This Is The Depressing Truth About Living With OCD

50 quotes

Officially, it is no more possible to be a little bit OCD than it is to be a little bit pregnant or a little bit dead.

“It’s thoughts like that that trigger the need to fix or clean. It is not because something not being the way you prefer it, bugs you. It is because something terrible will happen if you do not fix it, and the thought does not go away until you make sure what ever it is is the way it has to be. Then…”

— Hayden Carroll, thoughtcatalog.com

Tagged: ocd, Fear, Death

“Some people develop rituals that involve repeatedly tapping their fingers, repeating tasks in threes, and checking and rechecking on things.”

— Karen Pallarito, health.com

Tagged: ocd, Checking, Repeating

“I wish people understood that saying someone is OCD to describe someone who likes a clean house is insulting and hurtful. We aren’t just freaks who organize their sock drawers all day. We are real people living real lives who have a constant loop of unwanted thoughts in our heads. A loop we can only…”

— Esra Aygun, huffingtonpost.com

Tagged: ocd, cleaning, Organization

“OCD is not a disease that bothers; it is a disease that tortures.”

— J.J. Keeler, amazon.com

Tagged: ocd, disease, Torture

“It’s possible that a distrust of oneself ― which could play out as a fear that deep down, you are dangerous and potentially harmful to others ― and the extreme fear of guilt may work hand-in-hand to create the conditions for OCD to take root.”

— Carolyn Gregoire, huffingtonpost.com

Tagged: ocd, Distrust, danger, Fear

“To live with OCD is to be constantly living in conflict, with yourself and the rest of the world. Your mind wants things one way and the world wants them another. Striking the balance is a daily struggle.”

— Caitlin Jill Anders, elitedaily.com

Tagged: ocd, Conflict, struggles

“OCD feels like your brain is under attack at all times. Thoughts are so intense and aggressive that it almost feels like they’re taking over, and you can’t focus and live your life like any normal person would want to do.”

— Lance Weiss, elitedaily.com

Tagged: ocd, Thoughts, Brains

“The severity of my OCD ebbs and flows depending on the circumstances surrounding me.”

— Cat Aleman, thoughtcatalog.com

Tagged: ocd, Circumstances, environment

“If you have a bad feeling about something, and something bad actually ends up happening that day, you’ll chalk it up to a coincidence and move on. Not me. I’ll think that, somehow, I knew it was going to happen. That I was right. It gives my OCD credit that it doesn’t deserve. It makes the disorder…”

— Holly Riordan, thoughtcatalog.com

Tagged: ocd, coincidence, Gut Feelings

“The difference is those living with OCD are not able to pass off these thoughts quickly as an ‘odd thought’ but often get ‘stuck’ on them even with every attempt to ignore or suppress them.”

— Blare June, thoughtcatalog.com

Tagged: ocd, Thoughts, Obsession

“Obsessive thoughts are often a response to confusing discomfort for danger. This is the premise of all anxiety, but particularly with OCD.”

— Brianna Wiest, thoughtcatalog.com

Tagged: ocd, Discomfort, danger

“You see, being Obsessive Compulsive is like going through hell.”

— Miggie Sarmiento, thoughtcatalog.com

Tagged: ocd, Hell, Torture

“When you are trying to stay in control of your wandering mind, you seek out work or other activities that take up every ounce of thought you have. You want to be fully immersed in an activity because that ensures that your mind won’t wander and obsess over your most irrational fears.”

— Maya Kachroo-Levine, thoughtcatalog.com

Tagged: ocd, Control, Busy

“Sometimes it’s easy. You’re getting through the day: no ruminating, no rituals, you’re in the moment, no worries or doubts and you are, genuinely, on top of the world. Sometimes it’s not so easy. Sometimes you get sucked in.”

— Colin Carson, thoughtcatalog.com

Tagged: ocd, Rituals, worries, Doubts

“The intrusive thought. The needling lack of logic. The obsession. The anxiety. They do not yield, but you can get better at ignoring it.”

— Hayden Carroll, thoughtcatalog.com

Tagged: ocd, Ignoring, Anxiety

“Checking isn’t reassuring. Worrying is disturbing. Living in constant doubt causes anxiety and distress.”

— June Silny, lifehack.org

Tagged: ocd, Checking, Anxiety

“People with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder have intrusive thoughts (or images) that bother them. These can be thoughts about making mistakes, harming someone, contamination, disease, religious preoccupation, fears of impulses or desires, or just about anything that you might consider dangerous, disgu…”

— Robert L. Leahy Ph.D., psychologytoday.com

Tagged: ocd, Mistakes, Death, danger, dirty

“His brain was constantly on rewind and reviewing his thoughts and actions. Did I say this? Did she say that? What if I said this? What if this happened?”

— Annabella Hagen, psychcentral.com

Tagged: ocd, Thoughts, actions

“Some obsessions relate to perfectionism—everything must be even or exact, for example, so they may repeat body moments in symmetry. Some people have superstitious ideas. Some are bothered by unwanted sexual thoughts or religious concerns.”

— Karen Pallarito, health.com

Tagged: ocd, sexual, Religious

“It can be stress or anxiety related. It can even be triggered by boredom.”

— Audra Attaway, huffingtonpost.com

Tagged: ocd, Anxiety, Bored