The OCD Stereotype

Hi there. I also have been diagnosed OCD and anxiety and I know exactly what you mean.

My therapist explained it to me this way. Everyone has a little bit of every mental illness and behaviors of every illness. It's just the people who are at the extremes that get diagnosed.

So sometimes when people say "I'm so OCD", they may not be diagnosed, but they may really be slightly obsessive about one particular behavior - like hand washing. So you see, while they are not using the correct terminology, they are not entirely lying. They just don't have it to the extreme way you and I do.

Of course, it is sometimes used just as an exaggeration. But that happens with everything, so I don't take it personally.

Even at work recently, I was working on a very tedious and complicated design set up. Someone, who doesn't know about my mental health, said to me, "Wow, imagine doing this if you had OCD!" I just smiled and shrugged it off. People don't fully understand OCD or it's different manifestations. The project didn't bother my OCD at all (and probably wouldn't bother most people with it either). He just doesn't understand what he's talking about, and that's okay. He didn't mean it offensively.

It's just something anyone with any medical issues has to deal with. I also have a heart problem that people don't understand either. Just know when people say things like that, they don't mean it personally.

Yeah, I hear you. I do not have a diagnosis of OCD, I have the more common GAD...but when I think of times in my life that my daily activities were severely limited by "OCD" type behaviors, like when I used to examine my teeth in a mirror for hours per day and floss/brush excessively and leave dinner parties or classes (in college) to see if my teeth were loose...yeah that is more what individuals with OCD are dealing with sometimes...not "it drives me crazy the photo on the wall is crooked, omg I am soooo OCD y'all"

So I get it.

Got it, thx

I get what you mean, I used to feel similarly when someone would complain about having the "worst migraine" while going about their work and chatting and eating - knowing that I had another migraine looming which means 2-3 days in a dark room in silence, sometimes even renting a hotel room because I couldn't get it quiet enough in my flat.

But I'll never change that, and whiule it does in a way minimise the severity of someone who actually HAS the disorder, it also conversely helps in ripping down the stigma about it as a mental disorder. The more people say they have it over the petty stuff, the more it just becomes a part of every day life and people - while they may not understand it entierly - tend to be far more accepting of it. It's not idea, but I guess it serves a purpose?

I don't think you'll ever stop people being hyperbolic about stuff.

holly55555 wrote: »

Hi there. I also have been diagnosed OCD and anxiety and I know exactly what you mean.

My therapist explained it to me this way. Everyone has a little bit of every mental illness and behaviors of every illness. It's just the people who are at the extremes that get diagnosed.

So sometimes when people say "I'm so OCD", they may not be diagnosed, but they may really be slightly obsessive about one particular behavior - like hand washing. So you see, while they are not using the correct terminology, they are not entirely lying. They just don't have it to the extreme way you and I do.

Of course, it is sometimes used just as an exaggeration. But that happens with everything, so I don't take it personally.

Even at work recently, I was working on a very tedious and complicated design set up. Someone, who doesn't know about my mental health, said to me, "Wow, imagine doing this if you had OCD!" I just smiled and shrugged it off. People don't fully understand OCD or it's different manifestations. The project didn't bother my OCD at all (and probably wouldn't bother most people with it either). He just doesn't understand what he's talking about, and that's okay. He didn't mean it offensively.

It's just something anyone with any medical issues has to deal with. I also have a heart problem that people don't understand either. Just know when people say things like that, they don't mean it personally.

You're awesome.

Id say its more of an issue that it upsets you so much you need to raise it in a public forum. Ive got mild OCD involving counting and lining things up. I couldnt give a *kitten* if someone who is orderly says they have it. Likewise I couldnt give a damn if someone having a sad day says they are depressed. Just because I am on antidepressants doesnt make their day any less relevant. I dont mean to be an a** simply mean worry less about other peoples perceptions of themselves and concentrate on you. Its not worth the stress