MHM Magazine

22 | MENTAL HEALTH MATTERS | 2024 | Issue 5 MHM Living with OCD can be a truly lonely and isolating experience for many people who suffer from the condition. Many of those suffering from OCD live with the feeling that no one can or will ever really understand their experience. They feel misunderstood and often judged by their partners, families, friends, and colleagues. Judged for not being strong enough to just stop engaging in what appears to others to be “weird behaviours”. Even when families and friends are understanding and supportive, many people with OCD still feel a gulf between their own experience and the understanding that their loved ones have of their battle with OCD. Supportive families and friends also often have to adjust their lifestyles and activities in line with the needs and triggers of someone with OCD, leading to frustration or resentment, while contributing to feelings of guilt and shame in those with OCD. OCD is often portrayed overly simplistically in the media as a fixation on cleanliness or order. While this may appear on the surface to be the experience of some people diagnosed with OCD, the reality and internal experience is often significantly different, with many people displaying none of the stereotyped behaviours. The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders (DSM) defines OCD as a disorder characterised by an individual experiencing obsessive thoughts that trigger anxiety and compulsive behaviours done in order to reduce anxiety. Even this clinical definition of OCD hardly captures the full scope of the experience, generally more intense and specific than the everyday anxiety that most people experience. While for most people, normal daily anxiety might arise in response to stressors like work, relationships, or health, OCD-related anxiety is typically far more intense and severe, making it difficult for others to comprehend the experience. OCD affects approximately 1-2% of the population worldwide, meaning millions of individuals experience the condition. This rate of prevalence is comparable to medically oriented disorders like epilepsy, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis, but is much less understood and accepted. This points to the need for large scale awareness about OCD and the experience of people diagnosed with the condition. The role of clinicians in treating OCD is therefore a complex one. By Timmy Joji Clinical Psychologist Cape Town, Western Cape timmy13joji@gmail.com THE UNSEEN BATTLE WITH OCD: OVERCOMING ISOLATION, ANXIETY, AND MISCONCEPTIONS MHM | 2024 | Volume 11 | Issue 5 | The Un een Battle with OCD: Overcoming Isolation, Anxiety, and Misconceptions H