I was just wondering is anyone here in a long term relationship with someone who suffers with OCD?
If so, I just want to know how you cope.
My partner was apparently diagnosed with OCD when he was 8/9 years old he is soon to be 25. He has recently completed 10 sessions paid of therapy, he was given some coping mechanisms and they were working, but now he is back to square one.
I am finding him extremely difficult to live with, I love him dearly and I don’t want to end things with him.
I am going to list a few of his habits below
• Constantly cleaning/looking for something to clean
• Obsessive showering.
He will shower first thing in the morning.
If leaves the house, he’ll come back and have another shower (basically, if he goes out three times during the day, that’s three showers)
Another shower just before he gets into bed, if he wakes up in the middle of the night he will shower again, then he’ll shower again the in morning.
Every time he uses the toilet (even for number ones) he cleans the toilet and pours bleach down it.
Bedsheets have to be changed every single day.
Me and our two children can’t eat or drink anything, anywhere within the house except for the kitchen and it must be at the table.
Above is just a few things, I could literally go on all night. I have spoke to a few close friends about this; but none of them understand, I’m always met with “you’re lucky to have a man without any dirty habits”
His obsessive behaviour is really bringing me down, I don’t think he is ever going to understand that his behaviour is NOT normal.
Just to avoid conflict with him, I leave the house at 8am each morning to take my eldest son to school, and I don’t return until I’ve collected him in the evening. I don’t want to live like this anymore, and at times he can be very disrespectful towards me, and put me down.
I’m not expecting a lot of replies, but I feel a tad bit better speaking out about it.