one thing that really bugs me is the stereotype that all people with ocd are organized and have perfectly clean houses
like while that may be true in some cases, it can be quite the opposite for other people.
like for example, hoarding is connected with ocd. but a lot of people brush off hoarders as being lazy or gross because they dont fit that clean freak stereotype everyone associates with ocd
and when my ocd was really severe, i would avoid cleaning as much as possible because i didn’t want to deal with being triggered. cleaning meant touching contaminated things, touching contaminated things meant intrusive thoughts, and so on. honestly even today when my ocd is less focused on contamination, i still dread changing the litter box or taking out the garbage for those exact reasons
and then there’s people with ocd who don’t have any worries about contamination whatsoever. im willing to bet a lot of these people go undiagnosed or aren’t always taken seriously
basically the whole stereotype that ocd = neat freak is extremely harmful. yes, some of us fit that stereotype, but it does not define ocd, and that idea is actively hurting people
Paralyzing perfectionism is also a big problem for some people. That can help you get totally overwhelmed and be unable to do much to improve the situation, or (as also mentioned there) do things like spend hours scrubbing at the shower tile grout with a toothbrush while other more important things don’t get done.
ETA: I have a couple of relatives who do manage the more stereotypical extremely clean house thing. And I had no clue until a few years ago that perfectionism severely getting in the way of that can be just as much of an OCD problem. There’s just so much moralism around this stuff.
ocd
I don’t know if it’s intentional or not
but Garnet’s future vision (especially in the eponymous episode Future Vision) manages to be a more accurate metaphor for what living with OCD and intrusive thoughts are actually like than any depiction of OCD I’ve seem on television
especially the contrast between Steven and Garnet. Steven’s clearly suffering from it and has severe anxiety from all the things that he’s seeing (or rather, hearing from Garnet).
Garnet on the other hand has managed to cope with it to the point where it doesn’t effect her, but makes it clear in the episode’s climax that she still has to deal with constant, unending, reminders of all the ways her friends can get hurt.
The /very/ powerful line “I see so many things that can hurt you, I should have never let one of them be me.” is what really sells it for me.
And it makes me happy to think that the kids in the audience dealing with OCD can find something they can relate to.
There should be more about about the less well-known symptoms of Obsessive-compulsive disorder, things such as
- hyper-morality (extreme black and white moral reasoning)
- hyper-responsibility (feeling responsible for everything to a self-destructive degree, even feeling responsible for events which have nothing to do with you)
- intolerance of uncertainty, (feeling very uncomfortable if you do not know everything about a given situation).
- Excessive and persistent desire for reassurance
- Extreme bouts of anger
Everyone who has OCD has it in a different form, so they might not show all of these symptoms but for others it can be a defining part of their illness.
If you get annoyed by the teacher leaving one little mark on the board, it doesn’t mean you have OCD.
If you have to fix someone’s slightly messed up hair because it annoys you, it doesn’t mean you have OCD.
OCD is lying awake at night wondering if you locked the front door, when in the back of your head, you know you did cause you checked 27 times but why not make it 28.
OCD sucks and it’s a serious condition that shouldn’t be thrown around like it is.
Mara Wilson’s Important Message For Teens Living With Mental Illness
Looking back on her experience with, Mara Wilson wishes someone had told her that being depressed and having anxiety was OK. Since no one did that for her growing up, she’s taking the opportunity to tell young people now. The former child actress and current writer teamed up with, a nonprofit organization devoted to helping teens with mental illness.
i hate hate hate hate telling people i have OCD!!!!!
i either get “oh i’m OCD too i always have to keep things organized :///”
or
“omg do you wash your hands a lot??”or stuff along the lines of that or even people telling me that i don’t really have it because i don’t do certain stereotypical “things” people who have OCD do.
like OCD is so so so much more than being organized. if you like being organized and stuff along the lines of that, it’s called being a PERFECTIONIST.
OCD is having obsessions and compulsions. OCD is hell.
OCD is NOT fun, do not tell people you would “love to have OCD” because it would help you become more organized.also HATE the whole using OCD as an adjective thing. you can’t say “i’m so obsessive compulsive disorder” ??? that’s like saying “i’m so anxiety”, “i’m so fibromyalgia”, it doesn’t work because THEY ARE DISORDERS!!!!!! NOT!!! ADJECTIVES!!!!!
