By Jackie Ayala, Staff Writer
October marks OCD Awareness Month – a time to acknowledge and understand people who have obsessive compulsive disorders, maybe even consider the possibility one might have it. This month gives others a chance to learn about what is true and not true about OCD, a condition which affects 1.2% of adults in the United States. While OCD is not extremely common, according to the International OCD Foundation, every 1 in 40 people are diagnosed with OCD. The result of this means it usually takes about 9 years for someone to gain the confidence and seek help. It becomes difficult to diagnose OCD as many professionals have little training on how to see the signs, leading to many people getting misdiagnosed with other disorders like anxiety or PTSD. The consequences? Being given the wrong treatment.
At the start of the month, I met with and interviewed Aaron Free, a counselor here at Pellissippi State Community College. During our conversation, I got the privilege to educate myself about the facts, myths, and everything in between circulating OCD. Safe to say, our talk opened my eyes to what goes through the thinking process of those who have it.
First and foremost, misinformation is spread all over the internet. Platforms such as TikTok and Instagram are vehicles for a lot of false information that people believe without truly realizing they are being lied to. On social media, OCD is usually described as only being about cleanliness and organizing, obsessing over pencils being in order or colorcoded; the truth is, it’s only sometimes that it’s about that. OCD can be intrusive and can even be violent at times. Aaron mentioned a few different types of the condition that give a good perception of how it affects people in their daily lives. But what are they?
Hit and Run OCD happens when someone is driving and hits a bump on the road. It could be a speed bump or anything on the road but the person’s mind instantly thinks they hit and killed a person. They get so paranoid by the idea that they stop and turn around to make sure they did not actually hit a person.
Pedophilic OCD is when someone believes themselves to be a pedophile. There is no real indication or pedophilic thoughts and is even common in mothers after childbirth. They will see a baby and find it cute, merely because it is a baby, but their brains associate them thinking a baby being cute with them being a pedophile. They feel disgusted in themselves simply from the thought and grow paranoid with themselves, even though they never actually think that way.
But what truly is OCD down to the core? OCD is made up of its three components: the obsessive, the compulsive, and the disorder. The obsessions never leave the person’s mind; whatever they obsess over is something they can’t stop thinking about no matter how hard they try. It comes spinning back around constantly in their brain.
The compulsion comes from the rituals, the habits the person has that they use to try to solve the obsessions; something like severe handwashing that people might be familiar with. But it can also be mental, as they might consistently review the things they’ve done during the day. A person with OCD might feel as if they think they said something awkward or embarrassing at a dinner with friends and constantly go back and review every little event to make sure nothing embarrassing was said.
There is also often a need for constant reassurance. When they feel as if they’ve hurt someone’s feelings, someone with OCD might consistently ask if they had said something wrong and apologize profusely. Even if the other person forgives them, it is difficult to grow past the thought of hurting someone inadvertently. With that, finally comes the disorder part of OCD. That’s the lack of power, making people with the disorder feel like they have no control over anything. It affects their ability to live their life every day. There is one big question in the brain of someone with OCD: “what if?”
Several habits are extremely common among most people with OCD. Repetition of things like body movements, activities in certain, defined multiples, and routine activities; while washing and cleaning can be a stereotype to describe everyone with OCD, it is still a common trait for people, as a common compulsion is to prevent contamination.
Telling the difference between if something is OCD or simply everyday thoughts can be assisted by understanding the difference between ego-syntonic and ego-dystonic thinking. Ego-syntonic correlates to someone’s true beliefs and identity while ego-dystonic doesn’t, but is rather the opposite of someone’s intentions and values. To put it simply, ego-dystonic can be seen as intrusive thoughts, as people are distressed by what they’re thinking and prefer not to. They don’t want to do the compulsive behaviors these thoughts lead into but still do them in order to keep the ego-dystonic thinking at bay.
Of course, there is a way to get help. Therapy for OCD is now more researched and there are treatments that can help control one’s symptoms. Inference Based Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (I-CBT) focuses and targets the trigger and the obsession at its core, guiding the person with OCD to look at why they are obsessing over something and identify if it is a normal reason or inferential confusion. Inferential confusion is “a type of reasoning process that creates obsessional doubts” which connects to ego-dystonic thinking. I-CBT helps people know the root of their thoughts in order to solve them, and by slowing down the inferential confusion, which later helps the reasoning process.
Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP), however, goes to treat the anxiety that comes from the thoughts. It focuses on the situation or thoughts that are making a person anxious or provoke their obsessions. The response prevention is used to help them make the choice to not give in to their compulsions and behavior the anxiety triggered.
But how do you get diagnosed? Luckily, a free screener is available on the International OCD Foundation website (linked below); the screener asks you a few simple questions to help guide you in the right direction to find out if you have OCD. However, this does not count as an actual diagnosis but rather a push to help you find out if you need one.
If you do believe or suspect you might have OCD, a mental health professional will be able to diagnose you and get you the help you are looking for. But not everyone has the resources to get one, which is where Pellissippi State Community College comes in to help its students to get them the proper assistance they need. Counseling services are able to guide you through dealing with OCD and there are multiple wonderful licensed counselors (including Aaron Free) that can help you if you are struggling to manage your OCD symptoms. If you believe or are told your case of OCD is severe, Disability Services is also here to find accommodations that you could need.
It is understandable if you are hesitant to seek outside help if you are struggling with affording it. Thankfully, Student Care and Advocacy is here to make sure you can have the resources at your disposal! Pellissippi State is here to help you throughout your college journey and, while it can feel scary to reach out and say you need help, the faculty and employees of the college want you to succeed not only in your schoolwork, but in your life moving forward.
OCD has always been an underresearched, underfunded aspect of mental health because it can be overlooked by doctors and oneself. Fortunately, Pellissippi State wants their students to strive for greatness, which for some students can include utilizing these resources given to them. Students can get the motivation and assistance they need from Pellissippi State, which is why if you feel like you might have OCD: you are not alone here!
A huge thank you to Aaron Free for informing me more about OCD and OCD Awareness Month; he’s more than willing to help anyone who suspects they have OCD or have been diagnosed. If you have questions or are looking for more information, his contact information will be below!
