October is OCD Awareness Month. OCD stands for Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. OCD Awareness Month is a time to support those dealing with the mental condition. OCD is often misunderstood as a need to be neat and organized all the time, but realistically it is much more complex than that. October is the time that we should aim to learn about how OCD really affects people.

OCD is a mental health condition that is recognized by intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviors. Most of the time, these thoughts can trigger lots of anxiety and distress, as well as causing someone to lose sleep. People with OCD tend to also repeat certain actions that are aimed at reducing stress surrounding a certain thought or belief.

Someone who lives with OCD expressed: “It feels like a prison inside your brain. The compulsive things we do are to keep people safe and we can’t stop, we believe it. It’s not just making things clean, that’s part of it, but it’s so much more that is so exhausting.”

In order to help people with OCD, focus on encouraging them to seek professional help. Sometimes therapy can be useful, other times medication may be necessary. Another way to help is to not encourage their intrusive thoughts if you are aware of what they are. And as always, just be kind. If you do not understand their thoughts or feelings, that does not mean it is not valid. It’s best to be  supportive and understanding.

As a community, we should always intend to understand things that people are going through. Empathy and kindness are what holds us all together and makes a positive impact in our world. So strive to make use of this time offered to support those with OCD in our community.