Separate Things: A Memoir

Imagine if every pain assessment included this one question:
"What did you have to give up to stay at this pain level?"

That answer would tell providers so much more than a single number ever could.

Sometimes the biggest symptom isn't the pain itself.
It's everything pain has taken away.

💜 What would your answer be today?

The pain and shame associated with OCD — especially the more taboo themes — can have tragic outcomes. Lives should never be lost to a treatable illness. Here are some important reminders:

Intrusive thoughts are not intentions. There is no connection between someone having an intrusive thought and acting on it. In fact, OCD attacks the morality of the people who have it — it goes directly against what they desire.

No theme holds more of a moral weight than another. Just like a cough is different than leg pain, symptoms are symptoms. P-OCD does not hold moral value, and neither does checking OCD. An illness is an illness is an illness.

OCD is treatable. There are therapists who genuinely understand. Many of us (including myself) have lived experience with OCD, as well as specialized training. You don’t have to walk this alone. Healing is genuinely possible.