New Here! Would like to make some friends and talk about interests.

[Broccolihater]

Hi! You may call me Wan. I am 19. I had unknowingly suffered from generalized anxiety all my life till a specialist diagnosed me with it, and i realized that everything started to make sense.

I was always called sensitive; more so than my siblings. Every little thing used to worry me in the mightiest of ways, even as a child, i was panicking whenever the guests would come over. Till now, i thought everyone just panicked like me over the littlest of things. I never thought that something is wrong with me until i went to highschool (i was homeschooled my whole life) so you would understand that my legs were shaking from terror. I thought everyone was like that. It was at that point i understood that people didn't worry half as much as i did. That they actually enjoyed life while i was barely going through it; worrying from one problem to the next.

I had started counseling following an incident in Highschool. My counselor was the one who diagnosed me along with my psychiatrist. Just when things were about to get better, and i had started to get my confidence back. BAM! OCD... Interesting thing is : i would say some of my OCD was due to following religious fundamentalism. I don't frankly believe anymore (you can thank existential ocd for that lol) but yeah, there was a time when i thought i was losing my mind. That i was going insane; this was at the time of onset of OCD. I didn't know very much what OCD and what it consisted of, but i knew well that whatever it was, it was debilitating, and so for the first few weeks, i just stayed in denial about it. I had went to this one therapist and she wasn't great at all. She actually reassured me (and this was after 4-5 sessions) so either she wasn't a great psychologist, or i basically gaslit myself and her into believing that i didn't have ocd lol.

So this was kinda— a mess of my story. Ofc there are way more details, but i didn't wanna write an essay and take more of your time. Bottom line is: i am glad that there is a platform where i can reach out and meet people who are suffering from the same thing as me. I wanna support you all on your journeys, and hopefully, we'll be collectively able to beat OCD to the ground, as a team. I'll be glad to hear about what interests you. For me, its reading and philosophy.

[deValentin]

Welcome to the forum.

Personally, I love fishing and gardening. I think being in contact with nature helps me stay grounded.

There is indeed a close link between generalized anxiety disorder, or GAD, and OCD. With the first disorder, one finds it difficult to face reality. With the second one, not only one finds it difficult to cope with reality, but also can't stop seeking ways to better cope with it. Double whammy, as it were.

[Broccolihater in reply to deValentin]

Yeah, you are so right about that! With GAD, i was just about managing things but barely but with OCD; Its like my worries which were once confined to real life have suddenly taken a fantasy world of their own. I am constantly anxious 24/7 and it's even worse since most of my compulsions are mental. Its hell honestly.

Anyways, gardening is such an underrated hobby lol. Mannnnn i wanna fish someday tooo.

Thanks for welcoming me.

[ollieander]

hi, welcome!! I’m relatively new to the forum too but it’s been pretty helpful. I’m 18 and I’ve been struggling with GAD, OCD, and a few other things for a while now. Wishing you the best luck on your journey!!

As for interests, I also enjoy reading, as well as writing my own stories.

[Broccolihater]

someone that gets me 😭I would love to read your stories. Do you have discord? I am more active there. GAD and OCD are both really hard to deal and i can relate to that. Honestly, i'd love to know about your journey of navigating these struggles.