Despite what you may think, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or OCD, isn't about being incredibly organized or washing your hands until they bleed. No, OCD is SO much more than that. It is a multifaceted mental illness that encompasses, the mind and the body. Take it from me, I have had OCD my entire life.

It can be really unnerving. I know it is kind of abstract to explain how my OCD mind works, but please try to bear with me. My OCD tries to convince me of something that I know isn't true. For example, I know that my parents love me but my OCD tries to convince me they don't love me, even though I know they do. It's an uncomfortable back and forth between my OCD the rest of my mind that leads to uncertainty, self-doubt and mostly anxiety.

Similarly, OCD also makes me obsess over things that don't matter. This can actually be both a good thing and a bad thing. A good thing these obsessions can bring me great happiness and a sense of happiness and passion when it centers on positive things like movies and cartoons. But, these obsessions can be downright frightening when my OCD wants to focus on something negative like a boy not texting me back, disease, or even death.

But what makes these obsessions beyond normal is that they never turn off. Let's say I want to stop thinking about a boy not texting me, and think about something else, that's extremely difficult for me. OCD acts as a cattle prod, continually poking my brain with unpleasant thoughts and obsessions, and leading me to perform compulsions. Compulsions are rituals that people with OCD use to ease their anxiety. An example of a compulsion is me sitting up and readjusting myself in my bed ten times every night because I'm obsessing over going to bed in an uncomfortable position,

So, that's what it's like having OCD, more or less. There's also the hypochondria and delusions of both grandeur and anialation, but maybe that's an article for another day. But the truth of it is, OCD is a disease that plays tricks on the mind, which messes with a person's perception of reality, and a disease that makes unwanted thoughts nearly impossible to let go, and a disease that gives way to compulsions, a disease that is so much more than being a neat freak.