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After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

OCD—short for obsessive-compulsive disorder—is one of the mental health issues most frequently depicted in pop culture. Sadly enough, it is often used in a casual way, or even worse—as a punchline. However, for people with OCD, the disorder is no joke at all.

A quick scroll through the subreddit r/OCD offers a peek through the eyes of a person who has OCD. One saddening realization quickly kicks in, and that is that people with OCD are suffering. The disorder is an illness. It’s not a punchline of a joke. It affects a lot of lives in a really painful way, so why do we depict OCD with an easiness that, for instance, schizophrenia would never be depicted with?

“OCD is so TIRING, and yet so many people don’t think it’s that serious of a psychiatric condition,” one person on Reddit points out. “The phrase OCD is thrown around so flippantly in everyday life, like ‘I’m so OCD about the way I organize my pens’ that I don’t think people realize how hard it is to live with,” they continue. “Severe OCD is so debilitating. Not every OCD has physical behaviors like checking or tapping. You can go years not even realizing you have OCD and the symptoms can go under the radar because they can switch from one obsession to another.”

More info: Twitter

One Twitter user opened up about how misrepresentation of OCD in the media is hurting those with the disorder

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: imdb

The Twitter thread seemingly resonated with a lot of people—over 115k of them liked the thread, and almost 30k retweeted it.

One thing after reading the thread and the comments below it became apparent: it hurts people with OCD when those without the disorder claim they have it. “Every time I hear someone who likes being tidy say ‘omg I’m so OCD’ I want to give them a good, hard smack,” one social platform user tweets.

“I hate when people make the ‘OMG, I am so OCD’ joke just because they like things a certain way,” someone added. “My OCD is an absolute nightmare and I wish more people understood how it really works.”

The thread went viral on Twitter and resonated with a lot of people who are living with OCD

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

Follow this [link] to find out more.

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: shiraisinspired

Here’s what other people had to add to the topic

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: lillybaik

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: EllynDorward

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: caryldwellings

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: voidcrittermon

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: weekwah

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: spooky_vegan

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: the_ether

Follow this [link] to watch the video.

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: wheezydisco

After Getting Tired Of People Misinterpreting It In The Media, Twitter User Explains What It’s Really Like To Live With OCD

Image credits: mothqueenoftx

How do you feel about this? Maybe you’re one of the people suffering from OCD and you too are annoyed by the misrepresentation of the disorder? Share your thoughts in the comment section down below!

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Neringa is a proud writer at Bored Panda who used to study English and French linguistics. Although she has many different interests, she's particularly drawn to covering stories about pop culture as well as history. While not at the office, this Panda enjoys creepy movies, poetry, photography and learning how to play the piano.

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Lucas 4 years ago

Monica Geller's character enjoyed cleaning. If you enjoy it, get satisfaction from it - that's not OCD. People with OCD rarely feel relieved by their rituals. There may be a point in which they recognise they have 'done it enough' to move on but that point can be a struggle to reach and is not satisfying.

41points

Ren Karlej 4 years ago

My sister's partner has OCD and it rules their lives. Lights that have to be a certain way, obsessive checking - honestly, I couldn't begin to list everything as it would take too long and it's constant. She's not even allowed to say certain things. It is unremitting and life destroying.

30points

Roxy Eastland 4 years ago

I have a friend whose other half has OCD and there seems to be this barmy idea that if you live with someone with OCD you never have to clean. Sorry, OCD fixates on something like the toilet handle and this will be cleaned over and over again, but the bath won't be cleaned, the floor won't be cleaned, the basin won't be cleaned, quite possibly the rest of the toilet won't be cleaned. Everything you said matches, Ren, just exhausting for both of them. And his hands are always red raw.

0points

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GeneralZod 4 years ago (edited)

I had horrible OCD as a child. I spent hours in therapy learning the techniques to redirect my thoughts and slowly became less anxious and fearful. However, still as a grown a*s middle aged adult, I count. I count ALL day. Sometimes I don't listen to what you are saying because I am counting the number of words you say. I count the number of red, green, yellow lights I drive through. The people in a room, how many fingers and toes there are total, how many are wearing blue, red, green, etc. My brain is like an Excel spreadsheet doing vLookups at all times. It's the only tick I haven't been able to "turn off" and it's exhausting

21points

Tabitha L 4 years ago

Wow. I'm not a neat person, so I never thought that I have OCD. But so much of what is said here rings true. Especially the counting. And intrusive thoughts. Dear lord, my mind comes up with horrible images. I wash my hands constantly. I will be cutting up vegetables and wash my hands 3-4 times during each vegetable. I will find myself at the sink washing my hands before I even realize I am doing it. My brain also plays "games" - if I make it to the next light first, no one I love will die today. And catastrophizing - if someone is late, or hasn't responded, they are obviously dead in a ditch. I had no idea these were symptoms of OCD.

14points

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cstrohmier2001 4 years ago

GeneralZod yes

1point

Carrie Roettger 4 years ago

I count too. EVERYTHING. I do miss parts of conversations because I'm counting something. I also have severe aversions to certain things. If something gives me the "oogies" (my kids' name for it) I can't touch it. Period. There's no one thing that gives me the oogies if it just looks or seems wrong I'm done. I have texture issues too. Foods that don't feel right when I chew I'll have to spit out. It IS completely exhausting. I have the intrusive thoughts too. Mine aren't about people getting hurt or anything like that. Mine are a catalog of everything I've ever said or done that I perceive as wrong. I wasn't diagnosed until 2012 but I can remember being in elementary school in the early 80s and being the same way. It's only gotten worse as I've gotten older. Meds have helped but I now have to be careful about what and how much I can take because I've had a kidney transplant. Thank god I have a super supportive family.

0points

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