How does your OCD affect your life? Please share..

I can get stuck in one spot for hours tapping even if I didn't want to be it's shit and I can't go to bed because I think people will die

OCD has made me an extreme perfeccionist. I'm a writer and my mood depends completely on whether or not I write something good everyday; if I'm on writers' block, see mistakes or there's lack of feedback I get extremely anxious. I obssess with little details and get stuck on technicalities all the time. I've written a lot since I got OCD, but at the same time I also edit things constantly.

Without the meds I made mistakes at work because of intrusive thoughts, which varied between violent imagery to song lyrics. It's gone now, for the most part, but I still have a tendency to fixate on things.

My OCD affects my life greatly. About a year ago was when it flared up horribly. I had germaphobic obsessions, which made me wash my hands about 15-30 times a day, causing my hands to become raw and dry. I started using a coping method which made me less sensitive to germs and bacteria, and for a while, life was enjoyable. Then, sometime this year, the obsessions came back out of nowhere. There were new obsessions along with the old ones. The new ones affected my social life greatly. I was afraid to talk to people, as an obsession that I have is that I'll make one small mistake, and everyone will hate me for it. I became anxious when I made something as small as a typo on a paper or a text message. I had a panic attack at school because a certain word didn't look right. I cry whenever I make a mistake because I always feel like my friends and family will never care about me because of it. I'd begin to tremble when the obsessions came back, and then I'd cry. So yeah, my OCD has been in a large portion of my life. It still is a burden and I'm seeking new ways to cope with it, such as therapy. I'm going to stay strong for the moment though. That's my story so far.

I feel like the thoughts control me, even though Im trying so hard to control certain parts of my life through these behaviors. I try to tell myself that these are just thoughts and I do not need to engage in these behaviors, but it feels like once I have the thought, I have no other choice but to act on it. I feel better for a little, but it just gets worse and worse. I wash my hands too much, I cannot stand to feel unclean. I pick my skin. I reread sentences in excess of ten times each when trying to get through a novel because I think I didnt read that well enough. Other people get frustrated with me, and it hurts because they dont acknowledge that if it seems like a lot to them, that it must feel much worse for me. I get so mad at myself. I want to be normal. I hate that I can spend hours on a cleaning spree or have to take two showers in a row or get so upset over things like taking out the trash. I hate it because I have to go outside and touch a trash receptacle, I have no choice...but I cant stop thinking I have no idea what other people have put in here but its probably dirty and now I have to shower and now my keys are dirty but I cant leave the keys in the apartment because I wouldnt be able to get back in the building Im not even writing coherently right now; I just feel like OCD takes up most of my life and pushes other people away and I dont know how to push the thoughts away

I have scrupilosity OCD, and I stopped working and I haven't gone back to school because of my obsessions surrounding school and working. Right now I'm stuck in this limbo where everyone else is starting their lives and im just floating between college and adulthood. As long as I stay home, my OCD is only seen in washing my hands, biting my nails, and making food. I'm scared of going back to school and having all the pressure and obsessions come back. I get so scared that I'm going to cheat on something or lie or not work hard enough. Working freaks me out too, but I feel like there are no other options in my life. Just... stuck

It will try to contiuinoulsy get in the way of happinness, but you can't let it. Positivity and the mindset that you'll deal with the anxiety head-on is what you need to live with OCD. It works, but takes effort.