Ask me anything about OCD specifically
Ask me anything about OCD in particular! From the basics, to philosophy, to advice I’ll do my best to answer your questions.
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I went back to read 4 of your pieces on OCD to get a proper idea on what you already said about the topic.
What pervasive myth/misunderstanding do you think is most inhibiting progress to OCD alleviation advocacy? What perception would you turn 180?
To give an example as a point of comparison, I was diagnosed 3 years ago with a very severe variation of ADHD. By far the worst myth for ADHD is that it was an improperly over diagnosed and overprescribed condition, when the situation was exactly the opposite. And even after I got diagnosed and shared about it, I’ve had conflicts with others who had deep rooted skepticism of everything to do with psychiatry as a scientific field and clinic practice, telling me that ADHD diagnosis is largely fake. I could only imagine what such people faced 10-15 years ago.
If there was greater advocacy to catch children early to get them properly medicated, it would have eliminated an enormous amount of suffering.
What relationship do you think there is between colloquial OCD and clinical OCD?
For example, I *hate* getting sticky or greasy stuff on my hands. Hate it so much. If I'm hiking and I get tree sap on me, it will actually ruin my day. I pack alcohol wipes in case this happens, but it'd still make me pretty miserable and I'd spend the rest of the hike worried I'd missed some on my shirt or backpack.
People call this "OCD", but I'm not so sure. Seems perfectly reasonable to me. Is that on the same sliding scale, or in a different category?