I don’t want to spoil this show for anyone, but for those who have seen it, I imagine the Beast as representing OCD and the Woodsman keeping the lantern lit as acting on compulsions. Sometimes when I’m struggling it helps me to picture Wirt saying “Wait, that’s dumb.”

Full explanation if you haven’t watched and don’t care about spoilers:There’s a woodsman who spends the entire show chopping wood to fuel a lantern because he believes the flame inside is the only thing keeping his daughter alive (she’s been taken by a character called the Beast). At the end we learn that the Beast has lied about the daughter/ lantern and is actually terrified of the flame going out because it’s the only thing keeping him alive. Great (though probably unintentional) symbol for how acting on compulsions out of a desire to protect someone is just a lie and really only fuels OCD itself.

p.s. If you haven’t seen OTGW: Very cute cartoon, classic fall vibes, sometimes genuinely creepy and NOT for small kids!

I honestly don’t know where to start. My daughter “Bella”, 22, was diagnosed with OCD about a year ago. Apparently she’s had OCD for most of her life. She’d had multiple therapists throughout her years but no one nailed the OCD.

We always thought OCD was like the movies - counting, etc. She had always been “Type A” but now we know it was always OCD. We would do “brain dumps” for the week so she would know what she had to do and the order she needed to do things.

Anyway she developed and eating disorder (orthorexia) and apparently the OCD loves this. She was put on Zoloft and slowly upped to 125 mg. Anxiety lessened. OCD was there but didn’t rule over her life. When she went up to 125mg the transition was really tough.

She didn’t like how the Zoloft made her feel and she went off of it cold turkey. And didn’t tell us. It was 2 weeks of absolute hell. We thought she was losing her mind. OCD and anxiety off the charts. There is also a myriad of other medical problems related to her ED.

She has an OCD therapist that is exposure therapy but she hadn’t been able to do it because she went off her meds and couldn’t handle it. Her PCP prescribed Prozac (she has chronic constipation and this med doesn’t have that side effect) and she will start this week.

We also started alternative medicine (mostly for her constipation and motility issues - also ED related). Things are actually moving (slowly) whether it’s her protocol or pelvic floor therapy or a combo of things but we are seeing improvement. But her anxiety and her OCD is just off the charts and she is now questioning everything and nothing I say is “right”. I can’t argue with the OCD. We go around in circles all the time and she gets angry but I don’t know what to do. I’m so emotionally exhausted. I’m trying to keep her on course but now she’s questioning everything. New meds will take weeks to work and will they work???

I don’t know maybe this is just a vent but I’m so lost right now. Thanks for reading if you did. I hope this all makes sense.

I don’t get it. I wipe and wipe and wipe for 10 minutes and I’m still seeing little brown stains on the toilet paper, even after using wet wipes. It’s not a lot but it’s definitely there. My girlfriend literally poops quicker than I pee. I’m so convinced there has to be something wrong with me compared to the average person that makes my poop different or my ass muscles different or something because surely people don’t just walk around with little streaks of poop on them? It’s making ERP impossible because I feel disgusting and unfeminine to walk around with a poopy butt because no woman I’ve ever been with has had that issue I hate it.

It doesn’t help that I have fissures and skin tags that will never go away and those cause issues for wiping even for people without OCD so wtf am I meant to do?

I don’t think people without OCD can even fathom how intense the disorder is, I don’t think they can understand the mental and physical load It actually takes to live day by day. I get volatilely angry anytime somebody says it is all in my head, or that it is stupid, or that I just need to stop. Why would anyone choose to live like this? Do they truly think that it is in our hands? I don’t have the energy for anything anymore. Taking a shower is hell. Washing my hands is hell. Cooking is hell. Sitting correctly on the couch or a chair is hell. Ruminating over intrusive thoughts that they’re telling me this is going to happen at this age or this is going to happen if I go to this place is all I can think about all day. Somatic OCD sucks. Contamination OCD sucks. Moral OCD sucks. Magical thinking sucks. Not being able to trust myself into knowing if something is OCD or intuition or anxiety or whatever else, sucks. All of this sucks. I wouldn’t wish it on the worst person in the world.

Made a few posts like this which I know is probably reassurance in a way but regardless. I'm a rather dumb person, I read posts or comment threads and always get questions but thanks to knowing about said stupidity, I'm self aware enough to know I've probably phrased it terribly and then I worry about someone screenshotting it and posting it to some other subreddit to laugh and mock me, exposing my stupidity to people happy to dox or stalk or any other variation of online weirdness.

Does anyone else get that?

I am on 30mg of Prozac and 150mg of Wellbutrin. I am in a severe downward decline currently and I am ready to try something new. I have OCD and ADHD which tend to work in tandem, but I struggle with executive dysfunction as many do. Currently I feel sedated and uncaring. My house is a mess, I don't have energy or desire to get up and do anything. I feel restless, but numb to the world, and my memory is horrible.

I have been on Prozac for about 8 months and I noticed the efficacy was declining about 2 months ago. I have been doing a lot of research to pick a new drug to try, but I am scared of this numbness and don't want to make it worse.

Has anyone else seen her HBO special? She talks about her experience with OCD and (spoiler - sorry idk how to do that on Reddit lol) the funniest part is her talking about having no idea her actual shoe size. Does anyone else relate?? I GUFFAWED bc I once bought and returned FIVE pairs of the same shoe because none of them felt “just right.” The ones I’m wearing at this moment are honestly a little too big but I gave up haha. It was nice to laugh about OCD for once!

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I can't handle them anymore. They are driving me insane. I don't know what to do anymore. Every day they get worse and worse. I have no treatment for them. People brush them. They think it's easy saying just try not to think about them. It's not easy as they say it is.

My thoughts go round and round in my head. Idk what do anymore.

Over the last year and a half I feel like I have been in a CONSTANT fight or flight over analyzing every symptom I have. I have convinced myself I have end stage cancer of something different every freaking day. I finally have a dr appointment Thursday to see if I can get some help with this. It is debilitating to the point where it’s ALL I think about all day everyday. I am a mom to three so it has been hard to manage being a present mother and battling this constant OCD anxiety attack feeling. I started feeling this way after my last son was born in April of 2025. Before that, I never felt this way. I am in a constant state of fear. What has helped you with this feeling? I’m tired of feeling like I am going to drop dead from a random infection or end stage cancer at any point. Why does this happen out of nowhere?? I know logically it is probably just my constant anxiety causing symptoms but I can’t help but feel like I am dying literally 24/7. Please leave any advice you have. I am hoping my doctor will start me on some kind of medication and help me find some therapy.

My wife has quite severe OCD. When she asks me questions about a compulsion, I’ll say something like “I know it’s really horrible and you’re feeling anxious but we know my answer won’t help”. It’s heartbreaking for me as it goes against all my instincts. She also says that she feels dismissed when I don’t offer reassurance and it’s impacting our relationship.

I don’t think it helps that her mum does reassure her, so it feels like she’s getting support from one side but not the other.

Any suggestions?

I was diagnosed a few weeks ago, I should feel relieved but instead I feel like I have tricked my doctor.

Ive had signs of OCD since I was at least eight, but somehow when I hear other people talking about their OCD and it sounds different from the mine, I convince myself I don’t have it. I always thought of OCD was super neat and organized but I constantly feel like my life is falling apart. Does anyone else have this? How do I stop feeling this way?

I was diagnosed a week or two ago and I’m learning how deep this has been me. I kind of want to cry? Like feeling like there is an answer? But I’m worried to lean into attributing too much to OCD?
I am and have always been BIG on optimizing and not “wasting time”. Since I was a kid, I recall getting positive feedback for organizing my toys and being super excited and focused on that. I wasn’t obsessed with things being orderly but more just away, like open surfaces? I also feel a mess when I am not keeping busy. It’s like I’m always telling myself “if you have time to lean you got time to clean”.
Yea, I guess it’s a ton of unpacking but I’m afraid I’m ruminating on the OCD symptoms, even though I think I’m just processing but now I’m ruminating on if I’m ruminating?
This is new and I don’t want OCD to turn into the default answer for everything?

Still managed to get a referral to psychology (though who knows how long an appointment will take) but god I did not need the lecture that came before it.

There’s ‘labels’ and then there’s psychological diagnoses. I suspect I have mental illness, if I had a tumor I wouldn’t get a lecture about ‘labeling’ it cancerous and to just go on more walks instead.

I don’t know, it’s just annoying. I waited until I was at my absolute limit until I finally reached out for help and it felt like I was being judged for it or something.

I can get prescribed anything which one would be best to try first? I have ocd and anxiety

I don’t think I have ever fallen asleep in less than an hour in my entire life. It usually takes me
two or three (or more) hours to fall asleep every night because my mind just doesn’t stop or shut up. I’ll replay the day, rehearse tomorrow, cringe at something I said twelve years ago, worry about things that aren’t possible, literally anything and everything except fall asleep.
Anybody else really struggle at night? What are some things that have helped you fall asleep in a reasonable amount of time?

ive hurt people in my life because of my mental illnesses and i feel so bad for it that even years later i still deprive myself of basic needs because i dont think i deserve them after what ive done. i live in a constant loop of self-hatred that i cant even allow myself to be medicated for because i believe that i dont deserve that relief.

but then sometimes i realise that there are people in this world who do genuinely horrible things, and they go on living their lives like nothing happened, and they still think that they deserve good things. there are people who hurt animals and they still order their favourite food while watching tv. there are people who have done the worst things in the world to women and they still go home and hug their parents. i cant do any of those things because i hurt people when i was a child. but they can.

i hate ocd, the only reason i ever hurt anyone was because of ocd, there are other bad things that have happened to me but ocd is even worse than all of those things, worse than grief, worse than ptsd. i would rather experience my worst trauma 5 times than have been born with this thing. what the fuck.

I’m supposed to be going on a trip in a few days with my fiance, and my OCD is making me seriously consider canceling the entire thing.

I have never felt this way before a trip or traveling before so this is a new one. To start, I’m not formally diagnosed with OCD yet but I have been diagnosed with anxiety and ADHD. I’ve been on this subreddit awhile and recognize a lot of my patterns here.

Now let’s get into it..

I have a huge fear of something catastrophic happening, especially car accidents and dying unexpectedly. Lately I’ve been experiencing really vivid intrusive images of getting into an accident while traveling (it will be Halloween night) It’s gotten to the point where I have this overwhelming sense of impending doom, almost like something is telling me not to go.

Like maybe my gut is warning me that something terrible is going to happen, and if I ignore it, I’ll regret it.

I keep thinking “What if this isn’t OCD? What if this is actually a warning I’m supposed to listen to?”

I’ve noticed that whenever I think about canceling, I immediately feel this huge sense of relief, almost like I’ve prevented something terrible from happening. And that relief makes the feeling even more convincing.

But at the same time, I know avoidance can reinforce OCD, and I don’t want to keep missing out on experiences and memories because of these fears.

I’m not looking for reassurance that nothing bad will happen. I just want to hear how others have navigated this.

so i was doing well in my rocd jouney suddely i feel so weird i been doing compulsions nad i know this not good for 2 days straight and i feel so weird suddelyn mt brain is telling to leave my gf even deep inside i dont want too, i want to love her i feel so calm ant this is freaking out. Feel like after five months my medication stop doing effect and i feek evertyhibg again just no so intense, i dont understand. Can someone advice?

I recently picked up routine refill of 3 month supply of sertraline 50 mg and because I didn’t have my glasses on, I brought bottle close to my face to read label (double checking info), and it smelled AWFUL - like chemicals/gas/VOCs. It’s not something I’ve noticed before but my prior bottle had some sertraline pills left over and it smelled the same. Another Reddit thread mentioned they’ve noticed chemical smell from meds they pick up from the same pharmacy chain I go to (but NOT for sertraline) and thread responses claim smell is from off gassing of the prescription bottles…so now I’m just curious, is it the prescription bottles or is it sertraline itself that smells so terrible? Anybody else notice the same with their meds?

If you had to sum up your OCD experience in one sentence what would you say?

For me: “A total distortion of my mind and reality that has led me into the fiery pits of hell.”