Get to know OCD

Rainn Wilson describes his intrusive thoughts as “a shoe in the dryer”—relentless, loud, and impossible to ignore. Howie Mandel can relate.

Both entertainers live with OCD, and while their symptoms show up differently, their stories follow a similar path: from years of confusion before being diagnosed, to the relief of finally having a name for what they were experiencing, to speaking up so others can find help faster than they did.

In this special episode of Get to know OCD, the two actors sit down with Dr. Patrick McGrath, NOCD's Chief Clinical Officer, to talk about…

• Why OCD feels so real

• How stigma and misunderstandings kept Howie silent for years

• How ERP therapy and medication changed Rainn’s life

• Why being open about OCD matters

• Their advice for anyone who’s struggling

At NOCD, we specialize in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, the most effective treatment for OCD—a treatment that can help you live a fulfilling life. If you’re ready to take your first step, book a free 15-minute call with us at https://learn.nocd.com/YT

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Being particular is nothing like actually having OCD—and Rainn Wilson would know. The actor famous for playing Dwight Schrute on The Office gets real about his own experience with OCD in this episode of Get to know OCD.

Rainn was diagnosed with OCD in his late 50s, during a period of intense stress. It showed up through constant rumination and reassurance-seeking, and persistent doubts about his beliefs. These symptoms happened in his mind, which made them difficult to recognize as OCD.

In a conversation with Dr. Patrick McGrath, Chief Clinical Officer of NOCD, Rainn opens up about…

• What the "neat freak" stereotype of OCD gets wrong
• How internal OCD symptoms can go unnoticed
• Trying to talk himself out of his intrusive thoughts, and why that didn’t work
• How exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy changed the way he relates to his thoughts—and changed his life

At NOCD, we specialize in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, the most effective treatment for OCD—the treatment that transformed Rainn Wilson’s life. If you’re ready to take your first step, book a free 15-minute call with us at ⁠https://learn.nocd.com/YT⁠

Follow us on social media:

⁠https://www.instagram.com/treatmyocd/⁠

⁠https://twitter.com/treatmyocd⁠

⁠https://www.tiktok.com/@treatmyocd⁠

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You’ve spent so long being terrified by your intrusive thoughts. Then treatment starts working, the fear fades, and OCD finds a new question to throw at you: If these thoughts don’t bother me anymore, does that mean I actually like them?

Dr. Patrick McGrath explains why becoming less afraid of an intrusive thought doesn’t mean you agree with it or are more likely to act on it. It means you’re learning to let the thought exist without giving OCD the power to control what you do.

At NOCD, we specialize in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, the most effective treatment for OCD—a treatment that can help you live a fulfilling life. If you’re ready to take your first step, book a free 15-minute call with us at https://learn.nocd.com/YT

Follow us on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/treatmyocd/

https://twitter.com/treatmyocd

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Bad OCD days are going to happen. Sometimes the thoughts feel more real, the anxiety is harder to shake, and resisting compulsions suddenly feels a lot harder than it did yesterday. The big question is how you respond when OCD catches you on one of those days.

You might think it’s okay to give yourself a pass when OCD is hitting especially hard. In this video, Dr. Patrick McGrath explains why giving in to compulsions on those bad days can actually make OCD worse, and his advice for what to do instead.

At NOCD, we specialize in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, the most effective treatment for OCD—a treatment that can help you live a fulfilling life. If you’re ready to take your first step, book a free 15-minute call with us at https://learn.nocd.com/YT

Follow us on social media:

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You know the fear doesn’t make sense. You’ve gone over the facts, reassured yourself, and tried to reason your way out of it — but OCD still leaves you with the same question: “But what if?” When something feels that real, knowing better doesn’t always make the fear disappear.

Dr. Patrick McGrath explains why OCD isn’t something you can simply think your way out of. Even when you know you’re safe, OCD can make danger feel real — and recovery means learning that you don’t have to respond to that feeling.

At NOCD, we specialize in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, the most effective treatment for OCD—a treatment that can help you live a fulfilling life. If you’re ready to take your first step, book a free 15-minute call with us at https://learn.nocd.com/YT

Follow us on social media:

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You finally start getting a handle on one OCD fear — and then suddenly it latches onto something completely different. The thoughts may change from contamination to driving, relationships, morality, or something else entirely, but underneath them can be the same deeper fear that OCD keeps finding new ways to target. In this video, Dr. Patrick McGrath explains why identifying these “core fears” can be so important to OCD treatment.

At NOCD, we specialize in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, the most effective treatment for OCD—a treatment that can help you live a fulfilling life. If you’re ready to take your first step, book a free 15-minute call with us at https://learn.nocd.com/YT

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Shawn Welty had worked in mental health for nearly 20 years — in schools, community mental health, trauma care, substance abuse, and more. But when he finally received specialized training in OCD and ERP, he started looking at his old work differently. Suddenly, he could recognize symptoms in former clients that he hadn’t known to look for at the time.

It was a reminder that years of experience don’t automatically make someone an OCD specialist. Now, Shawn gets to approach those same kinds of cases with tools he wishes he’d had years ago, and help people get the specialized treatment he didn’t even know how to provide earlier in his career.

If you’re ready to deepen your ERP skills and work somewhere specialized OCD treatment is the focus — not an afterthought — explore joining the team at NOCD: https://learn.nocd.com/therapist_careers

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Shannon Shy was a Marine Corps officer when OCD became so severe that nearly every waking minute was consumed by obsessions and compulsions. He hid what was happening for years, terrified that admitting he had a mental health problem could cost him his career, until one morning he sat in his car crying and realized he couldn’t live like this anymore.

Getting help changed the course of Shannon’s life. More than 25 years later, he doesn’t need OCD to disappear — he’s reached a point where he no longer fears when it shows up. Shannon joins Dr. Patrick McGrath to share how he got there and what decades of recovery have taught him about taking OCD’s power away.

At NOCD, we specialize in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, the most effective treatment for OCD—a treatment that can help you live a fulfilling life. If you’re ready to take your first step, book a free 15-minute call with us at https://learn.nocd.com/YT

Follow us on social media:

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OCD and autism can look surprisingly similar from the outside, especially when it comes to rigid routines and repetitive behaviors. But the reason behind the behavior can be very different: someone with autism may eat the same breakfast every morning because the routine feels comfortable, while someone with OCD may feel they have to do it because something bad could happen if they don’t.

In this video, Dr. Patrick McGrath explains where OCD and autism overlap, how to tell them apart, and why understanding what’s actually driving the behavior matters for getting the right treatment and support.

At NOCD, we specialize in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, the most effective treatment for OCD—a treatment that can help you live a fulfilling life. If you’re ready to take your first step, book a free 15-minute call with us at https://learn.nocd.com/YT

Follow us on social media:

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What's the difference between hoarding and OCD? Imagine two people who both refuse to throw away the same old birthday card. One keeps it because it holds a memory they’re afraid of losing. The other keeps it because OCD tells them something terrible could happen to the person who gave it to them if they throw it away.

From the outside, the behavior can look almost identical. But what’s driving it underneath can be completely different. In this video, Dr. Patrick McGrath breaks down that difference and why figuring out what’s really behind the behavior can change the kind of treatment someone needs.

At NOCD, we specialize in exposure and response prevention (ERP) therapy, the most effective treatment for OCD—a treatment that can help you live a fulfilling life. If you’re ready to take your first step, book a free 15-minute call with us at https://learn.nocd.com/YT

Follow us on social media:

https://www.instagram.com/treatmyocd/

https://twitter.com/treatmyocd

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Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.