'Fake' Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

Hi there,

Today I am going to be talking about the mental illness, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, or more commonly known by the abbreviation, OCD.

The reason for this is that at my school, secondary school (I'm British), people are starting to blame messing with other people's stuff or not doing work because their "OCD" is acting up. I'm not sure if that's the right way to explain it but I'm just going to roll with it.

It's getting to a point where it is annoying me, more than it probably should. I suffer from OCD, and for others in my classes to use it as an illegitimate excuse when I hardly do myself—it's just infuriating, especially when they don't understand any of it, or even know what OCD stands for.

I'm obviously not going to name names but, last week, I heard someone in class behind me say, "It's because of my OCD." I immediately locked on target, as I have started challenging people that say this.

I turn around on my chair—let's call them Adam and Lucy for this (not their real names).

"Adam, you have OCD?" (Me)

"Yeah, Lucy just asked why I'm slow at writing this neatly. It's because I have OCD." ('Adam')

"Have you had it confirmed?"

"My mom said I have it."

"Ok, but do you know what it stands for?"

"Obvious Cleaning Disorder, why?"

"... Ok, cool."

I just turned back around to my desk, and put my head in my hands.

THEY LEGIT SAID "OBVIOUS CLEANING DISORDER!!!"

I wish I was joking.

I was just so done, you have no idea.

I am FED UP with students blaming slow work for a mental illness that can ruin or sometimes end people's lives!!! IT'S NOT ACCEPTABLE!!!

Another instance where someone didn't take OCD seriously that is burned in my brain is this;

I was eating lunch with my best friend (now ex-best friend, because of other reasons, not this!) when they said they had to tell me something.

"I have OCD." (Friend)

"Wait.. what? When did you figure this out." (Me)

"I have been thinking about it. My room annoys me when it's messy and I love to clean."

Those were her literal only 2 reasons. I'm not saying that you have to have a certain amount of reasons to have OCD, but they weren't even legitimate.

"That's why?"

"Yeah."

"Okay, well... what does it mean?"

"It just means I have to clean sh*t."

"Nice..."

That was the end of that conversation.

Even though obsessive cleaning is part of having OCD, it isn't that you like to clean. For some people with the illness, it becomes a chore and a stressful thing to have to keep cleaning day and night because the small, little things make you uncomfortable.

You can't bear to have that one picture tilted on the shelf, you can't have that blind touching the floor, or a shirt that isn't folded right in the middle of the pile—you can just see it! Even though you're comfy in bed, you won't be able to go to sleep until it is fixed, and then you have to fix everything again because you're scared of something being a little bit out of place.

Sometimes it has taken hours for my OCD to calm down so I can finally sleep after having a long day, then it turns out being around 3 AM before I fall asleep. I have to get up at 7:30 AM for to get ready for school. That's around 4 hours of sleep a night, but sometimes I wake up during the night for some reason, then the process repeats itself and I get like two to three hours of sleep! For some, it's even worse...

The National Sleep Foundation recommends that 8.5 to 9.25 hours of sleep a night is an appropriate and healthful amount of sleep for teens. I normally get 1/4 of that. I lose out of another 30 hours of sleep I should be getting to be healthy.

There are others stories I could tell you about but, I think you get the gist of it.

I have stated facts, and my opinion, so now I want you to think about your take on people using other people's struggles for their benefit. Is it selfish and cruel or do you believe that it's a helpful opportunity for slackers?