Has anyone been diagnosed with OCD?

[WynGoostry]

Was it your GP or did you have to be referred somewhere?
I can't cope anymore but am scared of talking about it and being fobbed off.

My GP diagnosed me. I went to my appointment with a list of things I was struggling with, asked if I could just blurt it all out, I did, I cried, we chatted and here I am 3 years down the line. It was intimidating but it was the first steps to getting help and making my symptoms more manageable rather than life - impacting x

You were really brave.

I've been before and mentioned OCD and It was mentioned in my ADHD/Autism assessments. I also had a talking therapy assessment and the nurse said she thought I had OCD and tried to do some kind of checklist test but my phone kept disconnecting so we gave up and never heard back.

I've never made an appointment especially for that though.

@WynGoostry if anyone fobs you off for what is a really debilitating and consuming problem then ask to speak to another person at your surgery, but there is increasing awareness and I’m sure you will be taken seriously. The GP can refer you to the local talking therapies provision and the best treatment is CBT along with ERP (exposure response prevention) but don’t worry about that now, just try and talk to someone. It’s an incredibly common problem so there is help. CBT probably has the best evidence base.

The waiting time for the NHS can be long so if you go private do make sure a CBT Therapist is accredited by the BABCP (CBT register on the BABCP website and Psychology Today, but make sure they’re accredited). EMDR is also an approach that can be helpful and increasingly BABCP therapists are training in EMDR. Don’t be afraid to grill them about their experience. You will get another chance to do that checklist test again which may have been the one the GP uses as a measure of mood and anxiety or it may have been a specific OCD measure which gives the therapist a measure of how severe your OCD is against a clinical threshold and also where principle difficulties lie (intrusive thoughts/images/doubts and behaviours).

You could have a look at the OCD UK website. I think you too are brave @WynGoostry and I wish you the absolute best getting the support you so deserve.

Thankyou.

I've done a lot of reading up and I also seem to have POCD and I'm really reluctant to mention that, for obvious reasons. I feel like if I was seeing an OCD specialist I would feel more comfortable but the GP might just think I am a weirdo :(

@WynGoostry what you describe is a very very common intrusive thought.

I know but it is still very hard to talk about. Its probably what causes me most distress on the daily. General intrusive sexual thoughts which are ironic as I have zero sex drive or interest at all.

But I don't knowbif i can talk about that or want it on my medical records