No, it’s not ok, there’s no such thing!

I was horrified recently when I saw a young girl, hold a creased piece of paper aloft and call out “you’ve triggered my OCD”.

Would anyone call out “you’ve set off my bulimia” or “you’ve sparked off my schizoid personality disorder”? No!

So why is it ok to make fun of OCD?

It seems there’s something cute or fun about wanting things neat, tidy and organised. But this is not what obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is about…it’s a thought disorder with devastating consequences where people have uncontrollable urges to carry out meticulous actions in order to avoid perseived disaster occurring to them or their loved ones. People can need hospitalization as short term management. Long term the condition needs therapy to understand the meaning behind the symptoms and to break the compulsive behaviours.

I’m sure this young girly meant no harm by her comment but unfortunately, language like “I’m a little bit OCD” perpetuates stigma that people with serious mental health disorders could do without. If OCD (or any other disorder) is banded about in a frivolous way, full understanding of the nature and impact of the illness is missing, people think they understand but they miss the point.

Misunderstanding has many consequences including discrimination and isolation.

If person A has advertised their OCD as not wanting a crease in their leaflet, how will anyone understand that person B will always be late for meeting friends because they have to perform a repetitive ritual lasting many hours before they can leave the house or they fear for the life of their children? Everyone experiences OCD differently, it’s a highly complicated and varied illness.

I’ve had anorexia and depression, at various times I’ve been more or less ill but at all points in my illness it impacted my ability to function.

Yes, it can appear that some illness are on a continuum with neurotypical individuals but there is a line where you fit the criteria for diagnosis and it’s at that point, life is severely impacted. Anorexia is not losing a bit of weight, depression is not feeling a bit sad. Mental illness is complicated, sometimes not even fully understood by the individual who’s suffering.

We must stop this unhelpful language around mental illness. Talk about it, yes, if you suffer, talk about the triggers and how it impacts you but if you do not have a diagnosis, more sensitivity is needed, it is not ok to poke fun at or making light of something you don’t understand.