'OCD doesn't interfere with my daily life'. Really?!

[ALongHardWinter]

I heard someone on the radio last night say this. And it annoyed me. I have suffered OCD in the past,and believe me,it DOES interfere with your daily life. I started suffering from it about 12 years ago,when I was going through a very stressful time,but thankfully, with therapy and medication,I got it under control. I still have lapses from time to time if I get very anxious,but I'm able to employ the techniques I was taught and manage to deal with it before it gets me in its grip again.
The discussion on the radio was about the Corona virus outbreak,and the woman who said this was saying that she had OCD,so washing her hands frequently and being a bit obsessive about hygiene was second nature to her. When the radio presenter asked if her OCD interfered with her daily life,she gave a tinkly little laugh and said 'Oh no,not at all'. I nearly threw something at the radio in a temper. I thought that if she could say that then she wasn't really suffering from it. Unless of course,she was just trying to make light of her problem.
But AIBU in being annoyed? If OCD has you seriously in its grip,it can seriously affect your life,and that of those around you.

Honestly that doesn’t sound like OCD. It sounds like somebody who’s quite focused on cleanliness, who is too ignorant to realise that’s not what OCD is.

I’ve had OCD, and there is no way anybody with OCD could honestly say it doesn’t affect their life.

That's what I thought 8by8. I know there are varying degrees of it,I had it quite badly,but not as badly as a lot of people,who's stories I have read. At its worst,it can be absolutely debilitating.

I really hate this kind of flippant comment as well.

Another comment I hear quite frequently is 'I'm a bit OCD'. Invariably made because they like the tins in their cupboard all facing the same way,or because they always wash try their hands after using public transport. No,those are not typical OCD traits.Regarding liking order in your cupboard,you just like being neat and tidy,and employing basic common sense regarding handwashing after travelling on public transport!

It doesn't bother me tbh. They will never understand the stress of it and how it messes with you through the different stages of your life. I've had it since a child so around 38 years - some days are better than others however.

It's not really OCD if it doesnt effect your daily life.

Agree with DrManhattan. That's the whole point of the diagnosis and it being a disorder. I suffer with OCD. I have it mostly under control right now. It still affects my daily life.

It’s not OCD if it’s not interfering with normal functioning. So much misunderstanding about OCD, but then again misunderstanding is par for the course when it comes to mental health needs.

YANBU

OCD is an awful disease that significantly impacts the lives of those who live with it. If it doesn’t impact your life AT ALL then you don’t have OCD.

I have a phobia that I say I’m mostly recovered from now because it only affects me in certain situations but when my phobia was at its worst it dominated everything. I missed college, massively restricted my diet, missed out on social events, made myself ill with anxiety. It’s a phobia of something lots of people don’t like so I do understand the irritation with people saying “oh yes I have that” when it doesn’t affect their life in the slightest. No I never comment because you don’t know what goes on in someone’s head or behind closed doors so maybe it affects them more than I see.

Sometimes it doesn't affect your daily life though. I have OCD and can go months without it affecting my day to day life. Sometimes it affects everything and is seriously debilitating but other times it's entirely dormant. Someone's good days don't diminish your bad days.

Another possibility is that it does affect her daily life (and quite possibly that of those around her) and she is in denial.

I agree Gamer. Through exams/finals and birth of children - it was horrendous. However I have to manage my daily life to stop its affect - strategies that have helped over the years.

Sometimes too when you've lived with obsessions and complusions for a long time they become your normal. Her normal life could well have been so adapted around obsessive cleanliness that actually it all fits in fine. Doesn't mean she's well just that she's in denial about how much it's effecting her.

I don't have it, but I've seen the toll it took on my school friend. She could hardly bare to touch money because it was dirty and would keep it wrapped in a certain way in tissue paper, and better still make me or someone else handle money to pay. Her hands were raw with dermatitis from constant hand washing. Going to toilets in public places took forever as the whole toilet seat was draped with loo roll then she had to wait for covering noise like the hand dryer as she toileted. She had eating disorders. Rituals for locking doors and rechecking. There was probably more, but the point is that these Disordered, Complusive, Obsessions are very invasive into normal life and very distressing if a ritual has not been followed correctly, plus the conflict of being aware that it is irrational. I'm sure her family would have loved it if it was just rigorous tidying and cleaning!

I know two people with OCD, it does impact on their life, but they seem to have resigned themselves to the limits it brings.
One of them is in denial about how it effects her as a Mother and how it's impacted on her children's wellbeing. Having it caused her to stifle her child's development, in terms of allowing him to feed himself and he hasn't caught up at 2.5. There are other parts of development and experiences that he has also missed out on.

"I have a little bit of OCD"
This comment gets me so annoyed and I don't have OCD. The majority of people have some quirk or two of rituals that they have to do but that is not OCD.

You're absolutely not being unreasonable.

The ICD diagnostic criteria for OCD include: "be a source of distress or interference with activities".

I have severe OCD and it is absolutely debilitating in every aspect of my life.

I honestly wish that the ICD would re-name OCD; just as Manic Depression was renamed Bipolar because there are so many misconceptions about the condition.

gamerwidow Sun 01-Mar-20 18:47:20
Sometimes it doesn't affect your daily life though. I have OCD and can go months without it affecting my day to day life. Sometimes it affects everything and is seriously debilitating but other times it's entirely dormant. Someone's good days don't diminish your bad days.

But during those periods gamerwidow- your OCD is in remission. Just as people with Depressive disorder and other conditions can experience periods of remission.

Elle7rose yes I would not dispute that.

My OCD (diagnosed) is linked to my anxiety (also diagnosed). If my anxiety is bad, my OCD is bad.
Mine is handwashing which seems a pretty common one.
It annoys me slightly when people say they're OCD as they like things to be neat because this is a complete exaggeration of the condition.
It's a compulsion you cannot stop. But most dont understand this.
I dont get too wound up about it though, I just reckon they're ignorant pricks lol

I just smile now I think you have absolutely no idea how hellish OCD is.

Like you, OP, I have learnt how to manage it. But I'm never free. And I have to really notice when it's getting out of hand. Because it's so second nature being that way, it takes effort to not be.

I hate it. I would love to live without it. But I can't remember not having it.

I have OCD with the same ritual for over 10 years now. It doesn't really impact my daily life, as such. It's something people have to do anyway

YANBU

I have diagnosed severe OCD

I struggle every single day. It's terrifying and debilitating and scares me so much. Some days it just mushrooms and becomes even bigger. I hate it.

Have had counselling for a year now and it hasn't touched the sides.

No, this person said it flippantly and has no clue at all about how serious and horrible this illness is.

To add I have severe anxiety and Emetephobia as well.

It's absolutely fucking shit

I had dozens of compulsions for many years (bizarrely after an unexpected close bereavement they suddenly didn't matter at all, and I slid into depression instead, another story).

No one knew, I hid it really well. A few people very close to me knew one or two. But starting about age 11, by 20 I had dozens and they affected a whole range of everyday objects.

However, I still managed to function at school and university. So I'd say they caused enormous distress (ironically, as the feeling was that if this is "just so" then "everything will be alright") but technically didn't halt my progress through life.