radio static in the background

Slowly, more and more parts of my life became affected to the point where I was weary about what I was doing and avoiding those parts of my life to the best of my abilities to avoid this distressing feeling in my chest. As my life became more and more engulfed in this, I knew I needed help. This led to a diagnosis of OCD and eventually ERP.

Distressing the Distress

At first, OCD started as a way to provide relief, a means to control things that were out of my control. But then it morphed into something that took over my life and does the opposite of soothing me. I was stuck on my compulsions for 15 minutes, then 30, then an hour. It just kept growing and growing into something bigger and far worse.

OCD felt like a death sentence

I spent my childhood thinking that everything needed to be perfect. This manifested in a variety of areas in my life, but the largest, most debilitating area by far was education; straight A’s were my ticket to perfection.The importance of A’s had been drilled into me from a young age – not from my parents or teachers, but from my OCD. I worked tirelessly to be a stand-out student. Anything lower than 93% would send me into a full panic and meltdown. 

My journey with ERP and Santa Claus

For the longest time, I thought that OCD was this ‘big and bad’ thing that couldn’t be stopped. But now I know how to break the cycles and fight back. I have a lot of support and I am thankful for that. ERP no longer seems as daunting to me. It became easier with time, practice, and commitment.

Living with OCD