It’s #OCDawarenessweek. Having lived with this illness for decades, been treated for it, written about it, advocated on it, been arrested protesting to save care for it—I’d like to share what I’ve learned. What I believe. @IOCDF

Here are my 5 notes of advice for living w/ OCD:

1—You are not a monster. We bear so much shame through this illness. But OCD tormenting us means we CARE too much, LOVE too much. Hurting people, letting them down—these are nightmares to us. It’s not a sign of something monstrous in you. It’s a sign of something gentle in you.

2—You want to be brave, not fearless. Walking into a forest you don’t fear is a boring story. Walking into a forest that terrifies you—that’s brave. That’s a story worth telling. Confronting your OCD is you walking into that forest, and it should be celebrated, not stigmatized.

3—You have to sit with doubt, w/ the notion that your fears might come true. Things might work out well or all go to hell. And you can’t control it. Sitting with doubt allows you to engage in your values anyway. You can see what you fear and still do what is important to you.

4—You always have a choice. OCD makes you think you have no free will, that you must do your compulsions. A train on the wrong track. But that’s not true. You have a choice. It may feel like an impossible choice, but it isn’t. Act on what you value, not on what OCD tells you.

5—Don’t fight your obsessive thoughts off. Welcome them as guests to your door. Sit back and observe them, detached, as words and sounds. They carry no inherent meaning. They’re pebbles floating in a river. Temporary, fleeting. Sit at the bank. Watch them pass.

Here is my segment on @GMA discussing these issues and more: https://www.facebook.com/robinroberts/videos/3268387959897376/?vh=e&extid=0

Here’s my article on impatient treatment for @SLAMonline, emphasizing how to sit with doubt. https://www.slamonline.com/nba/lebron-james-essay-ocd-finals-cavs/

Here’s my article on living with OCD as a BIPOC. https://iocdf.org/blog/2019/11/21/a-room-without-walls-iocdf-council-seeks-to-improve-mental-health-outcomes-in-minority-communities/