Living with OCD

Conquering obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can look like many things. Each person will walk their own unique path. The speed at which we walk may also

In the brand-new movie adaptation of John Green’s 2017 bestseller Turtles All The Way Down, the main character, Aza, lives with debilitating OCD. Green,

We’re incredibly proud of the therapists in the NOCD network. Every one of them is trained in delivering evidence-based treatment

Your child may have inherited your green eyes, your laugh, and your love of horror films—but could you have passed on your obsessive-compulsive disorder

It can be scary and discouraging for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) to flare up all of a sudden, especially if your symptoms have been getting better

Reassurance-seeking can be so subtle that you might not even realize you’re doing it. It may look like needing approval, validation, or confirmation. And

John Green has had obsessive compulsive disorder since he was a kid. He won't sugar-coat it. It's not easy, and some days are hell—not just the compulsive

If John Green is your favorite author, you have lots of company. His writing has a way of making you feel like you and only you are his audience. Like

Key Takeaways: Receiving an OCD diagnosis and effective treatment can take 14 to 17 years on average for adults. (NOCD) Around 2 in 3 people with OCD saw

Guilt might be one of the most prominent emotions expressed by people with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). While we often hear about guilt being

I knew ERP worked, after all, it helped me so much in the past. I knew I just needed to put the difficult work in and keep forging ahead.

I always thought that if I didn’t feel like I wanted to do something, leave the house, or do something that I had maybe previously enjoyed doing, it was me making that choice. Now I can clearly decipher the difference between me wanting or not wanting to do something versus the OCD telling me I shouldn’t do something. I don’t need to let OCD run my life...

Seemingly overnight, these thoughts became more and more intense. I was consumed with guilt over them. It snowballed into experiencing unwanted thoughts about harming my family; the people that I loved the most in the world. I knew I had to tell my wife. I needed to seek help.

My family was surprised when they learned of my OCD diagnosis, I didn’t have the stereotypical signs of OCD. I didn’t wash my hands for countless hours, I wasn’t someone who was super organized. To look at me, you would not suspect all of the turmoil that went on in my mind. This is one of the most frustrating parts of this disorder, people do not often understand the mental compulsions. Many people just see the physical compulsions and don’t really understand the “why” behind the compulsions. I didn’t even know that there was such a thing as mental compulsions.

The uncertainty I’d spent my whole life running from now feels exciting and liberating. I don’t need to know “for sure” before I move my feet. I GET TO MAKE MISTAKES. And that’s horrible and amazing all at the same time.

Something that has helped me along the way is no matter the content of the intrusive thought/feeling, I will ask myself “and then what”....you see, the story must go on. Play it out. Play out the worst case scenario. And then what happens… it always comes back to I just don’t like how it feels, and we know that life will go on.

I don’t remember a life before my OCD showed up, as some of my earliest memories involve (what I now know are) obsessions and compulsions. I remember being early school-age and feeling different from everyone else around me.

My life was going great. I was an award-winning college quarterback with a bright future ahead of me. But then OCD came out of nowhere and derailed everything.