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Family member dismissed my OCD

D1ng0Senior Contributor30 Jan 2025, 9:35 am AEDT

Family member dismissed my OCD

Hey, folks. Hope you're doing okay.

I've been diagnosed with OCD after a lifetime of thoughts which make no sense, are really bloody distressing, and escalated over the years. I've had Symmetry OCD for as long as I can remember, but I'd learned to deal with those thoughts... I only brought it to a psych when my Harm OCD became frequent/upsetting enough to disrupt my everyday life. This diagnosis means a lot to me, even though it's scary too.

I tried to tell one of my parents about my OCD diagnosis. This parent said, "Stop getting diagnosed with things. You'll get diagnosed with everything if you keep seeing a psychologist. This stuff just a part of your personality." This parent compared my issues with them being an introvert. They reckon everything I've been diagnosed with are just personality traits. (Including... bulimia nervosa??)

I think this parent assumes that OCD is just being really clean. So they think I'm just overreacting by getting diagnosed.

I wanted to speak up and explain what my OCD is.

Content/trigger warning

I wanted to explain that, every time I see certain household objects, these horrific thoughts pop into my head, and I can't make it better without professional support. And that's just one example. Turns out, some of my SI throughout the years has actually been OCD. That's what I was dealing with alone. I couldn't figure that out without my psych.

But I couldn't speak up. I couldn't find the words. And it really frustrates me, knowing that my parent still thinks I'm being over-diagnosed for no good reason. It's not as if I enjoy having multiple conditions which are serious enough to warrant being diagnosed. I don't want to live like this. But I am living like this, so I'm getting professional support.

If anyone has any advice about making a skeptical family member believe you, I'd be very grateful. Especially in the realm of OCD. Or just some empathy. This sucks.

22 replies

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In response to: Family member dismissed my OCD

tymeModerator06 Feb 2025, 3:56 pm AEDT

Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

Hey @D1ng0 , How are you?

In response to: Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

D1ng0Senior Contributor09 Feb 2025, 2:30 pm AEDT

Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

Hey @tyme, thank you for asking 🙂 I'm all over the place, to be honest. Mainly quite depressed.

In response to: Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

tymeModerator09 Feb 2025, 4:19 pm AEDT

Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

Has this depressive feeling been going on for a while now? @D1ng0 I hope you find some space of self love and self care.

Life sucks at times. I have to say that I'm experiencing some challenges too, but in a way, I feel I am stronger to face these challenges by looking at the bigger picture.

What helps you?

In response to: Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

D1ng0Senior Contributor10 Feb 2025, 10:18 pm AEDT

Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

Hey again @tyme, thank you so much.

The depression has been pretty severe since I tried to tell my parent about my OCD.

Nothing's really making me feel better in a significant way, or a way that I can feel in the moment. I'm just making myself keep going. I'm forcing myself to see my psych, see my dietitian, stick to mechanical eating, and chip away at my work tasks. It all feels exhausting. But the cycle says I'll feel less depressed eventually, so I'm trusting that.

I hope you're doing okay, when you read this. Thank you again.

In response to: Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

tymeModerator12 Feb 2025, 4:12 pm AEDT

Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

Hey @D1ng0 , I can see how it can feel so draining. The idea of 'mechanical' eating just takes all the joy out (it seems). If there's anything you think we can do to better support you, please reach out. I hope things improve for you.

What do you tend to get up to in the mornings?

In response to: Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

D1ng0Senior Contributor12 Feb 2025, 9:48 pm AEDT

Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

Thank you @tyme. And I hope you're doing okay tonight, as well.

Food hasn't brought me joy for years, so I'm not losing anything there tbh. Mechanical eating is more like a safety blanket that I can protect myself with, especially since I'd be in a vicious bulimic cycle without it. It feels really good to commit to mechanical eating. I know it's the path to more moderate food intake, because I achieved that late last year, before I relapsed. It's just so damn hard, is all.

In the mornings, I usually have an exercise routine that helps with my chronic pain... But I've been avoiding it lately for some bizarre reason, even though I know it helps me. If you/SANE have any resources about procrastination occurring alongside multiple mental illnesses, that would actually be really helpful. Cheers 🙂

In response to: Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

tymeModerator12 Feb 2025, 9:57 pm AEDT

Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

Actually, I have come across a few topics around procrastination. Here's one that I watched when I was at uni... just for a laugh https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4P785j15Tzk

@D1ng0

I'll have a look at other resources and get back to you.

In response to: Re: Family member dismissed my OCD

D1ng0Senior Contributor17 Feb 2025, 3:03 pm AEDT