Last year I was diagnosed with OCD, but my OCD manifests in a very specific way. In fact I had never heard of it before- I was told I had relationship OCD (rOCD). My original diagnosis was for OCD but my psychiatrist explained that I seemed to display a very particular form of the condition,…
It was the summer of 2004 when I first began to notice symptoms of OCD. I had just finished my music degree and was looking forward to a summer of fun and memory-making with my friends. A few days later, I started to feel a bit anxious but I didn’t think anything of it. Unfortunately,…
I was diagnosed earlier this year with Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder (OCPD). The diagnosis wasn’t a surprise when it was explained to me what it meant, although to be honest I’d not actually ever heard of it before. But when the psychiatrist went through the symptoms with me, it made a lot of sense. Ever…
My first memories of having OCD symptoms began at around six years old. I was an extreme perfectionist. One of my first memories of this was of doing a painting from Beauty and The Beast from a magazine and something went wrong- I coloured outside the line, and I started having a small panic attack,…
I have a myriad of conditions- all diagnosed in adulthood- however I have been experiencing symptoms of most of these things since early childhood, with some popping up in my teen years. I have Bipolar Disorder (started as a teen/young adult), OCD (started in early childhood), ADHD (born with), autism (born with), Complex PTSD (I’ve…
I remember that from the age of 13 years old, I was always anxious. After trauma hit me, my mind was running nonstop with anxiety. Life has been a blur since. It felt like a psychological block formed in my head due to my repressed, unconscious anxiety. I cannot learn new things, nor do things…
I first began noticing something was wrong when I was a sophomore in high school. I started to chatter my teeth (shiver), vomit, and experienced major stomach issues (embarrassing and out of my control). I had a racing heart and this overwhelming fear that I was dying. All of these symptoms came together. It was…
I am diagnosed with GAD and ADHD. It was probably at its worst when I started university. I struggled with feelings of depression as well as flashbacks. I used to become so anxious I would have panic attacks, I would undergo spells of derealisation/depersonalization and I’d feel like I couldn’t breathe- like I was struck…
I have suffered with BPD since I was a teenager (around 14/15 years old) but wasn’t officially diagnosed till I was 19. I have what is classified as ‘quiet’ BPD, which basically means I act out a lot of my symptoms internally rather than externally. For example, others may punch a wall or shout and…
I had a long-standing diagnosis of Bipolar Disorder, alongside depression and anxiety, which has recently been re-diagnosed as CPTSD (which makes so much more sense to me). I also have anorexia. Masking is something I spend a huge amount of time and energy doing. I’ve struggled with massive fluctuations in mood since my teens –…