Happiness is painful

I have suffered from OCD since I was a 10 year old. I had obsessive-compulsive traits when I was a child. I dream of making the society aware of what mental diseases and disorders really are.

[positivitystatements]

[depressionarmy]

It’s a fight every day

[snorlax-and-co]

[sunflower-sunshine1192]

Mental illness is not a joke, it is not a spiritual awakening, nor is it pretend. It is a serious issue that takes people’s lives everyday. It is a battle in your brain and looked down on because it is invisible. It is feeling lost even when people are around you trying to help. It is screaming out but, nobody care hear because it isn’t verbally. You don’t just take a magic pill to make it go away. It is relapse and recovery. It is torture. I am mentally ill. But, I am not any less a person who gets sick and feels things. I deserve to be helped and not be put on the side because people don’t want to deal with it. I am a fighter and I will win this battle.

[snorlax-and-co]

[galaxies-of-apple-trees]

Mental Illness in the Horror Genre

Something that pissed me off the other day.

Talking to a guy who knows my parents but doesn’t know me very well, and he tells me that his friend (indeed, a very nice and talented actor) recently put out a horror movie. And I’m interested until I hear the words “So it’s about this guy with OCD…” and at that point my mom and I give each other a sidelong glance.

I say, “I don’t know, because I have OCD and it’s a pretty serious thing for me.”

To which he follows up, “Oh, you don’t have it like this guy! You’re totally functional!”

Okay, dude. Yes, I am standing before you in a fancy club, dressed nice, and looking relatively balanced. But you do not know me. You do not know OCD.

You do not know that I have been non-functional, and that in order to maintain my current balance of sanity, I take daily medication and see a weekly therapist, and I still have downward spirals and panic attacks.

OCD can add to a story, for sure. The Aviator is a great example–albeit, it was on the voyeuristic side, kind of “check out what a weirdo this guy really is”, but his condition was portrayed in a realistic and *sympathetic* manner, because it focused so hard on his anxiety and entrapment.

I don’t need a horror movie about my disorder for a couple reasons. 1. I already live the horror movie that is OCD. 2. Just like people with psychosis, schizophrenia/schizotypal disorders, dissociative identity disorders, and any other number of mental disorder that makes us act in unusual and yes, sometimes frightening ways, I don’t need it to be the hinge for your horror flick, a handy device that makes more people like you scared and misunderstanding of people like me. 3. And for people with the above disorders who may not be diagnosed, they don’t need to be told that they are dangerous monsters and cause them to avoid treatment out of fear. (This goes double for people who experience paranoia or delusions as part of their symptoms.)

This post ended up way longer than I meant, but really, truly, hear me out creators:

MENTAL ILLNESS IS A TRAIT AMONG AN INFINITE VARIETY OF PEOPLE. IT IS NOT A CHARACTER FLAW, AND IT IS DEFINITELY A POOR PLOT DEVICE FOR THE HORROR GENRE. YOU CAN DO BETTER.

[hackerr00t]

OCD AWARENESS WEEK 2016

Since it’s almost OCD awareness week,  it’s time to remember that the awareness colour used for OBSESSIVE COMPULSIVE DISORDER is Teal. 

What the cow is teal, you are saying? You can find it on Wikipedia, where i took this cut of colour info:

Also, down here there is a teal ribbon i made, in .png and transparent (if Tumblr didn’t add any background on its own), that you can save and use whenever/wherever you talk about OCD during this awareness week!

Don’t forget to tag your OCD awareness messages with the hashtag #OCDweek and add the teal colour in them as a way of identification!

OCD awareness week starts Sunday 9 October 2016 to Saturday 15 October 2016!

[lonemadness]

Survived

[depressionarmy]

Depression Army

[depersonalizy-deactivated202111]

put ya hands up if depression has been an integral part of ur mind and personality for as long as you remember so the concept of "recovery" seems so far off and honestly pretty terrifying bc youve grown so close to ur sadness that ur a bit afraid to live without it

[mylittlemesseduphead]

OCD is not some cute quirk it is a horrible form of torture some people have to live through.

[pillow-cases-on-halloween-deact]

People who live with anxiety often don’t know how to live without anxiety. It feels like if you are not worried about something you should be. There is a little be of a fear of impending doom no matter what. I think a major part of just growing up and dealing with anxiety is realizing that you don’t need it to be you. It’s common for people with OCD, especially, to feel like they are not themselves if they are not experiencing symptoms of OCD. It’s actually incredibly frustrating to watch other people suffer to the point where they think suffering is the only way to live. Receiving help for anxiety disorders doesn’t mean you’re going to stop being you. It also doesn’t mean you’ll stop having anxiety. Therapy is built so that you can learn to live with the fears and move on. In my eyes, I think it is selfish to always victimize yourself because of your anxieties. Your fears are not just your own, no matter how badly you want to believe that. There are people around you who suffer through your anxiety as well. It has taken living on both sides of that spectrum to see that suffering alone is not possible. Your suffering will cause other people to suffer too because they want to help you, but often don’t know how to do so. The initial steps of seeking help is difficult. It often requires you to face fears you have suppressed. Usually you will become more anxious before you learn how not to be anxious. It involves a lot of self doubt, need for reassurance, and need for validation that you have a problem to begin with. But you do, if you didn’t, you wouldn’t be seeking help. Your problems may not seem as bad as someone else’s, but that doesn’t matter. It is your own life, and your own experience, and you need to take control of it.

[pd-star]

fitting the obsessive-compulsive stereotype of being Neat and Organized™ does not mean that you’re faking. you are real. you are valid.

[scntrx-deactivated20191108]

[snorlax-and-co]

[allships-are-goodships]

pedophilic obsessive compulsive disorder is different from being a fucking pedophile jesus christ if an adult fantasises abt being in a relationship w/ a kid that's fucking creepy and ppl w/ pocd have intrusive thoughts abt it which isn't the same

Correct! POCD and PD aren’t the same!

But the existence of POCD doesn’t mean that PD is fake or invalid, or any less intrusive.

The big difference is that POCD stems from a FEAR of being attracted to children and a FEAR of harming them. OCD latches onto that and blows it out of proportion, making you second-guess yourself and panic over hypothetical situations.

PD, however, is a disorder of attraction. People with POCD aren’t attracted to children, but their minds torture them by telling them they MIGHT be. People with PD ARE attracted to children, and are generally tortured by other people telling them that they can never be anything but a criminal, even if they isolate themselves from the world.

Neither disorder is a choice. Neither disorder is more valid than the other.

POCD and PD are separate, but they are both VERY real and deserve the same level of respect and compassion. Otherwise, they will never get any better.

[fakepunk-archive]

friendly reminder that some people with ocd have the compulsion to ask for reassurance and we can’t help how much or how often we ask. we most likely find it just as annoying as you so no need to point it out.