Dealing with intrusive thoughts can feel like being trapped in your own personal nightmare. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) has a way of isolating you

What 10 OCD therapists wish you knew about intrusive thoughts

Raising a child with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can feel overwhelming. Between learning about the condition, managing day-to-day parenting

Michaela McCloud

How to help your child with OCD at home: A parent’s guide

If you live with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), you might’ve had moments where it felt like you were fighting an invisible battle, completely on

How to cope with feelings of isolation caused by OCD

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

How do I move forward from the guilt of not doing compulsions?

As an obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) specialist, I have worked with many individuals who wonder why some of their unwanted thoughts are easier to let

Why can I easily dismiss some thoughts, but not others?

For many people, the most difficult part of obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) might be the way it attacks what we hold most dear. When OCD latches onto

I was terrified to ask for help with my OCD—here’s what happened when I did

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) and anxiety are closely related. Obsessions often provoke anxiety, and compulsions—while done in an attempt to find

April Kilduff, MA, LCPC

OCD and anxiety: How are they related?

Being a parent is one of the most challenging yet rewarding roles you can take on in life. You want the best for your child, so you go above and beyond to

How to take care of yourself while supporting a child with OCD

Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) can impact your sleep, nutrition, and exercise, so it’s important to pay special attention to your lifestyle habits.

Self-care for OCD: 7 effective strategies to try today  

Exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy is a highly effective, evidence-based form of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) designed specifically to

How to maintain your progress from ERP therapy

Delaying compulsions means increasing the amount of time between when an intrusive thought or obsession shows up and when you respond with a compulsion.

Delaying OCD compulsions: how to do it and why it helps 

Ketamine has gained attention as a potential treatment for obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), particularly for those with severe or treatment-resistant

Ketamine for OCD: What you need to know

If you’re living with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), it’s likely you want to explore all of your treatment options. While research shows that

Samantha Sullivan, MSW, LICSW

What to know about OCD and EMDR therapy

Contamination OCD is a type of obsessive-compulsive disorder marked by intense fears of germs, dirt, or illness, leading to compulsions like excessive

Contamination OCD Test: Do I have Contamination OCD? 

Expecting a child is a huge life change—and with it can come a wave of new emotions, responsibilities, and expectations. When OCD is also part of the

Managing OCD when expecting a child: 7 tips for you and your partner

If you have OCD—or you’ve done enough research on the subject—you may be able to pick up when others are displaying signs of the condition. Maybe you’ve

What to do when you spot OCD symptoms in others

Originally developed for the treatment of type-2 diabetes, GLP-1 agonists like Ozempic (semaglutide) have gained widespread attention for their ability to

Can Ozempic Affect OCD Symptoms? 

With recent news coverage of plane crashes, it’s reasonable to have some concerns about safety before booking a flight. While flying remains one of the

Fear of flying (Aerophobia): Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment

Managing OCD at work can feel like an uphill battle. Whether you’re starting a new job or have been at the same place for years, balancing your work

Five ways to manage OCD at work

Living with OCD means your brain can get stuck in tricky mental loops—what psychologists often call thinking traps. These are patterns of thought that

5 OCD thinking traps that might keep you stuck—and how to break free

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