Living with OCD
We're creating resources to help people learn about OCD in the many ways it impacts their own lives—not just what it looks like on paper. You can search our resources to determine when your intrusive thoughts may be related to OCD.
As a therapist, when I first meet someone new for treatment, I start by saying that discomfort and anxiety are just feelings — not unlike any other
By Stacy Quick, LPC
Reviewed by Patrick McGrath, PhD
As both a mother and a therapist who treats obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), I have been thinking a lot about all the ways in which my OCD has
By Stacy Quick, LPC
Reviewed by Patrick McGrath, PhD
As we approach the summer, many people with OCD may be planning to travel. Vacation can be a time of great anticipation and joy for many people, a time to
By Stacy Quick, LPC
Rising rates of anxiety, depression, and other mental health conditions indicate a pressing need for improved access and quality of behavioral health
By Grant Stoddard
Social media has exploded in recent years. It's become a space where opinions are shared, trends are born, and relationships are developed. We’re
By Stacy Quick, LPC
Anxiety is worry, nervousness or unease about something that’s on your mind. Everyone worries or feels anxiety at some point in their lives — students on
By Davida Vaughn, M.S., Ed.S., LPC
Reviewed by Patrick McGrath, PhD
You hear an awful lot about “intrusive thoughts” as one of the key components of obsessive-compulsive disorder (it’s the “obsessive” part). But did you
By April Kilduff, MA, LCPC
Reviewed by Patrick McGrath, PhD
If someone asked you what your values are, how would you answer? Whether it’s compassion, honesty, loyalty, or kindness, our values are a fundamental
By Stacy Quick, LPC
A quickening pulse, rapid breathing, spiraling thoughts—a panic attack can be intense, both mentally and physically. The sudden feelings of fear and
By Stacy Quick, LPC
Shorter days, colder weather, and cloudy skies can all lead to a drop in a person’s mood or energy level and for people with OCD, they may also lead to an
By Stacy Quick, LPC
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.
By Lisa
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...
By Tori
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.
By Tom
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.
By JV
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.
By Tia Wilson
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.
By Stacy Quick, LPC
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.
By Mollie Albanese
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.
By Stephen Smith, NOCD CEO