Imagine that you are a waitress at a restaurant. You notice that a recently vacated table needs to be cleaned. You clean it, as per your job. Later, you notice a family with two small children at the table. You also happen to see a newscast for a recent outbreak of (insert deadly food-borne illness here). Your eyes begin to sting. Your head begins to race faster than you can keep up with. What if one of those kids gets sick because of my obvious negligence? What if they die? Does that make me a murderer? I can't be a murderer, I have to finish school! What if their parents die and they have to live the remainder of their lives as orphans because a selfish waitress couldn't take the extra time to properly check the table for maximum cleanliness?

Now, imagine that you are a born-and-raised dedicated Christian attending church on a Sunday morning. You eagerly listen to the sermon, then ten minutes later notice that you completely zoned out. Cue the red face and increased body temperature. I must secretly be an atheist. Why else would I be such an awfully disrespectful human being? What if I subconsciously want to worship the devil? How can I want that? I don't want that, right?

Lastly, picture yourself driving down the interstate on the way to work one morning. You notice someone having car trouble standing on the side of the road. You note how dangerous that looks; just standing there next to vehicles going such high speeds. I could totally just steer slightly to the right and seriously injure someone. Sweaty palms. Heavy breathing. Why the heck did I just think that? Am I a psychopath? Oh my Gosh, I totally am. What do I do? It's only a matter of time before I actually injure someone, right? Can I still graduate if I'm a psychopath? Do they let psychopaths go to college? Will I be fired for this? What if everyone already knows?

Most of the population has no idea what I am getting at with these examples. That is a positive thing. Good for you, Average Joe. The above are examples of the day-to-day, often minute-to-minute, thoughts of a person who suffers from untreated Pure Obsessional Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or "Pure O" for short. Those who suffer from Pure O suffer from a subset of the more popularly-known OCD, in which a person suffers from obsessions, such as Did I leave the water running? Followed by overt, observable compulsions, such as If I tap the sink five times before I leave the house the water will for sure be off. Pure O is different in that the compulsions that follow the obsessive thoughts mentioned in the examples above are more than likely one hundred percent unobservable, as well as the thoughts are typically aggressive or sexual in nature, contradicting the sufferer's perceived sense of morality. The compulsions that go along with Pure O usually take shape as ruminations and reassurances, such as This is why I am not a serial killer...; I need to know the reason for...; I can't take this chance, because if I did...; If I could just figure this out, I could move past it and my life would be free of anxieties; etc.

Pure O does not discriminate, although it is often found in high-achieving individuals with a strong sense of right and wrong. That is one reason these individuals find these unwanted, intrusive thoughts so distressing; they find great importance in functioning as a productive, helpful member of society. These people detest the thought of causing harm or trouble to someone, even accidentally.Sometimes, you'll notice people joke around, saying things such as "I could just go crazy if I get one more call from a telemarketer," or "I could just kill my wife sometimes, LOL." It is unlikely that these people suffer from Pure O, because they realize that they would never do those things and are able to find humor in the everyday, typical thoughts that run through the human brain. When these thoughts run through the brain of someone suffering from Pure O, a skewed "fight-or-flight" system sends out red flags to the individual, causing a great amount of debilitating anxiety that sometimes cannot be quelled for days.

Common obsessions might include harm-related obsessions, in which the individual fears causing either accidental or purposeful harm to others; religious or morally-themed obsessions, in which the individual fears inappropriate thoughts about one's religion or religious figures, or fears damnation or a lack of faith; Obsession focusing on sexuality or relationships, in which one questions the extent of one's love for another or their sexual orientation, Obsessions involving superstitions, or obsessions involving one's health.

It is estimated that 2.3% of Americans suffer from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and that about 60% of those Americans suffer from the subset Pure O. However, those suffering from Pure O are unlikely to reach out, due to the fear of being judged or of being told they are actually whatever they fear they are, so the number could potentially be much higher.

I know that personally, I have heard people say "I am so OCD," referring to a preference for having all items in a room organized or tidy, too many times to count. I have also heard "OMG this gives me anxiety," referring to a situation one would rather not be in. I just have to think to myself, What are the odds that you wouldn't forget about those files being in the wrong folder in five minutes? or, On a scale of 1 to panic, how anxious does this science project actually make you? Mental health has been bastardized and prostituted down to sayings such as "I'm so bipolar," and "That was depressing," or, "Sorry, I totally have ADHD," while we would all absolutely condemn each other for saying "That gave me cancer," or, "Why can't she just walk? Her bone is only sticking out of her leg, for goodness sake." It's science. Mental illnesses are common and real. They are factual. They are observable. They are proven. My hope is that in the generations to come, mental illness is talked about as freely as physical illness and children do not waste any of their days hiding their shame and embarrassment over things they don't even know about or understand are happening, and are very treatable. Recently, I came across a picture with a quote on it on a social media site. The quote said, "Back then, we sent 18-year-olds to war. Now, 18-year-olds need protection from hurt feelings." This is true, we did send 18-year-olds to war, and we still do. However, the teens back in the day very often came home with untreated Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, depression issues, anxiety issues, and sadly, more suicides resulting from the events than there are today. Do you know why this is? OUR GENERATION IS EMPHASIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF MENTAL HEALTH. This "weakness" attitude should be a thing of the past, much like the "slavery" attitude. As time goes on, humanity gets more intelligent. We just do. I am proud to be a part of the generation that is coming clean about mental health and is taking a stance.

With that being said, I encourage anyone with Pure O tendencies, or anyone with any kind of mental illness tendencies, to freely talk about it. The more we talk about it, the less we give the stigma the power to control us.