Beautiful Piece: open.substack.com/pub... - My OCD Community
Beautiful Piece
Thank you for the article. I just read it and I must say that I had a mixed reaction to it. I didn't agree with some statements like "I’d love to see us recognize how much wisdom, feeling, and creativity there is within OCD". In my opinion, OCD is overall a dysfunction that makes our life miserable and has little positive to offer. In exceptionally rare circumstances, it may help us notice something we wouldn't have noticed otherwise, and save ourselves some harm. Also, people who recover from OCD have often more self-insight, resilience (what doesn't kill us makes us stronger), and understanding of others with OCD.
This being said, we shouldn't reduce OCD sufferers to their disorder. They are much more than that. The disorder is only affecting a specific area of their lives where they lack good judgment and decisiveness. Outside of that, they are often intelligent, sensitive, responsible, imaginative, and fun-loving people like the author's mother seems to have been.
I had once an interesting conversation with someone with an autistic brother. She said that even if she had the power to free her brother from autism, she wouldn't do it. She loved her brother like he was. In my opinion, even if she loved her brother like he was, doesn't mean she would love him less if his autism would disappear. She failed to distinguish the person from the disorder. A disorder is not part of someone's identity. You can love people whether they're disabled or not. You wouldn't love them more if they weren't. However, for their sake and their independence's sake, it would be preferable if they had the ability to function reasonably well in this sometimes-challenging world.
The author states: "I’m not here to glamourise OCD, I’m summoning the person there before it: a gifted, intuitive soul who notices more than the hidden dirt of the world. They spot the gold." The question is whether they spot the gold (no question about that) because of their OCD or despite of it.
Very thoughtful reply!
I have to admit that I feel uncomfortable with thinking of OCD as an asset, and people with OCD as somehow different, or 'better', than people without. On the whole, we are conscientious and caring - but being so conscientious and caring that we harm and inconvenience others with it is not so great!
It's often the case that OCD gets so ingrained into our personalities that we - and others around us - consider it to be part of us. And a negative part at that.
For me, OCD hinders my ability to do things that give me pleasure, and makes things difficult for those around me. Fortunately, many are extremely patient and accommodating.
I think it's like many other disabilities - I don't like this framing of disabilities as 'different abilities' - in that it's better not to have it. Someone missing a leg, for example, isn't a better person for missing a leg, though it may bring out their courage and resilience in dealing with it.
I think it's important to make allowances for disabilities, but not to romanticize them - and to recognize that we can contribute something to society in spite of them.
And to measure us accordingly - no one says 'Beethoven - bless him - quite a good composer considering he was deaf!' His deafness caused him much anguish, but the music was still inside him, and he was brilliant in spite of, not because, he was deaf.
I for one really liked this article. Thanks for sharing it~ I think it is beautiful and has a lot of truth in it. I am a long time sufferer of OCD and have accepted some of the positive attributes I feel it brings me.
Thank you for sharing... As mentioned by some colleagues, I feel the same way. I don't think there's a good practical side to having OCD. At least in my case, it's because I don't even remember a life without it, so I can't tell if my personal organization or accountability is a "positive" aspect of OCD that comes from always being worried or if it just feels like part of my personality.
Maybe without OCD, I would be more relaxed and less alert, but I'm not sure if that would impact my performance, especially at work. However, having OCD certainly blocks a lot of other potential, particularly in social skills. So, even if (and that’s a big IF) OCD makes me more reliable and organized, the anxiety it causes and the feeling of not being adequate have undoubtedly made me miss many opportunities in life.
That said, OCD has played a big role in making me a more religious and spiritual person over the years, which has been very important to me and has impacted my life in a very positive way. So, if there is a "positive side" to OCD—at least in my case—it is definitely not connected to day-to-day routines or practical life, as the text suggested. Instead, it has taught me how small I am in the grand scheme of things and that life, with all its challenges (OCD being one of the biggest in my case), is a way to teach me humility and foster spiritual growth.
