Living with OCD

Understanding obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) can feel complicated, especially when there’s so much misinformation about the condition. You might find

Aly Raisman was team captain of the gold medal winning U.S. Women’s Gymnastics teams in 2012 and 2016, with three gold medals to her name. A leader on and

We're incredibly proud of the therapists in the NOCD network. While all of them are trained in delivering evidence-based treatment for

While it’s difficult to predict when or how OCD will worsen, stress, comorbidities and life circumstances can all play a significant role.

It’s normal to want a little reassurance in a relationship every once in a while. You want to feel secure and make sure your partner feels the same way.

“I often think about killing people. I don't enjoy these thoughts, and I’d never want to cause harm—much less death—to anyone. Despite that, homicidal

Ellen DeGeneres, best known for hosting "The Ellen DeGeneres Show" for 19 years, is updating fans on her physical and mental health in “Ellen DeGeneres:

As a therapist specializing in obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), I've worked with many children and their parents over the years. Whether families came

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and obsessive-compulsive personality disorder (OCPD) sound like they might be the same condition. But despite the

When you’re dealing with a misunderstood and stigmatized condition like obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), having relevant, factual information can be

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.