OCD.

OCD is a debilitating disorder that controls thousands of individual’s lives each day.  For those of you who do not know, OCD stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  The disorder causes individuals to have obsessive compulsions, also known as “rituals” that take over their lives as these rituals may take hours to perform.

Some people with OCD fear that they will injure themselves or other people.

Others feel they will become contaminated.

Others fear something bad will happen if they do not perform their rituals.

The list goes on and on and on.

I struggled with OCD for about 5 years and my rituals took over my entire life.  I searched for information, but I couldn’t find much that eased my mind, which is why I am writing this.  People with OCD need to realize they can become ritual free eventually.  And OCDers need to know there is information out there.  I am not about to toss tons of facts and lingo at you, but I would like to tell you a few things to ease your mind.  Mainly, I want you to know, you can get better, and no matter what anyone tells you, OCD is NOT A VIRUS and it CAN BE cured.  I know this because it has been many years since I have had an obsessive thought or compulsion that took up more then 1 minute of my day.  Though I occasionally still have minor thoughts or compulsions, I deem myself as “cured” because compared to what my OCD was a long time ago it is minute and livable now.

If you have OCD, know this, you can, and WILL get over it as long as you

1. Focus
2. Go to therapy
3. And realize you will be okay without performing your rituals

The worst that will happen if you do not perform your ritual is an anxiety attack!

Nothing else will happen,

The world will not end,

No one will die,

And life will go on!

So good, we know that the only thing that will happen is an anxiety attack, and compared to the things us OCDers fear will happen an anxiety attack is nothing.

But anxiety attacks still…

Excuse my word choice…

FUCKING SUCK!

But, here is something I bet you didn’t know,

Anxiety attacks normally only last for 10 minutes!

So, if you can get though 10 minutes, you will be okay.

Many individuals with OCD fear that if they do not perform a ritual then someone, (normally a loved one) will be influenced badly.  They may fear a loved one will die if they do not touch an object a certain number of times, or they fear that if they do not wash there hands over and over again their newborn child will be at risk of infection, this list, like I said goes on and on.  But the main fact that OCDers must know is that their loved one will be fine.

Remember, the worst that will happen is an anxiety attack.

And like I said, after 10 minutes your anxiety levels will plummet from a scale of 10 to a 5, and continue to drop from there.

Of course, by reading this you will not overcome your OCD, I am more of writing this to let you know us OCDers are out there, and you are not the only one.  This disorder is horrible, and that fact that you fear a loved one will be horribly impacted or your life is in danger due to your nonperformance of rituals makes them so so hard to discount.

But, you can get past your rituals.

Another aspect of OCD I would like to address is why we have OCD.  OCD is basically us attempting to control the scary things in life that are beyond our control.  Us OCDers are normally very loving individausl who simply don’t want bad things to happen, and that’s okay!

Also, you are not a bad person!  People who have OCD are good people!  I don’t care what crazy thought pops into your head, no matter it be killing someone, or whatever, you are not a bad person because the fact is

YOU ARE HAVING OCD AND ANXEITY ABOUT IT BECAUSE IT IS SOMETHING THAT YOU DO NOT WANT TO DO!

it is that simple.

A lot of people with OCD also fear that they will hurt someone because they have crazy images (obsessive thoughts) pop up into there minds about hurting another individual.  OCDers who think these things are truly fearful that that are going to injure someone, but guess what,

YOUR NOT!

A therapist once told me that people with OCD are probably the safest individuals to be around because they are the people who would never hurt anyone.

And you know why we would never hurt anyone,

BECAUSE WE ARE SO AFRAID OF IT.

You are not going to hurt somebody just because you think weird and crazy things, you would not be obsessing over something if you were not afraid of doing it, and you are defiantly not going to do it since you are so scared to.

The problem with OCDers is that we are good people, probably too good, which is why we are so afraid of doing wrong.

You will get over this.

and, when you do its going to be strange because OCD is a habit, and when you overcome your rituals you may feel a little funny because you were so used to them, but just remind yourself when that day comes, and you find yourself slightly anxious because you are lacking your rituals, that YOU ARE FREE.

Certain people

There’s just something about certain people; they are so candid.  Take a picture of them and they glow, Pose them and the fall like toy soldiers.  They are those spur of the moment kinda people.  Like free birds they fly around and they always seem to find shelter when it rains.  They never worry, they never have to run, time keeps changing, but they always stay the same.  Capture them in the moment and you can see thier soul.  I don’t know where the hell there souls come from, but I love those kinda people.  The funny thing is though, they intimidate me, and no matter how much Id love to get close to them, I become to hypnotized by there intoxicating presence that I shut my mouth and stand off.

If you understand what I am attempting to describe then I recommend the book Silent Power by Stuart Wilde.

Make it right

It is easier to let go of the past when you know you have done all you can to make things right.  If you can not make things right, as least you can say you tried.

“All I want to do is clear the air, whether or not it needs to be cleared, I will not let dust accumulate.”

Just because an issue is old news, if you can explain yourself, if you can apologize, even if it does not make a difference, even if it doesn’t matter anymore… its still better then letting old forgotten things sit up in the attic.  Just because they don’t mean anything there is still not reason to let them sit for years.  Recycle, put everything you own to good use.  Donate, salvage, reuse them.  Sometimes something beautiful will become of these things, sometimes nothing will become of them.  But at least you can say you tried.