This is how you can support a friend with OCD

Fundipp te acerca este interesante artículo con las claves para convivir y ayudar a alguien con OCD. Fuente original

OCD is a very difficult thing to grasp if you’ve never experienced it.

It’s illogical, irrational and sometimes, to an outside eye, a bit odd.

It’s important to remember that a person with OCD realises all of this, so although it might seem helpful, trying to poke holes in their compulsions is not going to ‘snap them out of it’.

Instead, it will probably only make them feel frustrated, silly and more isolated than they already do.

Using contamination OCD as an example, here are my dos and don’ts for supporting a friend with OCD.

Don’t berate them.

Telling your friend off for wasting water, pointing out to them how much they spend on hand soap, drawing attention to the damage they’re doing to their skin, or questioning why they’re washing their hands again, is more likely to make your friend feel guilty or embarrassed than help them.

They know all of this already, and trust me, they’re not happy about it.

Please remember that this is a compulsion, not just a choice.

In the moments leading up to them washing their hands, their mind has been screaming at them that they’re dirty.

They’ve felt the need to wash building up like an itch under their skin, and with it, they’ve felt their anxiety levels rising. While they’ve been talking to you like normal, unknown to you, they’ve been fighting a battle inside their own head.

OCD is like a fight for control.

Our brains are designed to keep us safe and we instinctively avoid things we perceive as dangerous, taking steps to minimise any risk of harm to ourselves.

But for a person with OCD, this perception of what’s safe and what’s dangerous is warped.

It affects your ability to listen to the rational part of your brain and puts you on constant high alert.

At its worst, OCD can make life exhausting and at times almost unbearable.

When your mind is screaming at you to wash your hands, even though you only washed them five minutes ago, you do it because it’s a compulsion.

And believe me, in that moment, as the hot water runs over your cracked and bleeding hands, it feels like you’ve lost that battle with your brain.…continuar leyendo