Read on Twitter
Please read this thread if you have the time. It is my response to the @WSJ article about OCD, which I am linking below. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.wsj.com/amp/articles/we-all-need-ocd-now-11585672342 The following is info I’ve gathered from personal experience and education in therapy. @IOCDF @OCDUK @ocdaction
OCD is generally ego dystonic, meaning that it’s symptoms are not favorable or enjoyable, and commonly go against a sufferer’s sense of self and values. Eg: although “just right” OCD might lead to in a tidy room, the obsessions and compulsions surrounding it are debilitating.
In other words, the person does not WANT to be doing the rituals. And why? Because obsessions and compulsions are debilitating and exhausting! These behaviors are not logical, and are often manifestations of extreme beliefs and/or cognitive distortions.
For example, I have some symptoms of hypochondria and health OCD. One of my rituals is touching my face to check and see if I have a fever. What have the experts told us not to do? TOUCH OUR FACES. So even if my concern was relevant on some level, the response wasn’t.
I’m not a scientist, but it’s my understanding that just because something happened as a result of evolution doesn’t make it inherently useful in day to day modern life. Something adaptive can morph into something maladaptive over time.
Finally, I’d just like to say that this article is hurtful. Not only is the title misleading, but the text also invalidates suffering of the OCD community and fails to articulate how debilitating of an illness that OCD is.
This lack of articulation just reinforces the stigma that has only been strengthened by COVID-19. In conclusion, I urge the @WSJ to seriously consider amending this article.
