It's OCD Awareness Week and I have been thinking about why it is so important to have a week to bring awareness to OCD. First and foremost, bringing our awareness to the disorder invites us to have true compassion for the struggles of the roughly 7-8 million Americans, and anywhere from 80 to over 300 million people globally who will contend with OCD in their lifetime.

OCD is a disorder that is time-consuming, debilitating, erodes your confidence and spirit, and can make just getting through the normal tasks of the day feel like a high-risk operation. Second: the message we can bring this week is one of hope: Many who have OCD feel resigned that it is a “condition” that is unchangeable, rather than a “disorder” that can be treated. In spreading this message we help sufferers understand that despite the significant difficulties that OCD causes in a person’s life, it is also a very treatable disorder: It is not a forever way of life—with effective treatment, it can be overcome. And the third reason to bring awareness to OCD is to change our understanding of what OCD is, and what it isn’t. It is a debilitating disorder. It is not a willful choice or a personality quirk.

We might not understand from seeing behavior on the outside (checking, repeating, redoing, avoiding, asking for........

© Psychology Today