Age question

[PipM82]

Out of curiousity what age were you when OCD really started hitting hard? I know I had OCD in my early teens - issues with clicking my teeth in a methodical manner, sniffing my hands as I thought they were smelly and special numbers - but it got REALLY bad from 23 years old. TIA.

[Lauragbr]

I was 15 and it was 1970. No one knew what was wrong with me, my mother was so worried. I went to therapists, doctors, etc. Besides the anxiety I had many intrusive thoughts. Eventually it went away, but would come back during stressful times. Unfortunately as the years went on and symptoms would come and go I started to read more and suspected what I had was OCD. Unfortunately, during all those episodes I did all the things that made OCD stronger. Tried to stop the thoughts, neutralizing thoughts, etc. It wasn’t till 2006 I had a terrible relapse and got the right help. I got a psychiatrist who diagnosed me and prescribed meds and found an OCD therapist. Since then I have had only 2 relapses, one recent , but I have had years of feeling great with very few symptoms. I feel good for young people now because so much more is known about OCD. That’s my story.

[MothFir]

The earliest OCD episode I can remember was when I was 8 years old (1983). There was a prolonged bad spell when I was around 11. It has come and gone ever since but in the last few years therapy and meds have really helped.

[Joseph46]

Looking back I realize now that OCD was there when I was a kid but it truly didn’t hit me until my early 20s and through therapy I discovered that not everyone experiences the world this way.

[PaperTigers]

In 2006 it started with numbers but really didn't explode until 2010ish. Certain events have made the intrusive thoughts worse. It's so hard to pinpoint it, I wish I'd written it down because everything runs together now. I'm in my mid 30s now.

[Sallyskins]

I started getting symptoms when I was about ten. I developed a complicated counting and tapping routine where I had to count and tap different parts of my body. I did this each day - and it became a real chore!

I didn't know it was OCD and I didn't know the the techniques I was using to combat it were a sort of do-it-yourself CBT. But I gradually cut down my routine, gradually getting rid of the tapping and cutting down the counting. I can remember when I got rid of it altogether - on holiday in France when I was 12. I felt so free!

It resurfaced again in my teens - I chose the wrong degree course for me at university and really struggled. Then I got a job and gradually the OCD started to take over, until I was practically catatonic. I had to leave my job, went onto medication, but wasn't offered any practical CBT.

In due course I went back to university and got my degree in a subject that suited me better - all the while struggling with OCD. I didn't actually know what I had.

My mother bought me a book called Living with Fear by Isaac Marks, which described my symptoms - now I had a name to put to my condition and ways of defeating it!

I think many of us have struggled without knowing what was wrong with us, and can date the onset of symptoms back to childhood.

[Phoenyx]

I had my first episode when I was 21. Although I might have had some minor symptoms in my teen years it didn't really develop up until my early 20s.

[erable]

It was 20 for me. Came on pretty suddenly and the worst period was probably the yeae it developed then the year or two after that.

[Fusebox]

Have

[Fusebox]

have had ocdhaoff since grade one. I remember this chant I heard then: step on a crack, break your mother's back!! I was so scared and tried to avoid the cracks in the sifewalk. Remember running very fast to home because I believed I had hurt my mom. Later it was this checking compulsion. Had to touch everything 3 times!

[Fusebox]

A I can remember having OCD at a real young age, like age 7 or 8. I remember this nursery rhyme that went: step on a crack/break your mother's back. We used to come home for lunch, and as I was walking on the sidewalks, I was trying to no step on any cracks for fear of hurting my mom. If I did hit crack I would rush home believing I had caused harm. Then it became other things though out the yearsj.