Sonder: Youth Mental Health Stories of Struggle & Strength | Page 34

OBSESSIVE CONT.
I put my clothes in the dryer cycle every morning so that when I
put them on, I could feel that my body was cold compared
to something else.
I held ice on my wrists to try to cool down my body.
I’m still working on that fear.
Hell, I’m in therapy 4 times a week for it,
but I have faith that I’ll overcome it and move on to do good
things in my life
Why?
Because I’ve done it before.
So don’t pity me.
Please. Don’t pity me.
But next time you think about calling yourself OCD because
you like to keep your math binder organized, catch yourself.
The next time you assume that someone with a neat room is
obsessive compulsive and someone with a messy room isn’t,
catch yourself and remember not to judge,
because you can’t tell from the outside
(and my room is a pigsty, let me tell you).
OCD is not the cute mental illness.
It doesn’t make you quirky or organized or sanitary or polite,
and if you walk around telling people to stop romanticizing depression,
stop romanticizing suicide,
stop romanticizing self harm,
then you can tell people to stop romanticizing OCD.
We all have struggles in this life and it’s impossible to compare
them, so let’s not try to.
Let’s just try to respect each other’s struggles, no matter what
they may be or what label might be plastered to them.
Do you think you could try that for me? ●
32  Anxiety