We've all heard those jokes about people who have to arrange pencils by colour or wipe every single crumb off the table. But obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is much more than that.
I'm pretty sure that all the people who tell you they have OCD actually don't have it at all, while those who do have it either don't know they have it or don't talk about it. Charming and quirky OCD characters from TV shows often have no idea what it actually looks like to have OCD.
It is not a cute personality trait that makes you feel special, but a horrible, often paralyzing feeling of being obsessed with disturbing thoughts over which we have no control and which we do not want to have. It is the belief that arbitrary things around you are a sign that something you fear the most is going to happen.
Imagine your brain constantly throwing random, boring, intrusive thoughts at you that are often so bizarre you don't even know where they come from: "What if I ran someone over and didn't notice?" or "What if I open the car door while driving and accidentally fall out?" Completely insane thoughts, caused by nothing, thoughts that feel as if they belong to someone else. Everyone has them, but people with OCD have them frequently, cannot ignore them, and they are followed by a compulsive action as a defence against those pieces of junk.
This is an introduction to a long exploration of the disorder. Google it, TikTok it, Instagram it. Take a look at what is actually happening inside those suffering heads, and don't dismiss those people as annoying weirdos who make drama over things that seem impossible to you — listen to them without judgment. "Just relax" is not helpful. If we could, we would relax. It's like telling someone with a broken leg to simply stop limping.
It helps to read about it and realize that, fortunately, you are not special at all, and that every bizarre thought or action that obsesses you obsesses many other people as well. It also helps to remember that we are not our thoughts, and that we actually can control them — it is one of the rare things in this life over which we do have control. We can control our response to thoughts; we do not have to react. We can, for example, breathe.