In this week’s Safe Home Podcast, Beth talks with a family friend of hers from church - Katherine Osborne. Katherine shared with the church that she was recently diagnosed with OCD - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. I thought it might be good for our audience to learn from an eloquent teen how OCD feels. Nowadays people joke that they have OCD when they’re bothered when something doesn’t quite line up, or if one tile is a different color. You see memes about OCD all the time. But that’s a very simplistic view of OCD that doesn’t honor the lived experience of people who struggle with this disorder every day of their lives.

In this episode, Katherine explains her own lived experience of OCD, and she mentions things she’s learned so far. But of course neither of us are OCD experts or healthcare professionals. We recommend getting professional help if you or someone you know might be struggling with OCD or any mental health issues.

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Resources about OCD that Katherine recommends:

• OCD & Anxiety YouTube Channel https://www.youtube.com/c/ocdandanxiety
• What is Pure OCD? (School of Life Channel) https://youtu.be/Q9yKaI0vLJs

Other Resources:

• Other Parents Like Me -  https://www.facebook.com/other.parents.like.me
• Heather Ross - Life Coaching for Parents of Addicted Teens: https://heatherrosscoaching.com/
• Find a Tele-Therapist: https://www.psychologytoday.com/us/therapists/online-counseling

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Safe Home is created by Joseph Nakao and Beth Syverson

Music written and performed by Joseph Nakao

Cover art by Joseph Nakao, photo by Beth Syverson

Email questions or comments to Safe Home at [email protected]

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Support Safe Home on Patreon: Patreon.com/SafeHome

www.SafeHomeFamilies.com

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TIME STAMPS

1:12 Katherine’s hobbies & college activities

2:25 When did Katherine’s OCD symptoms start? (Thank you, COVID.  ☹️)

3:46 How Katherine experiences OCD in cycles - obsessions and compulsions

6:30 What are intrusive thoughts?

8:54 How does Katherine manage her OCD?

10:22 How Katherine was diagnosed with OCD. Did her diagnosis make things better or worse?

14:00 How OCD has affected Katherine’s social life

15:45 How do Katherine’s family and friends support her when she’s having a bad OCD day?

18:11 Is OCD more common for adults and teens? Is it growing?

19:40 Katherine’s advice to parents of teens?

24:13 Can someone pull an OCD sufferer out of an OCD cycle?

27:20 First steps if you’re curious if you might have OCD

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