Yahoo Health: OCD

Living with OCD: We Are Unique, Not Abnormal

The fifth edition of the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM-5) will be released in May. Yahoo is featuring first-person stories from Americans who are diagnosed with some of the most common mental health disorders in the United States. Here's one story.

FIRST PERSON | Imagine walking into someone's office and seeing pamphlets or business cards lying around and pictures on the wall. Sounds normal, right? Now imagine that those cards, pamphlets or pictures are slightly crooked, and that's the only thing that you can focus on in that room. You don't hear what people are saying to you; all you can hear is your own mind telling you to straighten things up, make them even. You try to look at the person speaking to you, but your eyes keep wandering back to these crooked items. You finally walk over to straighten them out just so that you can focus on the person rather than driving yourself crazy thinking about how uneven things are. You turn around to see them staring at you in confusion.

I'm 31, and I've been living like this for years. I was diagnosed about three years ago with obsessive-compulsive disorder, post-traumatic stress disorder, and general anxiety disorder. I believe that my OCD stems mostly from a very dysfunctional childhood and my perception that I had to be perfect in order to keep some amount of peace in my home. It eventually became more extreme and more things had to be even.

Now, I don't even step on cracks, and if I do slip up, I have to step on the crack with my other foot to make it even. Living in the Arizona heat it gets a little frustrating when you are spending more time than needed in 110-degree weather!

I tried medications to alleviate the problem; however, it just created more problems. I became so lethargic that I just didn't care to make things even when I could just leave the room and go take a nap. That was no way to live for me. I would rather go about my life making things even and constantly cleaning than to feel useless. I do, however, go to therapy to deal with all of my issues, and I recommend that to anyone.

It's an aggravating feeling, but I made the choice to see some humor in it. I try to always keep a positive outlook, and if people look at me in confusion, I just laugh and tell them I can't help it. I have found that most people understand and actually have loved ones that deal with similar issues. I believe there are probably more people who deal with mental health issues than not.

It's time to start talking about them and quit treating our problems as if they don't exist in an attempt to be "normal." We are just as normal as anybody else; we just do things a little differently!