May is Mental Health Awareness Month Part 3

   Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is characterized by recurrent and disturbing or intrusive thoughts, called obsessions that cause severe distress and anxiety. Individuals try to neutralize these obsessions with repetitive behaviors or rituals called compulsions. Most people with OCD are aware that their thoughts and behaviors are senseless but give them due to the intensity of the discomfort they cause. About 5 millions Americans may suffer from OCD at some point during their lifetime.

   There are many different types of OCD, some people have it so severe that it could take them 2 hours just leave the house after doing all their rituals or brush their teeth obsessively that their gums will bleed. And each person do these things for their own reasons. Example of one I learned about, a women had a fear if she didn’t turn every light switch in her house on and off 3 times her mother would die.

   For me, I don’t have it near as severe as some. I use to have it a lot worse, but I have learned to handle it and some people may never know I have it. I use to do things like step on every other crack on the sidewalk, if I messed up I’d walk back 4 spots and start again. I use to count all different things. Every time I used a plastic cup, I’d take the first one off, grab the second cup and put the first one back on the stack. I use to wash my hands till they were do dry they’d get raw and bleed.

   Since getting help, I haven’t done those rituals. Things can really change if you take a step forward to get help. I still clean a lot, I hate when new people come over and the house isn’t perfect. When at a restaurant, I have to tie the straw wrappers. When I do the dishes I still line up the cups all facing the same way and have to wash the silverware in a certain order. I still wash my hands a lot, but only a little more than a normal person. I have to fold the clothes a certain way, so Sean isn’t allowed to fold our clothes. I like things overly organized in drawers and on shelves. And I get really frustrated when others don’t do it the same way as me. But I can handle life a lot easier without being stuck doing something I knew was ridiculous because it had no meaning and annoying to others and myself to deal with. You can change the way you do things. Takes time, but your life can change for the better!