Obsessive-compulsive disorder: Through my eyes

Go through a typical day of a person with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD). This video is based on a personal account and demonstrates habits, behaviours and thoughts that a person with OCD may experience. The behaviours and rituals depicted are not common to everyone with OCD but specific to each individual.

If you have OCD, or if you know someone who does, the following resources may be of help:

The International OCD Foundation is a good place to start to find help.
On the home page look for the section with the title "Find Help." Below the title is a place where you can search for resources available in your location. Enter your location and click "Find." There is professional help available.

This video was made by Health Science 4DM3 students Saima Ahmad, Atherai Maran, Candy Niu, and Joy Sumin Park in collaboration with the McMaster Demystifying Medicine Program.

Copyright McMaster University 2017

This video is provided for general and educational information only. Please consult your health care provider for Information about your health.

#DemystifyingMedicine, #MentalHealth #OCD

[brownieess]

Me as a child: spins 2 times in one direction

Me again: spin another 2 times in the other direction so I don't become unbalanced for the rest of my life

[dylantd]

Anyone else freak out when she put the hot iron directly on top of wood???

[trinityborris]

honestly it’s not “eVeRyThIng HaS tO bE sTrAiGhT” it’s “hit the light switch 5 times or else you’ll have heart attack”

[wid]

Holy shit, when you said “it feels heavy” when washing your hands I was shocked. I went through a really bad hand washing phase with my OCD and I had that exact thought. My hands literally felt heavy and sticky and I was hyper aware of the way my fingers were touching each other. It’s so insane how powerful the mind is at convincing you of physical feelings that are not actually there.

[optmega]

If I was ironing that shirt I would have been like: “well I’ve ironed this part. Now it’s unbalanced so I need to do the rest..”

[laurachambers]

It's like when I touch an object I have to touch it again with my other hand so it's even and fair otherwise a weight on me will never leave and my head will be on a constant loop of thoughts

[rameeshahasan]

I hate it when my friends are like " I have OCD" when most of the time they don't know what it means. Just because you clean your room once a while doesn't necessarily mean u have OCD

[StopKittenAround]

As someone with severe OCD, the hand-washing part made me burst into tears. THAT exact clip is what I live through every single day. I wash my hands maybe 30 or more times per day unless I had a more calm day with less things to touch as well as less stress on me. I cried mainly because my entire family doesn’t understand my OCD. Some of them think I’m annoying and stupid. They think that my OCD should be easy to fix (sometimes they tell me to “fix” my OCD), but, unfortunately, it isn’t as easy as they think it is. I’ve struggled with this for years. Im scared to touch anything in my house, I have to wear long sleeves or a jacket the entire day, so that I may open and shut doors, turn off the faucet, grab certain things, and protect my arms from getting dirty. It’s a pain. I cry because of how lonely and miserable I feel. The only person who truly understands and supports me is my boyfriend, but my mom also supports me but lately it doesn’t seem so. None of my friends know how bad my OCD is—only a few of them even know I have it. It’s terrible. Every day I have a certain way to do things otherwise I break down. There was a time when I was washing my hands and I accidentally touched the soap dispenser (which was located directly behind the sink) while rinsing my hands and wrists. I cried as I washed my hands again. I’m unable to control how long I wash my hands for. I could wash for 30 seconds to even 3 minutes. My hands may crack and my wrists may burn but I can’t stop it. If I don’t wash my hands after touching something my brain says is dirty, my hand (or hands) will feel detached from my body. They will feel numb to me. The only way to regain the feeling would be to wash them, no matter how long it takes or how many times I have to wash them. I would show my family this video but I feel like it wouldn’t help any.

[maybeahuman]

i have OCD and i hate how little the world knows how serious this disorder is. I hate when people use mental disorders/illnesses as adjectives.

[grumpymama]

My OCD is like, “Check on them, what if they got in a car crash?” Or, “Don’t think about this or you’ll die”. The thoughts won’t go away and it’s pure torture.

[Weirdchicken]

*repeats the same prayer in my head 5 times until I'm finally satisfied*

[verityrodrigues]

I am so sorry for all the people who are going through this, it really breaks my heart knowing that people live a life like this, it must be so hard. I just want to let all of you know that I love you and please don't give up in life, I'll pray for you 🙏🏼🥺❤

[auggiejam]

As a person with OCD, It makes me mad that some people say that others have OCD just because they are a perfectionist.

[emmav]

I hate when people mix up a perfectionist with having ocd when they are literally 2 completely different things

[izzyiguess]

There was a video I watched that explained ocd a bit differently. Here’s how they explained it;
“OCD and or obsessive compulsive disorder is when your mind tells you to do things a specific amount of times or way to do it and tells you if you don’t, something bad will happen. You’re being lied to by your mind and you are aware of it, but you aren’t in control of it and it forces you to listen.”
*That hit hard man.*

[skyyyu]

My heart melted watching this. Growing up, I didn’t rlly know what ocd was and the people around me often use perfectionism and ocd interchangeably. This video rlly opened my eyes to what an individual with ocd may experience. Hopefully, more people learn the difference between ocd and perfectionism and make better informed decisions when using the terms

[seirameimiaj]

Can’t relate, my ocd is more like “don’t think of the word Satan or else you’ll become possessed” ... then proceeds to loudly talk nonsense so that I can’t inevitably hear myself think of the word Satan repeatedly 🙃

[tanumita]

My grandmother had severe OCD. She used to wash her hands first with water 50 times, then with a handwash 100 times, and then again with water another 50 times. And then she just kept counting it. As a kid, I never understood it. All my family made fun of her and thought she was some psychotic woman; even her own children and husband. But now I understand, what she was going through and how hard it must have been for her. Grandma, wherever you are now I love you.

[valentinazelada]

I’m almost in tears. My little sister has recently been diagnosed with OCD. She gets intrusive thoughts all the time. She even says she’s rather die than having those obsessive thoughts all day. She’s 12

[anreadz]

The comment section really did it. People keep mentioning that someone close to them has OCD and it made me feel good that they are watching this and being aware of how OCD affects the life of their love ones. They are opening their minds to understand how hard having OCD is. I hope I have someone like ya'll. Being supportive and all.