How John Green Overcame The OCD That Hijacked His Life

[@monochromeboy]

I had no clue John Green had OCD. I'm struggling with it a lot right now, and one thing about it is it feels very lonely. This helped me feel a little less lonely.

[@nattywatty5711]

I agree it can be really lonely, a lot of people don’t understand the nuances of it. I’ve been going through a really severe episode and I’m doing CBT, but what’s helped me a lot is the KZbin channel OCD Recovery. They’re so brilliant I understand the OCD so much better now because of them

[@Alex-jv4hi]

His book Turtles All The Way Down has a protag with OCD, would really recommend!

[@ocdandanxiety]

Soooo cool to see John Green here. Thanks for spreading awareness! 💜

[@Loveis515]

You’re one of my favorite

[@treatmyocd]

❤

[@rana2804]

“Just having to live with those thoughts they’re so freaking loud and I just felt powerless before them” made my cry twice. Thanks a lot John for sharing I am happy to see someone who also struggles with OCD but his positive impact on the world outweighs hundreds of people who don’t deal with any mental illness. Your mental illness doesn’t define who you are it is just a challenge that heroes need to deal with it.

[@justmadeit2]

When ocd is bad it’s hell of earth, will take you to the edge of sanity, anxiety some like me have chronic insomnia because of it and depression

[@meomeo3510]

I was just diagnosed with OCD yesterday and am beginning my treatment journey. It’s nice to hear that I’m not alone. I’ve been a long time vlogbrothers fan, so it’s nice to hear more about John’s experience. Thank you for sharing!

[@treatmyocd]

You've got this... and you're definitely not alone. ❤

[@MetalForLife1970]

Someone is about to break up with me or someone secretly hates me has plagued my entire life and has manifested breakups before in my life....probably from my awkward emotions or actions rooted in those thoughts because it has literally happened right after having those thoughts!

[@jdb8171]

This conversation is frickin' helpful. Really really really appreciate this. I've had this all my life (60+ years) and it was in a 3rd round of therapy that this diagnosis was suggested. I'm really glad it was. Therapy has taken a more productive direction and I am much better at handling the "noise".

[@treatmyocd]

That's amazing to hear! OCD can be challenging to manage, but you're stronger than your OCD. Keep up all the hard work!

[@yesicagmerinomora6601]

I read Turtles all the Way Down during High School. I had just gotten out of the thick of it with my OCD, but still felt very scared. I thought every interaction put me in danger of developing a new theme and I didn’t have a support system that understood my OCD. Despite my OCD themes not being portrayed in TATWD, this book let me accept parts of myself I didn’t know how to love. I feel very grateful to John for his advocacy and for nerdfighteria. Clicking on this video felt like visiting an old friend and that is nice.

[@treatmyocd]

Love this! Thank you for sharing❤

[@Hannah-iq9ni]

OCD feels like there’s a nagging parasite inside of your psyche constantly showing you the most horrific things imaginable. I have health and somatic OCD and never feel safe in my own skin anymore. I believe that I’m always seconds away from dying. I can’t sleep without having night terrors, I can’t ever relax or enjoy life. My mind warps everything I used to enjoy through a really sick, deeply disturbing lens. I don’t feel like I own or control my mind anymore. It requires so much effort to have a thought that I actually want to have. It’s really comforting to hear about how “loud” and “real” these OCD thoughts feel in others as well.

[@jennymccann8646]

Hello, your comment makes me cry. I have the same type of OCD you have/described, and it is terrible! Medication helped me immensely. But I thought I was "better" and weaned off. 3 months later, and I am in a really bad place again! Started back on the meds 4 days ago. I feel like talk therapy doesn't help much for our kind of OCD. Just wanted you to know you are not alone.

[@treatmyocd]

We appreciate you taking the time to share some of your story with us. You are not alone. Exposure Response Prevention therapy teaches us to confront our obsessions and sit with the discomfort we feel around them. Then, we learn to resist the urge to do compulsions. It's customized for each person and their unique needs, but here's how ERP generally works: After asking you about your specific symptoms, a trained therapist who specializes in OCD creates your ERP therapy plan. Based on that, you'll work together to rank your fears or triggers based on how stressful they seem-this way, you can gain coping skills gradually without getting overwhelmed. Always remember, you are stronger than your OCD.

[@daisies__531]

somatic ocd is so scary. :’(

[@boyera23]

Yes I have lost so much time, so many hours to try and reassure myself.. 😔 it’s better now but I still check occasionally and if I’m having a pretty unregulated day I check much more and the thoughts are worse 23:52 the part where he says how the OCD wants something different for his life is so real… I feel the same way, like this voice wants me to do things I don’t want to do. It can be very distressing.

[@treatmyocd]

You are not alone. Always remember, you are stronger than your OCD.

[@boyera23]

@ thank you, I am stronger yes 💜

[@Undeadwishlist]

The part they said about time lost and not being the captain really struck me. I’ve spent hundred of hours in behaviors that I didn’t realize were compulsive or checking behaviors. If I found a way to manage this I’d be so grateful. I’m going to start treatment for my ocd soon

[@NR-fx8tk]

Excellent talk. I also have OCD and it can make me suffer quite a bit. Glad to hear others got help that works. I'm also in therapy and am tackling this and other personal matters 😊

[@teresaperezmendez7466]

Just told my mom wats going on with me . Tomorrow I start my first outpatient program for OCD . Pray for me . OCD steals your life. Hopefully I can get my life back . Praying to God ♥️🫶🏼

[@justmadeit2]

Weee you in hospital or a clinic because of it ?

[@Veromoi4]

This was me with intrusive and unwanted thoughts ! Medication has helped so much. Also medication wasn’t a first line of defense. It took me years to try it!

[@calebcorrea7556]

For months I started to have these nagging intrusive thoughts that I couldn't get rid of that made me question my values, my memory, my relationships, my abilities, my worth and I have normally always been a person who has a very clear sense of self. I remember having a conversation with my mom who is a psychologist and I was sharing about how I kept replaying every terrible interaction I had that week over and over and over again to the point that upon getting back from school I wouldn't even be able to function. (even though these were with people who honestly had little effect on my life, my future and who I honestly wouldn't have gave a dam what they thought of me two years earlier. My Mom who is a psychologist said something to the effect of "Your acting like you have OCD or something" Then I looked it up and I was shocked how many of the symptoms I had.

[@youtubingbabs]

Wow. Moms are so wild sometimes. Just.... Like... It's the "or something." Lol. Y know?

[@jenniferriddle3795]

I feel like I have found my people when I watch OCD videos. Cannot remember a time when I didn’t have it, it started very early.

[@wafflepotato]

Talk therapy has personally helped me a lot with my OCD

[@aka9604]

This was a great interview! Thanks so much for sharing it. I related so much to the idea that the thoughts we don't like we end up checking and wanting reassurance because we hate them so much.

[@treatmyocd]

Thank you for tuning in! We are so glad to hear that you enjoyed the interview!

[@MirandaCamacho-t8o]

I took me 14 years to finally know the name of what happens with me

[@tasundrastephens]

Thank you so much for this video. ❤

[@papierflieger9110]

Girl,I totally do the smiling, I didn't know it was OCD 😢

[@JoaoFilipe-ls5nm]

I discover that I have ocd recently. I feel trap in doubt and can't move forward in life. I suffer with that a lot. What a thief of time.

[@susmithamanasa1978]

I have had OCD since I was a kid. Back then, it was simple: I had to do a particular thing a certain number of times. Later, it escalated to me obsessing over cleanliness, especially with washrooms. The floodgates really opened when I started having nightmares and intrusive thoughts. Being a voracious reader, my mind began portraying me as a negative or harmful person, and I started believing I was that person. It scared my family so much. For a while, I felt somewhat better-particularly during my post-graduation (MPH) when I was constantly busy. But during my final semester, I developed severe anxiety. Whenever I saw people, I felt like I would simply fall, lose consciousness. The voices in my head became unbearably loud. Although I’ve gotten a little better since then, I’m still far from okay. Now, it’s worse. The thoughts have become so LOUD that I feel like I want to hurt myself or even others. I’ve been through therapies and treatments, but nothing has worked. Luckily, i have a strong support from my family and friends but still i am scared. So scared. The voices are SOO GODAMNNN LOUDD I feel like these voices will stay with me forever, and they’ll never let me win. All I want now is to sleep and never wake up. That’s my only prayer. I despise my existence.

[@pi2080]

I've been there many times. In fact, even a week ago. It feels like I've never even had one single good week in my life. Days, maybe. But listening to people's stories of recovery gives me hope. I've just never had the right therapists (Which is awful, but a whole other story). You're not the only one feeling this way!

[@susmithamanasa1978]

@pi2080 How are you dealing with it? I am going insane. Absolutely! This is NOT ME. I feel like giving up each day but i love my family.

[@pi2080]

​@@susmithamanasa1978 Honestly, I don't know. I'm currently trying to take one day after the other, sometimes even just one minute after the other. I have realized only recently that I took on the habit of shaming and punishing myself from my caregivers, and that I have never learned to treat myself with kindness. So I'm trying to do that now. I'm trying to stop shaming and guilting myself, for not being able to function like a "normal" person. I'm trying to celebrate even the smallest amount of ground I can get back from OCD, even though the voices in my head tell me it's not enough and it never will be. I'm trying to stop gaslighting myself, because it's NOT ME. I don't know if you can relate, but I sure hope you hang in there for YOURSELF, not your family!

[@susmithamanasa1978]

@@pi2080 I feel exactly the same way you do. But guilt is something, I am unable to let go. It is creeping into my soul like leprosy. I just.. just want to end this but i don't know how. Like you said I will try to enjoy the smallest things. Thank you!

[@amaricob]

@@susmithamanasa1978I’ve gotten those thoughts of wanting to never wake up because it seems easier to not live with the anxiety and doubt especially now that mine has been getting worse the past year. I try to just remember that it’s just a day of this and to get through and to not give in to my anxiety. If my OCD is telling me to do something (like call out of work because I am struggling a ton with OCD) I make it my purpose to GO TO WORK. To experience that anxiety and realize that it wasn’t as bad as my OCD made it out to be. And then, when I’m feeling better the next day, I really try to appreciate it. I’ve also realized when I was meditating a lot, I was at my happiest, because meditation really focuses on allowing thought to come without giving them so much weight. I am going to start trying the thing they were talking about in this video where you let yourself sit in the uncomfortable things (like refusing to pick my nails or touch every part of my hand) etc. Take the good days or hours as a win

[@johnrainsman6650]

At 15, I once rode my bike in a rush and _seemingly_ risked somebody's safety as they opened the door of a bakery to come out. They were totally fine and hadn't been close enough, but the "I'll risk it" plan that sprang "consciously" made me wonder if I was bad. To this day, I still question it. Feel free to ask for clarification; I have to go to work soon and didn't have time to elaborate. Meanwhile, does anyone else act _in the moment/second_ as their OCD and question if they meant to do something bad?

[@solomonrivers5639]

I wish the host would smile more (Jk. I love hearing the worries invented by other people’s OCD that my OCD never thought of. Idk how to word it, but hearing the obsessive worries of others and thinking “well that’s ridiculous and would never happen” reminds me that if I’m replacing a light switch the odds of a moth flying into the empty fuse (at the same time I’m touching a wire) and completing the circuit just long enough to blow the bottom of my foot off and leave me in a vegetative state…. -probably- won’t happen either.)

[@robertknowles3365]

Great upload both of you . The lady on here has the most beautiful hair colours

[@MultiMagnumforce]

Thanks for sharing your experience ✌

[@treatmyocd]

Thank you for tuning in!

[@nehashinde7808]

I have cheating OCD it is so draining of me emotionally and mentally like I have double dated him if just a known name pops up on my notification or any social platform these thoughts are so loud and they feel so real . Constantly breathing fear and anxiety

[@amaricob]

I have had relationship OCD for a long time and had finally opened up about it with my boyfriend of 2 over years during times that he’s asked “are you ok? It seems like ur stressing about something” and it has honestly helped me feel like “ok these intrusive thoughts aren’t actually as big of a deal as I think they are, I can let them go and stop STRESSING about them when the thoughts pop up” instead of giving them so much belief.

[@vivien3833]

Thank you!!

[@treatmyocd]

You are welcome! Thank you for tuning in!

[@Limitless-pr9lc]

I’m having one now.

[@johnrainsman6650]

If I post a quote from a NOCD site, can I hear clarification on it?

[@sova.openup]

What does "veilance" mean? Couldn't find the translation.

[@moodygirlmusic]

I believe it is spelled "valence" which basically means value. So they were saying if a comment has even the smallest bit of value or relevance to one's self it's enough to create a spiral

[@sova.openup]

@@moodygirlmusic thank you!

[@kabam699]

it's super easy to use and manage

[@kabam699]

but sometimes it is spinning

[@JamesVestal-dz5qm]

I'll spend hours and hours a day checking the internet for help with my homework. Is this OCD or is this an equal opportunity problem? If I spend hours watching videos about the ising model and get a bad grade because it wasn't what the professor was looking for, is this about the ising model or is this about what the professor wants to believe? This is why I want STEM degree requirements abolished, because this tenured STEM professor has a computer in his office that I don't have access to that teaches him the correct answer according to the people who have tenure in STEM. Dmitri has his right answers that the professor disagrees with so Dmitri also checks up with the professor constantly to make sure he's doing the thing the professor wants. Professor would say standing in line at the grocery store could be modeled as a chain of atoms.

[@youtubingbabs]

When they think your ocd is adhd and you're worse on amphetamines for 5 yrs. Mental health is the wild west. You think you have autism but it's just your annoying because you can't let things go

[@Propangolin9491]

Thick of it😂

[@kabam699]

wtvr