neurogenicbeauty

It's been almost 5 years since I was diagnosed with severe Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. It's been a long, difficult journey. Looking at my life now, compared to the places I have been in before, so much has changed.  There was a time when I couldn't leave my bedroom without using anti-bacterial wipes over every surface and door handle, every item I wanted to take out of my room with me, and showering. I spent hours and hours of my days carrying out rituals. Then, when I was too tired to carry out these rituals any more, I just curled up into my bed and refused to face the world. I cut myself off from my friends, and I worried my family. I remember telling my parents to put me in an institution so that I could start from scratch. I wanted to bin all of my belongings so that I had less to clean. Using the toilet was such an ordeal for me that I wouldn't drink for days, until my urine was 100% blood. My skin bled from how much I washed it. I would hold a pen and mo...

I'm a little apprehensive to blog about this topic - I'm not really shy about the fact that I have OCD, just a little wary of droning on about the same topic constantly. However people often have a lot of questions when I do tell them what I suffer with so I thought I'd try and give a little insight to anyone who's interested.  I'm not completely comfortable going into too much detail about my specific type of OCD, however I will try to provide as much general information as I can. To start with; the basics: There are multiple types of OCD. These can range from 'Pure O' to 'Contamination type'. I'll say a little about some of the more common types. Pure O Pure O gets its name from the fact that there are no physical compulsions associated with it. A compulsion is an action which a person carries out once they get an intrusive thought. These so called compulsions temporarily relieve the anxiety which said intrusive thought causes. A common exa...

I'm not an organised person. I'm not tidy. I'm definitely not neat. I don't "feel uncomfortable" when a picture is hanging at an angle. So.. I can't " be OCD " right? The truth is, even if all of those things were true, it doesn't equate to obsessive compulsive disorder. OCD has become a term that's thrown around so often these days, I thought I'd share the truth behind the disorder.  For starters, OCD is not an adjective. A person cannot "be a bit OCD" - a person can have obsessive compulsive disorder. OCD is not the same as perfectionism, or being organised and neat, and it is not restricted to a fear of contamination.  Quite simply - and pretty literally - OCD is the process of having obsessive, intrusive, upsetting thoughts which cause deep anxiety and carrying out 'compulsions' in order to relieve this anxiety and stress. Whilst a lot of people who have OCD hand wash excessively this is not the ...