Real Families: Navigating Life with Severe OCD

[@anniesilver1461]

Ive had OCD for 20 years. My heart hurts for every single one of them suffering from it. If you don't have it, you just can't understand the unbelievable urge to have to check, and check and re-check...and the horribe thoughts if you accidentally forget to do something. Ive found the medication Paxil helped me so very much! It has calmed the obsessive thoughts, calmed down my brain. Please look into this medicine if you havent yet. Bless you all! Much love from the US.

[@brookebixler1040]

Thank you for sharing! Just curious, do you see a therapist? If so, are there any specific types of therapies they’ve used?

[@oksvol4685]

I am glad paxil worked for you. It was a nightmare for me, horrible side effects, I could not even get off it without withdrawal. I wouldn’t wish paxil on anyone, the same way I wouldn’t wish ocd on anyone 😭😔 I opted to take the holistic route, it has been challenging but I have faith all is well. Healing to everyone 🙏🏼

[@waspultra8087]

I’m thankful to not be the only one ❤️ It makes me feel better watching this. It’s like a since of comfort

[@lisaklozenberg6408]

Agreed. Me too 😊

[@betterbetty3542]

William is an absolute doll! 🥰

[@JamesVestal-dz5qm]

I love the irony of Vicky being a mental health professional who cant go to work because of her compulsion to pace in circles in her bedroom.

[@Pseudochick01]

I'm so sorry for those who suffers from severe form of OCD... 😔

[@houdinous520]

Living on a boat would set my ocd overboard. No pun intended. The thought of waking up in the middle of nowhere after the rope broke, or waking up and seeing water coming in.

[@tiahawksworth7173]

omg, my heart hurts for these people it just makes you wonder how they went through the Covid pandemic, especially the second person who even secludes themselves to try and feel safe.

[@VIGUISEX3]

Treatment of ocd is a gradual process. You have to be precise and aware of each step you take. Very often people think that by appearing in crowded places (If you have contamination fear) is enough to make it go away, but, in reality, it is not going to fix your problem completely (It is called inactive exposure), and it is better than none. However, If you go to supermarket and then wash yourself up for hours, that will not help. The key is to face the fear of uncertainty by not doing anything. Trigger yourself by touching contaminated items and then rub your face (That's called Active Exposure). Allow yourselves to just feel these anxiety feelings and thoughts till they disappear on their own (Don't try to neutralize them or try to make them go away). Let them be and practice it every day for an hour or two. But because ocd is both biological and learned behavior, some people need to have medication such as clomipramine which a doctor might prescribe to you.

[@TechBro21]

I have to say these people are some of the most loveliest people you'll ever meet and it's just such a shame

[@antoniajane5442]

I guess a lot of people, who have OCD, are really suffering with the thought of Covid.

[@gingerale1861]

Actually it’s not so weird when we use gloves wipe things down etc. For some of us it helps us fit in more when in public and for me the hardest part is not being like the rest of the world where people think you’re weird

[@johndawn4612]

Funny thing is i have severe ocd, and covid felt oddly calm cus it was the first time everyone around the world kinda understood the uncertainty i feel daily

[@NiceIce923]

Yeah, when covid hit my OCD went through the roof, I fully agree with Ginger and John's comment...I feel the same. But it's as if the rest of the world doesn't take Covid seriously enough, but we do.

[@JamesVestal-dz5qm]

Nope! But, that is a popular misconception about ocd.

[@Chiller-pc1dv]

​@@JamesVestal-dz5qmI wouldn't say nope overall, because I have OCD myself and have experienced a lot of stress over Covid, as have many other people with OCD. Not all, but many.

[@Grahamt978]

Does childhood trauma play a part in OCD? It seems fear based.

[@Chiller-pc1dv]

It can

[@daniellepeters5557]

I had a really good childhood. Amazing vacations, great parents, amazing opportunities. But my mental health still sucks. I literally feel bad for my parents bc I was adopted and they have done everything they can for me and they end up with someone with anxiety, depression, OCD, and bipolar. They don’t complain and do absolutely everything to help, but sometimes I think it is just our brains. I’m not sure anything about birth parents or if they have anything to do with any of it at all. I’m 27 and i understand when they said the she hasn’t managed to go to work this week. If you don’t have it you don’t understand. Family doesn’t understand. Friends don’t understand because why can’t you just forget it? Get over it? Idk Susan the same reason you can’t mind your business? I work a few days a week now with family. OCD does come with a lot of fear and anxiety. And a lot of the things are kind of irrational and you know in the back of your head that’s not going to happen! But it is still there. You can’t make it go away. OCD isn’t cleaning but I’m also a germaphobe and a neat freak which means when I start I can’t stop. (That’s just from staying with my grandmother when I was younger though. It’s embedded in my head now If one dish is in the sink the house the house is nasty. And what if you have a wreck or die and you left your bed unmade or didn’t shower or left a dish? Someone else will have to deal with that or you’ll be stuck dirty in a hospital) sorry that’s a lot. But I mean it is a lot. I don’t know how else to explain it.

[@TabithaSummer16]

it's different for everyone. for some people yes it can play a part in it. for others it doesn't

[@tammiep9628]

I have generalized anxiety plus OCD, My brain keeps telling me that my hearts going to stop beating, and I swear I feel it stop. It’s awful I take medication for my generalized anxiety and it really helps my OCD. I emphasize with her. ❤️

[@amberrose1108]

You are being attacked by evil spirits of fear and lies. These can be rebuked, renounced and bound away in Jesus name. But first you would need to get saved. Confess your sins (we all sin) and repent. Ask Jesus to forgive all your sins and come into your life and save you. Put your faith in him. Realize that God raised Jesus from the dead and he’s alive forever. Confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe it in your heart and you’ll be saved. Then get water baptized. After that, you have his authority to cast out spirits using his name

[@virg0_lem0nade]

@@amberrose1108 please stop spreading harmful misinformation, Amber. i know your heart is in the right place but this is not the work of "evil spirits" and it is extremely dangerous and damaging for you to say these completely false things to people who are actually suffering with a real condition.

[@Carolina-Girl-214]

Same here , generalized anxiety plus panic / anxiety attacks plus PTSD and OCD.

[@ErnieCG]

Amberrose1108 ocd is a caused by anxiety not by evil spirits ,read online to understand and get your facts right

[@timgilligan3885]

All the people in this documentary are lovely!

[@PsychoWithHouseUphill]

During the Covid 19 pandemic, my OCD got a lot worse. It made me afraid to leave my own bedroom, and I wouldn’t sit down anywhere after school or on the weekends, (yes I did sleep but I was strict about what time I could go to bed, after 9) unless it was the two days a week I was at my dad’s, I had a couch cushion where I felt could mostly be safe, along with washing my hands until bleeding and many other things. I spent about a year and a half like this, and it consumed my life completely. Many people (who I’ve seen) picture people with OCD to just be “persnickety” or “weird”, they don’t see how completely painful and debilitating it is. Also, I was able to begin getting better when I was able to accept that I did have OCD, and I began forcing myself to do what I was afraid of little by little. To anyone else suffering with OCD: you’ve got this! It is completely possible to get better!

[@Kaybug150]

It's so strange for me, hearing about the intense anxiety surrounding things like not closing drawers. I'm the exact same way with doors - especially closet doors, bathroom doors, and bathroom shower curtains. I also get intense anxiety when I can see something moving out of the corner of my eye, like blinds or curtains being hit by air or a breeze. I literally have to look away from these things when they happen, because the panic is so intense. I've had ceiling fans taken out of rooms I've stayed it, because they cause me such anxiety. I also have weird things with numbers, which, in part, have caused a decades-long eating disorder that I am still entrenched in now. I've been diagnosed with anxiety, depression, insomnia, but never OCD. But I can totally relate to some of the things shared and spoken about in this series.

[@multiplesclerosissux]

Omg I felt that so much. I started worrying the rituals were going to be interrupted by my multiple sclerosis progressing. I started to worry about what was going to happen when I couldn't do this stuff anymore. By the time I could no longer do my own set of OCD stuff, I was physically disabled to the point I could no longer work either. The stuff still bothers me sometimes, but my mind had gotten tired of playing the things I can't do over and over, and I'm tired. I'm really, really tired.

[@williamashworth8538]

What he does with the taps and sinks is exactly what I go through every morning.

[@pinklotus3989]

I never related that my worry in the past about my dogs runming away could be related to my ocd, now that I've heard it from him it makes so much sense..

[@neildaw8083]

I bet it's difficult having ocd because you can't always check things and I suppose they try to hide it away from family type of thing. Where they have to say to their family members I'm just checking this and they say you have just checked the door or gate or whatever it is. It may be difficult to talk to their parents about it if they don't understand.or they try to talk to people who also have it in their system and say I'm the same way so I understand how you feel.

[@tainoroyal6585]

Post covid the hand santizer, rubber gloves and avoidance of touching door handles doesn't even seem particularly weird to me....

[@joanna4219]

It's difficult and only those with OCD can probably really understand this journey!

[@lisaklozenberg6408]

I take Mirtazapine for my contamination , health and travel ocd. It's interesting that Charlie doesn't seem to have contamination phobias. Their place is 'lived in', especially the kitchen. I hope everyone finds peace and relief in this programme. I don't feel so alone now.

[@virg0_lem0nade]

show starts at 2:06, click to skip the long intro lol

[@a.a.1245]

In the back all seems a profund fear of death.

[@MaxineShannon.0351]

My OCD is having the tv 📺 on even number also making sure ALL switches are switched OFF before I leave the home 🏡 💔😭

[@gracecash833]

I’m struggling with that too I put my arms above the light switch to make sure it’s off so ocd

[@Jersey.D3vil201]

I don't know how the hairdresser can bleach hair without any gloves...his hands must be on fire!

[@RERTOxCRAFT]

The burning yourself one is so relatable but for me it’s having to dance my hand under the tap or having to know why something has happened and why it’s that way or if I miss part of a tv show or didn’t hear it or missed a bit I have to keep rewinding and repeating till I hear it correctly of I go up the stairs making a pigeon noise 😂saying that out loud sounds so weird I go whoop whoop wu wu whoop 😂

[@michelleshelley995]

Not making fun but that would drive me to the bin.

[@manyhats3846]

Watching gives me anxiety! I have my own rituals! I do not think I am as bad off, in comparison, but bells sure ring! I know the feelings definitely! Dishes, food prep, hands, laundry, taps, stove, lights, windows are my concerns! I have been working on it!

[@natalieatkinson-dy1nv]

Not being rude by any means...but IF people with OCD so rituals to prevent bad stuff from happening, how do they cope when something does happen even when they do the rituals?? Like one person said if she didn't do it 10 times her mom would die....well what happens when her mom is like 80 and she does her "ritual" and her mom dies anyways?

[@NiceIce923]

@@natalieatkinson-dy1nv This is funny in a way if you put it that way, I have OCD too (Checking and contamination OCD) in my case I do "rituals" because I feel it's extremely important to do it, for example the other day I struggled to bring pills for my mom, because as soon as I touched the box of pills it triggered and I got a vision (which happens daily with different things) I saw in this case a vision of where I had brought the pills at (behind the counter) then I saw the line of sick people going to the same counter to get medicine I then saw some people coughing and whatever sickness they have landed on the counter where the box of pills I brought was put. I then saw me at home (where I was busy preparing the pills for my mom) then I saw me touching the glass which I was about to get and then the jug of water next (transferring those diseases to the glass and jug), I then saw giving it to my mom and she touching the glass with the diseases on then touching the pills (transferring the diseases to the pills) then I saw her drinking those pills and get another sickness on top of the one she already has and in my vision this caused her death because her body couldn't handle two diseases at once, when I saw this I instantly had to do my ritual to prevent it from happening by washing my hands after touching the pill box, so yeah...that's what I did and that's what I saw and what I saw was personal and extremely disturbing (and would be for anyone who love their mother), so yeah and this happens every day of my life with so many things and I can't help seeing these horrible things, it would stress out anyone and you would rather do the "ritual" to prevent it from happening and that reduces the anxiety.

[@Chiller-pc1dv]

​@@natalieatkinson-dy1nvAs someone with OCD who had that happen....it's not easy, I'm not fully sure how I managed, honestly I just kinda went harder with the compulsions.

[@theheartofzany1]

I have ocd, mixed thoughts and acts.

[@brookebixler1040]

I have done EMDR with my therapist regarding a sexual trauma that happened to me, but I wonder if that, or some other form of specific therapy would be helpful for those with OCD..

[@coldethyl]

Exposure-Response Prevention therapy is the golden standard for treating OCD usually done along side courses of CBT.

[@luchirimoya]

Exposure therapy and radical acceptance therapy helps, the last one is especially useful for rumination and intrusive thoughts

[@Elizabeth-po4qd]

I thought it was kind of weird how they filmed him getting a haircut and describing how awful it is while it's happening. I felt a little bad for the hairdresser.

[@virg0_lem0nade]

well, the hairdresser knows that the reason they're even doing this assignment is because it's a part of a documentary on people with OCD, so i'm sure they weren't offended

[@PsychoWithHouseUphill]

I have OCD myself, and I would often feel really bad when I would not want to be with them because the environment didn’t feel safe for me or I wouldn’t eat the food they served because I didn’t believe it as safe to eat. I’m not trying to shame you for commenting that, I’m just trying to say that although someone might feel bad for others about what they are doing they can’t just stop for that reason.

[@mickthemisfit7975]

My ocd recently has been worse I wash my hands often wear gloves when eating food idk how William does it my hand gets dry and flakey and lotion as much as possible but my one finger is the absolute worse it gets so dry the skin breaks open so sometimes when I move my finger when it’s dry I can feel the pain of the skin tearing open and the healing process take quite sometime sometimes it closes up tight but I need to bend my finger but it will open up again so my finger becomes useless at times and I have diabetes so it takes even longer for it to get better

[@michelleshelley995]

I set alarm 6 times.

[@natalieatkinson-dy1nv]

Why? It's set after the first time

[@ashleymontgomery1174]

Its from trama

[@Chiller-pc1dv]

It can be from trauma, but it can also be genetic

[@theeskatelife]

Why do the parents let them use technology if it just feeds their compulsions. Take away the phones and computers. I feel like the parents enable their children and probably lead to the development of OCD somewhere in child development because of how they raised their kid

[@Chiller-pc1dv]

That's cruel and just a punisment. Not to mention that's not even how OCD works.

[@moniquepearson4478]

Your comment really is ignorant. My son has OCD and no parent wants this for their child. And no, it has nothing to do with how I raised him

[@betterbetty3542]

I wonder if disorders like this exist in third world countries.

[@amberrose1108]

Yes they do. These are caused by evil spirits of fear.

[@amplifiedemotions994]

The thing is, in my experience with OCD, wherever there are more pressing or physical related issues like being sick, in pain, hungry or thirsty (as it could be in a third world country), other types of thoughts tend to go away or be subdued. Some people in third world countries might have it ,but will never know so 'cause your brain makes it a priority to keep yourself alive and healthy, on a physical level first. Always. If you haven't got that worry symptoms might start occurring still.

[@betterbetty3542]

@@amplifiedemotions994 that’s what I figured, I just wasn’t sure. Thanks for your input.

[@laurencewhittaker377]

Ocd stems from anxiety so I would say a lot of people would suffer if they're anxious about survival or natural disasters etc

[@Chiller-pc1dv]

It does. Mental illness doesn't discriminate

[@natalieatkinson-dy1nv]

If something is going to happen it's gonna happen regardless....how do these people actually cope when they do their "rituals" and stuff happens anyways? IT DOESN'T HELP!!!

[@NiceIce923]

Saying this doesn't make any sense, it's like saying to someone don't get rid of the snake that snuck into your house, IT DOESN'T HELP!!!

[@cypress7876]

Law of attraction y’all

[@amberrose1108]

OCD is caused by evil spirits of fear, anxiety and lies. Only with the power of Jesus and by using his name, cam they be bound and cast out. You must be saved to do this. To get saved, confess your sins and repent and ask Jesus to forgive all your sins and save you.

[@gingerale1861]

I started my OCD symptoms at 9 and I was always a loving daughter and sister. I had a wonderful childhood. I never felt that I did anything to confess or have to repent or ask Jesus to forgive. I was just a child.

[@coldethyl]

Personally, selling my soul to Satan really helped my OCD. To each their own.

[@Chiller-pc1dv]

Can you stop?

[@moniquepearson4478]

Amberrose, pls shut up.