#ocd is not type a

[hum-tittle]

I have OCD, and I don’t think there are a lot of great media examples. So, I am going to post examples as I find them! Also, if you find any examples, please share!!

First it is important to understand what exactly OCD is. OCD is an anxiety disorder with a cycle. It starts with consistent intrusive/unwanted thoughts. (Everyone experiences intrusive thoughts but people with OCD it is much more intense and frequent. I personally have multiple a day.) Now intrusive thoughts are anxiety inducing thoughts. These thoughts are things you do not want to do/happen. People confuse intrusive thoughts with impulsive thoughts Impulsive thoughts are things you may have some desire to do and do not trigger anxiety. Both kinda “pop” in your head but are very different. Wanting to flip someone off for cutting you off is impulsive while running your car off a cliff is an intrusive thought.

Intrusive thoughts aren’t always a specific action either, it can sometimes just be a feeling or a memory. I deal with “impending doom” now and again, it is awful.

The next part is the fear and anxiety being too much from the intrusive thought and they keep thinking about it, or the obsession.

This is where we get to the visible part of the cycle, the compulsion. Compulsion can look so different and sometimes you can’t even tell. (Also everyone can have compulsions!). Someone double checking the door is locked seems totally normal to the outside, but in their mind if they don’t double check it someone will break in and kidnap their family and it will be all their fault because they didn’t double check the lock, even if they know they locked it, what if someone unlocked it, or the lock is broken, or they’re crazy and never locked it.

The compulsion does help self soothe but is usually temporary. If the obsession is still there, this can cause the compulsions to become more extreme. Getting really sick> intrusive thoughts of getting sick again> excessive hand washing (cleaning them to the point of bleeding)> relief> compulsion is no longer helping> agoraphobia (fear of leaving their home)

Here are some graphics to help understand!

Anyways I am also writing a musical about this and will share about it when it's closer to being done!

Graphic sources

https://www.ocddoodles.com/shop/p/the-ocd-cycle-digital-print-clinic-use

https://calocd.com/pure-o-ocd-2/

[aplpaca]

thinking about how I've seen OCD get talked about now, but haven't really seen many posts that actually explain what it is. And like, obviously people shouldn't get all their info about mental conditions from posts, but u can't deny that internet communities and stuff play a major role in people recognizing and putting names to their own experiences.

But like since the general public has like absolutely no idea of what OCD actually is (no thanks to popular media), and a lot of things I see talking about intrusive thoughts don't mention OCD (either bc they originated in OCD circles or bc intrusive thoughts aren't Exclusive to OCD or for some other reason), there should prob be more explanation put out on what OCD actually consists of.

Which is kinda hard in some ways, bc there are so many ways OCD can present in terms of what "themes" a person experiences, so someone talking about what their themes are might not ring a bell with someone who experiences different ones. But like, the core thing with OCD isn't the presence of certain themes, it's a specific pattern of spiraling thoughts and reactions.

Like. OCD is a mental condition/illness where people experience stressful, unwanted, repetitive thoughts. These are intrusive thoughts are what make up the "obsessions" part of the disorder. In response to these intrusive thoughts, a lot of people will perform certain actions or think certain things in an attempt to neutralize or disprove the threat they represent. These are the "compulsions" part of the condition.

For a more "traditional" example, someone experiencing intrusive thoughts that they might catch a communicable disease may obsessively wash their hands or google their symptoms to try to lessen the anxiety. While someone who is worried they might hurt someone (even though they very much do not want to hurt someone) may avoid being near sharp objects or may avoid the people they're afraid of hurting.

One of the issues with OCD is that performing the compulsions provides short term relief, but in the long term it only strengthens the stress caused by the intrusive thoughts, thus furthering the thought spiral and actively making it worse, to the point where, depending on your themes, you may be (almost) convinced that your intrusive thoughts represent the truth or the inevitable or something permanent.

Intrusive thought themes cam be literally anything, but some of the common ones are stuff like

Questioning your sexuality, gender, etc (what if I'm actually straight/gay/bi/trans/cis/etc?)

Being worried about losing control and hurting yourself or others physically, sexually, emotionally, basically any way (what if I want to kill someone? What if I'm a pedophile? What if I'm an abuser? What if I want to stab myself? Etc)

Fear of becoming or being sick

Worrying something bad will happen to you or people you care about

Worrying about your spiritual beliefs or lack thereof (what if I'm actually Christian? What if I'm actually atheist? What if i don't believe in the faith i ascribe to? Etc)

Worrying about relationship status (what if I don't actually love them? What if they're not "the one"? What if they're cheating? What if *I'm* cheating? Etc)

What if I'm a bad person?

Fear of losing things

Fear of things not feeling right (this is often be related to other themes via magical thinking. ex: if I don't have my things organized Just Right then something bad will happen)

Fear of unreality

Compulsions vary by theme a lot obviously, but some common ones include

Hand washing

Organizing things until they Feel Right

Checking and double checking and triple checking to make sure you did something correctly

Obsessively reviewing your memories to disprove a thoughtor make sure you don't believe something

Arguing against the thoughts in an attempt to disprove them

Testing your mental reactions to a thought or to certain kinds of content, to show yourself you don't actually believe or feel something

Obsessively googling symptoms, testimonies, things related to your thoughts

Obsessive prayer

Repeating phrases, mantras, affirmations, etc in an attempt to make thoughts go away

Avoiding things and situations that set off your intrusive thoughts

Repeatedly asking for reassurance from others ("I'm not being xyz, right?")

But yeah this obviously isn't exhaustive but, just, if this kind of thing sounds familiar, you should probably do some research on OCD, bc while intrusive thoughts can occur with other conditions, the intrusive thought-compulsion spiral is the core of OCD and isn't really a subaspect of depression/anxiety/ptsd/etc. and the treatment and management of OCD can look different from other stuff, so its a good thing to look into.

(Also it's important to keep in mind, esp if you're someone that doesn't have it, that someone's intrusive thoughts Are Not "secret desires" or "repressed urges" or anything the person even remotely wants to act on. Someone having harm-related intrusive thoughts is not at risk of actually acting on them, no matter how worried they are of doing so.)

Anyway this was a long post and I don't have a neat way to wrap it up and also I accidentally added a poll and now can't get rid of it so here's free poll. I'm running on nyquil and a small amount of straight gin (which works very well at numbing a sore throat) rn gnite

[saturnsocoolioyep]

In the same vein as "I've been taking my medication for long enough that I haven't experienced any symptoms in a while, I must not need to take it anymore! (Spoiler alert: the meds are why you haven't had symptoms)" I present to you a similarly clownish thought process- "I haven't experienced that trigger in a long time, maybe I was just exaggerating how bad it was and it'll be fine to engage with this! (Spoiler alert: take a fucking guess babes)"

[byrdblood]

that post ive been seeing going around put some demons in me

[passionpeachy]

I think I might’ve forgotten to take my meds yesterday because today my brain decided to wake me up with sleep paralysis of a disembodied voice accusing me of murder and going “there’s a body growing in your closet. there’s a body in your closet. it’s a torso” and if I didn’t forget to take my meds then that’s even worse. and yes I checked my closet immediately because it would’ve slowly killed me if I didn’t

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Neurodiversity: Terms to Know

Gràinne Warren Play Therapy

[c-kiddo]

caleb has ocd to meeee , and yes , some of these behaviours are created from paranoia about very real dangers, but i think despite that all, he always feels safer when he creates rituals. clothes folded the same way Or Else, odd numbers or Else, distressed that frumpkin's whiskers are uneven (some fell out) and feels antsy until he re-summons frumpkin. he pats the doorframe or else he'll be found, lay down the silver thread, talk to each of tmn before bed, clench and unclench his jaw, cover himself in dirt so then he's dirty all over and not unevenly, pick the skin off his fingers, check the lock check the lock check the lock . etc etc

[zurko48]

extremely selfish of you to be born needing help, maybe try killing yourself instead?

[tittyinfinity]

So much of the neurodivergent experience is just being like "I KNOW but I can't DO"

[lovrbooy]

self indulgent charlie and bonnie when he was a teen :(

[icewindandboringhorror]

................ he 

[sweetest-honeybee]

was cleaning my fridge when I randomly thought "a clean home is a happy home" and now I'm thinkin how infuriated Home would be if he gets dirty or to add even more fuel to the already blazing fire, how much of a clean freak Grey Au!Wally would be to keep Home happy

Ohh! A clean home is definitely a happy home! I’m seeing this more like Home being such a clean freak haha!

[emile-hides]

So recently I've really hard committed myself to figuring out the perfect Pokemon to trade to each of the special coaches in Scarlet/Violet's DLC because I am Autistic and OCD but look listen it matters to me I love these characters and want to give them a Pokemon from a New Region I think they'd like

And I have one figured out for everyone except for SALVATORE

I thought a Pika Clone of any type would be fine and I landed on Dedenne because it looks like most like Alolan Raichu who I think he should have and is French which is clearly his default language, but that's in Paldea so it's NOT NEW, and the only other Pika Clone in the Dome is Plusle and Minun who are a PAIR DO NOT SEPARATE but you can only trade him ONE POKEMON.

So now I'm stumped I've been staring at his team for a full week trying to figure out a through line to go off of and honestly I've got absolutely nothing so I'm turning to you, Internet randoms.

What's the best New Pokemon introduced in the SV DLC to give to Professor Salvatore based on his team, subject, or general personality?

[ghostfacetheballfondler]

you can't destigmatize mental illness by playing into respectability politics

[my-autism-adhd-blog]

Neurodiversity

The Autistic Teacher

[lennydavillain]

My mental disorders but they get less and less socially acceptable: a meme