10 Everyday Things That You’ll Only Understand If You Live With OCD

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a common, chronic, and long-lasting disorder in which a person has uncontrollable reoccurring thoughts (obsession) and behavior (compulsions) that s/he feels the urge to repeat over and over again. Anxiety is the most prominent symptom of OCD.

The one thing you should never tell someone with OCD is It’s not a big deal….we all have it. Because it is a big deal and not everyone has it. When you have OCD, you have repeated unwanted thoughts that you cannot stop at will and you do the same ‘routine’ or ‘ritual’ over and over again to stop those thoughts.

Here are 10 everyday things that you’ll only understand if you live with OCD.

1. You check, re-check, and keep on checking.

Whether you locked the door or turned the oven off or do you have your ID — you check it over and over again because you do not trust yourself that you did it. What if you missed something? You overcheck because you do not want yourself or someone else to get hurt due to your irresponsibility.

2. You may be superstitious.

You do things in a certain numeric pattern, count as you do things, or associate something in the past (an object or a person) as…