So many people don’t realize that they have OCD because actual obsessive compulsive disorder is rarely talked about openly. So here are the basics: 🧵(thread)

I think that a lot of people forget that OCD is a mental illness, emphasis on the MENTAL. When it’s portrayed on TV, it’s always shown as a very behavioral disorder. And while it’s true that overt behavioral compulsions are part of OCD, they don’t begin to tell the whole story

OCD stands for obsessive compulsive disorder. That’s obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. The OCD cycle is the cycle of obsessions that lead to compulsions that lead to more obsessions that lead to more compulsions etc etc etc.

People with OCD experience intrusive thoughts (which become obsessions.) Intrusive thoughts are unwanted and invasive, and they’re generally REALLY disturbing. It’s a common misconception that people with OCD are exclusively concerned with tidiness and cleanliness. This is false

TW/ OCD subtypes

Intrusive thoughts can be about anything, but there are a few common “subtypes” of obsessions. These include harm OCD, self harm OCD, sexual OCD, pedophelia OCD, relationship OCD, contamination OCD, religious OCD, moral OCD, health OCD and “just right”

Thread about intrusive thoughts, by someone who has intrusive thoughts:

I’ve seen people on here say they’d end friendships over someone’s intrusive thoughts. As someone who’s had some disturbing ones, I want to address that. Intrusive thoughts don’t make me a bad person.🧵

I think one of the biggest problems is that we don’t talk enough about intrusive thoughts. People don’t understand them. They’re not purposefully being insensitive, they just genuinely don’t understand the nature of intrusive thoughts. Intrusive thoughts are INTRUSIVE.

That means you can’t control them. They’re NOT PLEASANT. No one wants to have these thoughts running through their heads at inconvenient times. No one is having disturbing intrusive thoughts because they’re in the mood to be disturbed.

Tw/ suicidal ideation

Everyone has random, intrusive thoughts pop into their heads, For example, have you ever been driving on a highway and thought to yourself, “I could just yank the wheel right now?” Thats an intrusive thought. But for most people, it’s easy to brush off

People who experience intrusive thoughts as a mental illness symptom can’t just do that. They can’t just brush off the disturbing thoughts that pop into their heads. They get STUCK in them. And it’s incredibly distressing.