OCD: The Invisible Disorder
Daniel Safavi, MA, AMFT, of the OCD Center of Los Angeles, discusses how social stigmas and misconceptions can pose unique challenges to interpersonal connection for someone with OCD. Also included are some helpful guidelines to consider when determining whether to self-disclose.
OCD and the Basic Human Need for Connection
Social connection is a basic human need, and a big part of connecting with others is being vulnerable from time to time. Being vulnerable produces some distress. This is true for all of us. However, those with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), have the added challenge of their condition often being misconstrued by others. In other words, even when someone with OCD musters up the courage to open up about OCD-related challenges, others may respond with invalidating comments, even if they didn’t intend to do so. This is often due to their ignorance around the subject. This can leave the person with OCD feeling alienated, which is very unfortunate, since a pain unseen is a constant fiend.
Different Levels of Understanding
We all have things we are embarrassed or ashamed about. But most of those things can at least be intellectually understood, and perhaps even emotionally understood, by another person. In fact, the listener may share a similar experience or may know of someone else who did. For example, let’s say that one of your friends feels shame around not going to graduate school and getting an advanced degree. Even if you yourself don’t experience that same trigger, you can probably at least understand that shame and empathize with the experience of feeling inadequate or being self-critical. You may even know of other people who struggle with similar issues that your friend has.