How I Manage Living With OCD

If you or someone you know lives or struggles with OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), I hope you find the following information helpful.

About me: I am a male in my early forties; I am married to a wonderful woman and have two amazing daughters. My upbringing was wonderful - my grandparents raised me and were incredibly loving and supportive of me. My parents divorced when I was little, and I was fortunate to be raised by them. You could say I was spoiled. I am not aware of any family member of mine that suffers from OCD. I have always lived in the United States.

As far as I can remember, I have always had a low level of anxiety present in me. I noticed when I was seven years old I had a counting obsession. I remember riding in a car looking out the window while counting to myself: 1-2-3-4-1-2. I did that often. When I was a senior in high school, my anxiety intensified, and I think it intensified because getting out on my own was right around the corner, and I did not feel ready for life because I did not know what I wanted to do in life. I did great in college, but I was an anxious mess - constantly worried about getting my homework done, worried about the next test, worried, worried worried. I began developing "checking" obsessions - checking the locks at the house to make sure they were locked, checking the light switch to make sure it was off, etc.

Fast forward to approximately 2001 - I get married, start a big new job and the anxiety went through the roof. I had never taken medication for anxiety of any kind, but I realized that it was not normal to become paralyzed by anxiety and stress that everyone feels. By paralyzed I mean paralyzed - I would get so anxious that I could not eat for a couple of weeks at a time, and I would lose thirty pounds during these breakdowns. These breakdowns occurred several times in my life, and I became suicidal at one point.

So, here are things I do and have learned that help me live with OCD

Medication - My personal experience proves to me there is a biological component to OCD - it's not just that someone can't handle stress. I have been able to actually feel in my brain when mental breakdowns approached in the past. I have been on 100 mg of Sertraline for about 24 months, and it has saved my life.

Allow things to be as they are without attachment - in other words, if there is a situation I cannot change for the time being, I accept it and deal with it. I don't freak out anymore at things that may or may not happen.

DO NOT fight intrusive thoughts - allow them to be in your mind. The more you resist and try to fight them, the worse it is.

Freedom From Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by Jonathan Grayson was helpful to me, and I recommend the book.

The obsessions are not the problem to overcome - they are the symptom(s) that manifest due to fear of something. So, there is no substitute for facing your fears. Medication has allowed me to do just that.

I hope this information is helpful.