Living with OCD is like living in a puzzle where one piece is missing and, every time you find that missing piece, another one goes missing. Always striving to fix something but never able to. That’s the best way I can describe it.

Note: I am a huge fan of Jordan Peterson, love his lectures. One of the things he does not mention with OCD is it' not just physical things like washing hands, etc. It can also be thoughts, and thoughts alone. I know this because i suffer from it. Good lecture though.

"they had sympathy for the dog but no sympathy whatsoever for the guy" Welcome to 2019. Sad.

OCD Destroyed my relationship. A lot of people just associate OCD with a need to be tidy but thats just one umbrella. Mine comes in the form of intrusive and unwanted thoughts and it always attacks the ones close to you. It can be crippling to say the least.

OCD is like having two brains: a “normal” brain and an OCD brain. Think of OCD as a separate entity; you are not your thoughts. People with OCD have the same thoughts as people with “normal” brains, but our brains get stuck in an uncontrollable loop we can’t stop. It is uncontrollable because no amount of reassurance from someone else or self-rationalizing will help. Understandably, it may be hard for people to fathom unless they have experienced something similar. Imagine if someone says: ‘try not thinking about a pink elephant for one minute.’ Of course, it is very difficult to not think about a pink elephant. Now, imagine instead of a pink elephant, it’s a thought that makes you feel startled or scared all day long. Combine those feelings with a sadness so deep, you don’t want to wake up anymore.

Jordan's vids have probably taught me more than what I've learned from any person in real life

Has anyone noticed that people nowadays constantly claim to have OCD because they organized one thing or are a little clean? It drives me nuts and delegitmizes people that actually have it. If you want to know what actual symptoms of OCD are, plenty of the comments below explain far more common, less extreme examples of OCD compared with the story depicted in the video.

Anyone else ever notice that 99℅ of the OCD discussions and portrayals we see in media are NOT about people with "Pure-O?" I'm in an OCD support group, and I'd say fully 1/3 of the people have no external compulsions. I have Pure-O and can't stand to watch or read stuff about OCD, because I know I'll be disappointed for that reason. It's a truly silent epidemic.

My religious OCD is terrible. I have to keep doing rituals in my head to feel that I fixed my sins.

This isn't entirely accurate. I have completely debilitating, life-limiting, life-destroying OCD; and it is mostly centred around intrusive thoughts, phobias, a debilitating need for routine and rigid, fixed ideas about an illusive state of ''perfection''. That's a summing up. But I would not say that a disgust impulse drives it. I am sure that is true for some people with OCD, but many people with OCD have ruminations and intrusive thoughts too.

I'm no psychologist, but as someone who has OCD among numerous others, I think it's more related to fear, and the need to minimize risks. Something like "I'll close this door for 3 times, just to be on the safe side. I'm aware that it might not make any difference how many times I close it, but why take any chances?"

My aunt had very severe OCD for years started in her late 20s. Washing hands, endless showers, even using medical alcohol on everyone in her house..you name it. She overcame it. She took medications but according to herself, the real change came from her self talks into a new belief system. It was really something. I tell you guys this so if anyone of you still suffer, just know that a FULL and COMPLETE recovery is POSSIBLE! I have no doubt about it. It happened right in front of my eyes.

I have had a formally diagnosed obsessive compulsive disorder since I was 14. It is a complete nightmare. From fears of being contaminated, which would drive me to wash my hands 40-80 times a day till they were bleeding to horrifying mental images of becoming a criminal and being sent to prison. The worst part, the one no-one talks about, is the fact that when you succeed in winning one compulsion another one comes in and takes it's place. So I have propably been able to succesfully overcome around ten to fifteen different specific forms of OCD and it was always a matter of time before I became plagued by another one. It makes life a living hell. Nothing matters except you trying to get rid of that anxiety before it overwhelmes, engulfs and destroys everything you care about.

Hearing his voice shake broke my heart :(

As a clinical psychologist, I have to partially disagree with Dr. Peterson. OCD can have to do with disgust, particularly the washing / cleaning type Jordan mentioned in the video, but the main component from my perspective is anxiety. People with OCD have an intense need for security and control, they want to avoid some sort of damage that, to them, seems very likely to occur. The purpose of obsessive cleaning is to avoid contamination and infection. The purpose of checking if a door is properly locked, a window closed or an oven switched off is the same, to avoid damage (someone could break in, the house could burn down...). Peterson is not completely wrong however, that's why I said partially in my first sentence. There are several common forms of OCD, but basically all kinds of variations are possible and they are, at least in my experience, a reflection of a deeper lying problem the patient is struggling with. From that perspective, the OCD is a individual strategy to deal with a fundamental personal issue, and the mind resorts to obsession and compulsion in order to somehow remain stable and functioning. It's characteristic for OCD that the precautions taken to avoid bad things from happing take on absurd dimensions, and it's also the job of people like me to help the person suffering from OCD to find out, in detail, what the purpose of the disorder is; how it is rooted in the personality, how it is connected to recent (or not so recent) events and so on. If you are suffering from OCD, I strongly advise you to seek professional treatment. If you would like to understand your disorder better or if you know someone who is suffering from OCD and wants to have a better understanding of their condition, the following questions might be helpful (English is not my native language, I apologise if the questions sound slightly awkward): - When did the compulsive behaviour start for the first time? - Do you feel that the obsessive thoughts are your own and a product of your mind, or is someone or something else influencing them? (it's important to distinguish OCD from psychotic disorders) - Has there ever been a time when the OCD stopped or bothered you considerably less than usual? - When are you suffering the most? What circumstances in your everyday life are present when that is the case? (for example: problems at the workplace, partner / family issues... ) - What would be the benefits of you not succeeding in your controlling and obsessive behavior? For example, let's assume that the oven - despite you checking it 50 times a day - actually causes a fire and in consequence, your apartment burns out completely. Would there be anything positive to that? Or if you actually got sick from eating the fruit you cleaned for an hour, what would that lead to? (this question often seems ridiculous at first, but trust me, the answer(s) can be very interesting and insightful) Naturally there are many more questions one could ask, but those few are at least something to begin with.

OCD isn't always about cleanliness. It's about obsessiveness, repeated pattern doing something over and over and over.

This is such a sad disorder. There needs to be more awareness surrounding OCD. So many suffer in silence battling daily. With more awareness it can be picked up quicker and not left to get worse. Life's experiences can feed the OCD fire or contain it, the earlier it's picked up the better quality of life one can have

I have OCD but it has nothing do with cleanliness, It's definitely more of a stress disorder for me. I draw imaginary geometry based on the rectangular things in my environment and then I have to stay within the bounds of those rectangles, it's almost like Jack Nicholson from As Good As It Gets, but my cracks are imaginary.

As someone with OCD I generally disagree, a lot of my rituals have to do with locking doors and making sure the stove and oven is off etc. It's mostly a disconnect between what I rationally know and what I feel, a paranoid insecurity. In other words, anxiety. Of course these different disorders intersect.

Most people have no idea that the actual condition is extremely serious and is almost incomparable to people who say "oh i'm a bit OCD" or "i'm OCD I like all my shoes in a particular order in my cupboard". OCD is incredibly disabling, it is honestly one of the worst mental illnesses and one of the worst illnesses altogether, including physical diseases, the WHO once classified severe OCD as one of the top 10 of the most disabling conditions/diseases. It can lead to depression, suicide, drug addiction, several stress-related physical diseases, chronic exhaustion and stress and cuts years off your life as well as getting in the way of almost everything good in life, a good career, good relationships, feeling content and fulfilled in life.

Ocd is painful to live with. So if you have ocd just know that I pray for you every night and I’m thinking about you. ❤️

When he spoke about the people who had all of the sympathy for the dog, but not for the broken human being, it broke my heart. How can people be so cruel? The man was trying to be well. That animal was *the* thing that was dragging him back from the abyss. He was inept, but not abusive nor neglecting. And the morons just couldn't leave well enough alone.

2:43 Jordan Petersons greatest moment

I disagree that OCD always stems from disgust. What about the people who can't stop checking that they've locked their door, or can't stop ruminating about something or someone to a severe extent?

Exactly. The thoughts are the worst. The most debilitating aspect of my life. I'd trade a million physical OCDs to just take away the thoughts. It's awful

I have severe OCD and this really spoke to me. Nice one, Peterson.

A big thing about ocd that many people miss is that for many of us who suffer with it, a lot of the time the compulsive behavior is inside of our minds. A good way to put it would be to compare it to compulsively washing hands like Peterson talks about. It is kind of like that except the obsessive thought that we have in our head would be like our hands and the compulsive thoughts would be the soap and water and we are constantly locked in our own minds washing away the anxiety caused by these thoughts

Jordan Peterson is my homie!

I’ve suffered from multiple forms of ocd since I was 7. I’m 28 now. I live an extremely poor quality of life. I HATE my life.

OCD is a doubting disease. It’s not only about disgust. Yes, for some OCD manifests around doubting how clean things are, but OCD is really about doubting reality. It can manifest in a preference for even numbers, a compulsion to check locked doors, being compelled to follow certain rituals or complete a tasks a certain way. From an evolutionary standpoint it makes a lot of sense, that if something worked for someone, they would be compelled to repeat it. But something malfunctions with the paranoid, doubting part of the brain where they are not able to stop and the obsessiveness/compulsions win out over logic. I believe that people with OCD think in a different way than the general population; that “normal” people think more in a line, where OCD people think in circles and loops, where an intrusive thought occurs and traps them in a thought cycle. I believe OCD causes hoarding and compulsive shopping, where people become obsessed with material items and feel compelled to collect and keep things. I also believe that OCD causes eating disorders, where people become obsessed with their diet and feel compelled to follow a certain regime- that also has the disgust factor to it. The first time I remember my OCD manifesting was when I was 6. When someone pointed at something, I was compelled to scratch the area they had pointed at. My mum was able to break me out of it by forcing me to not do it. It drove me mad, but I was able to break the cycle and let it go. I also remember at about the same time becoming obsessed about how certain things in my room had to be arranged. Sometimes I would come home and my mum would have completely redone my room and I would go mad. I began hoarding soaps and towels but would not actually use them, they were for aesthetic purposes only. I remember having tantrums when someone would use my show soaps. Later, I became obsessed with perfecting my handwriting and school assignments. I would do worksheets in pencil and then trace over with pen and erase the pencil. I had a certain eraser I liked and couldn’t function without it. If I made a mistake on a writing assignment in pen, I would start from the beginning and do the whole thing again. It was advantageous to some degree because I had perfect, neat notes and my teachers loved me. I think it made them give me more attention, which helped my performance at school. (Until college, where my workload became so much that I was not able to complete my regimes and had a mental breakdown.) When I was 12, my mum got MRSA in her lung and had to be hospitalized. I got it on my face. My aunt told me we got MRSA because I hadn’t been cleaning the house properly. That’s what started my fear of germs and diseases and obsession with cleaning and sanitizing. I developed certain hygiene rituals as well. I managed to mostly break myself out of them but I still have an obsession with sanitizing the bathroom and kitchen. I have myself down to only bleaching them twice a day. I am also not able to begin work until I’ve sanitized my desk. I just can’t settle in until it’s been done. When my grandfather got heart disease, I became obsessed with eating healthy, which at times bordered on anorexia and bulimia, which is crazy because you think of people with those disorders as being image obsessed, but for me it was purely about not getting diabetes or heart disease. Luckily, I was able to recognize the harmful thought cycle before it got out of hand. About a year ago, my OCD became completely unmanageable after I stepped on a hypodermic needle. I had to have blood tests for months to make sure I hadn’t gotten HIV or hepatitis. Queue me being unable to wear sandals and checking the soles of my shoes every 10 minutes. At the same time, someone moved into my building with bed bugs and I began finding them. I steamed my apartment top to bottom every single day, paying special attention to my bed and couch. I sprayed bed bug chemicals every day. I was getting through five bottles of bleach a day. I knew on some level what I was doing was too much because I was spending every free minute I had cleaning... I would come home from 12 hours at work and immediately begin cleaning until I HAD to sleep. When I realized I was spending more money on cleaning supplies than food, I finally sought help and got myself to the doctor. A year and many medications later, my psychiatrist has finally found something that works for me: seligiline. It keeps my dopamine steady, which prevents me from experiencing that low feeling “wrong” feeling when I begin experiencing an obsession and that high “right” feeling while completing my compulsions. It helps break me out of the intrusive thought cycle and recognize intrusive thoughts, which allows me to stay focused on the more important things. One interesting thing about seligiline is that it comes in a temporary and permanent version. I will be transitioning to the permanent version of the seligiline soon so I don’t have to continue taking it for the rest of my life. I am so excited to finally be free of that urge telling me I have to do something a certain way all the time, distracting me from the important things in my life. The first time my boyfriend said he loved me I couldn’t enjoy it because I was so fixated on the wrinkle he had in his shirt. I can’t wait for that to be gone forever.

Thank you for bringing more attention to OCD. It's very important to keep talking about it so people understand how serious it is and that it's not only about cleaning or organizing. It's a very serious mental condition that can take over teh person's life. Thank you for helping bring awareness.

I really struggle with my ocd. I’m hands are cracked and sometimes weep. It’s not nice. It’s nice to see Jordan informing people about it though. Thanks man

Those are extremely severe examples of OCD, I have OCD but it's about things having to end things perfectly or well enough, checking back to close doors that I already closed but I do it again because the first time didn't feel right, worry if I forgot something that I clearly didn't etc. and it's more about anxiety and a bad feeling unless I do those things, OCD is sad and what is even more sad is how many people aren't getting, can't get or are denied treatment for it

I have OCD and can confirm it is typically anxiety that forms the really destructive horrifying patterns. A lot of people dont realize though that the obsessive tendencies are not always negative. Can often become obsessively interested in topics and learning.

I am struggling to get through my freshman year of college right now. Jordan Peterson is one of the few people that I feel like understands people's problems without minimizing them. If anyone here has advice on getting through school with OCD I'd love to hear it, it's the worst I've ever felt. Thank you.

I have OCD, and it can be a real struggle some days, in fact it took my brother's life. It is both a source of great strength, and great suffering, however the key is to find balance. I love all his videos! :)

Isn't it an odd phenomenon that many people seem to care more about animals than humans? I'd imagine that it is for much the same reason that females love gay guys. There is no intrasexual/intraspecies mating competition.

OCD is based on an intolerance of uncertainty. For example neither I, nor anyone else, knows with 100% certainty that our hands are entirely clean, that our food isn't contaminated, or that we won't go crazy and kill someone. In each of these situations, the sufferer goes about trying to reduce his uncertainty to zero through physical and/or mental compulsions, but he never gets there because 100% assuredness doesn't exist. There's always a counterargument or feeling of doubt. The answer lies in doing Exposure Response Prevention Therapy aimed at getting him to accept his lack of certainty, and learning to live with it. That is, to live without knowing. Hope that helps.

I have obsessions but my my rituals aren’t physical there mental anyone else the same?

It's not just hand washing or disgust. It can be something like having thoughts of your mom dying and in order to (in your mind) prevent that you got to do a particular thing.

i have a strong ocd without any trace of disgust, and i get a strong ocd when i am nervous, i think the classification present now is very reasonable

I know an older fellow, he's an amazing man, who has dealt with OCD all his life. He does the hand cleaning and orderliness, but also has intrusive thoughts while driving that he ran over a child. So he will have to stop to make sure there is no blood on his front bumper. Horrible condition to live with. But he also has really learned to accept it and got married later in life and has a son and he's always so kind, and extremely happy.

For some reason this reminded me of a military command I used to work for as a contractor. It had a cleaner who was an older nearly elderly South American man who was odd like in his social mannerisms. I always took him to struggle with something, but found despite his social awkwardness, he was kind and diligent and would light up when he spoke of his home country, Argentina. His last day, they had him come to the front of the monthly command event, seated were well over 100 people, and everyone stood up and clapped and cheered and sent him on his way back to Argentina with tears in his eyes. What a great moment it was for him. Seeing other people not only accept him, but celebrate him, despite his oddness, was also touching. Peterson here reminded me of that moment I think. Sometimes, people do surprise you, for the better.

This is soooo spot on. I have ocd about sensory issues and its 100% disgust about the way my body feels than anxiety about something bad happening. I have to explain this to ppl like, "i don't have fears really, its more obsessions" and nobody gets it.

Amazing man who has managed to acquire an enormous amount of practical knowledge and accompanying wisdom. Awesome.

The explosive mental energy that comes with OCD can absolutely be a strength of one allows it to be so. Redirecting the repressed intrusive thoughts towards something expressive and _constructive_ is the most important step for those inflicted with OCD to achieve. Especially directly while in the process of battling OCD in order to get down to the latent source of the compulsions without being destructive. Many of those with OCD tend to be great engineers, architects, musicians, mathematicians, doctors, mechanics, artists, etc. because of that obsessive fixation on detail, order, pattern making, and reflexive thinking. Think: Howard Hughes, Nikola Tesla, Yayoi Kusama, and more. Of course the OCD mind is more complex than just detail and order, but I won't get too into that. The truth is that OCD is part of the human condition, part of the neurotic anxiety that comes with our global time of crisis, our advanced industrial society, and exists to various degrees within everyone depending on many other factors (genetics, trauma, health and diet, etc). How one directs it is the difference.

OCD is so much more complex than disgust

People felt sorry for the dog but not for the OCD sufferer. That is the number one problem in all societies, zero knowledge, and/or understanding of social behavior coupled with mental illness. The average person is not informed, and perceives social interaction incorrectly. I have both Tourette's Syndrome and OCD, and I've become disturbingly cautious of other people.

theres a lot to take away from this...but one minor, but dominant thing that stood out in my mind is that Animal Rights Activists need to stop acting like they KNOW the situation all the time. Animals do NOT take precedence over people. Yes, animals deserve to be treated with kindness and compassion, but NOT at the detriment to innocent people whom youve judged to be evil simply because you dont know what is going on. Just like when someone is shooting a film or commercial and they go PSYCHO even though no animal was hurt.

Yes. Part of my OCD issues is the classic “contamination” OCD but it’s not that I actually feel like the germs are going to hurt me or kill me. Its just that I feel gross and icky after touching something innocent looking. The cleaning isn’t to get rid of the germs. It’s to get rid of the icky feeling. I can touch something that I KNOW is for sure contaminated just fine, but if there’s uncertainty, that’s where the obsession kicks in. It’s the not knowing!

But OCD isn't just hand-washing and physical compulsions like that, it's often purely in the head (Pure-O) - in fact it's highly arguable that it's more a shame and guilt disorder and the fear of the sufferer of these feelings / emotions. The excessive hand washer is afraid of contaminating themselves and others and ultimately being responsible for their own downfall or that of someone else. Also they spend an immense time ruminating before they even run a tap or start a shower so it's arguable that all OCD is really Pure-O (purely in the head) at it's core and sometime it manifests itself in physical compulsions. Others who fear being a murderer will do physical compulsions in the form of avoidance (avoid supermarkets, shopping centres, parks, places where people hang out) - this isn't out of disgust but out of moral responsibility. It's definitely NOT just a disgust thing - disgust can be the case for some patients but there's WAY more to it than that. I'm a sufferer and I can guarantee this. For those in the know and who do the actual research, it points more towards shame and guilt and a sense of moral responsibility, the vast majority of themes.

Excellent lecture. It annoys me when people claim they have OCD when at worst what they have is OCPD

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder can be a terrible disorder. I’ve had it to a certain degree for nearly as long as I can remember (currently I’m 15), and it since that has progressively gotten much worse. I feel like I see the world so much differently then anyone I know, having imaginary boundaries that I can’t cross, if I do there are awful consequences. Occasionally I experience such tormenting thoughts, that I become almost completely dysfunctional. It must be hard to understand for a healthy person, but that’s what it’s like for me to put it very simply.

For someone who lives with OCD this was very eyeopening, thank you Dr.Peterson.

You cant let the orderliness of you get to the point that you cant live." Very profound words.

One day i realised that my ocd was about tragedy Is a fear of tragedy After that i started to think about that and that was ok to do things "normaly" nothing bad would happen After a few weeks i forgot about that Now i remembered again and i feel more safe

The OCD treatment he describes is called Exposure and Response Prevention. Sometimes it doesn't work. He talks fast to keep you interested and makes it like a story he's telling a friend.

I don't think his singular explanation is accurate either. OCD manifests itself in many other forms than those based on "disgust". For example, my symptom was to compulsively, repeatedly touch a hot fluorescent light bulb for a certain length of time. This has nothing to do with disgust or cleanliness, but is still obsessive-compulsive. Masochistic symptoms are another variety. His definition is very exclusive.

im honestly at breaking point with OCD. Gives me tears thinking about how my life is a mess

I have OCD. It’s hell. I count & turn on and off the lights, and have intrusive thoughts. OCD isn’t always about being scared of germs. My mind runs so fast and I can’t focus.

"...So we looked up things on the internet that he found disgusting..." I had no idea that two girls one cup was used to treat OCD.

From what I've seen, all forms of addiction are a variation of OCD. Heroin or gambling, it can become an Obsessive Compulsion. Or as I call it, OC/DC, the Highway to Hell.

I can see why he would think that, but I also think he's wrong. He's focused too much on the particulars of contamination OCD, but whether it's contamination or injury or brain parasites fears, what's at the core of it all is an intense fear that something terrible will happen. I have OCD, but can do things that people with different kinds of fears cannot and cannot do many things which they can. I can eat off the floor and not be too bothered, but until treatment could not ride a bike for fear of damage to my genitalia. The point is that disgust and and often is a big part of it, but fear is central to it all.

My OCD went away as soon as I had someone VALIDATE EVERYTHING I was thinking and feeling. That’s it and that simple.

HEY im very disagreeable and i love puppies

"unbelievable eh" I forgot he was Canadian xD

I have trichotillomania but I don't think I have OCD at all. I'm not really disgusted, I mean for crying out loud I studied to be a med tech and I interact with people's urine and spit and bacteria and feces for a living. I have health anxiety but only health anxiety, when it comes to everything else I'm an incredibly non anxious person. I feel like I don't fit with a lot of people with trichotillomania, most are incredibly different from me suffering from general anxiety and being deeply hurt by their lack of hair when I don't care, I've never cared.

I know he's a psychologist so knows more than me but the description of what OCD sufferers deal with sounds like anxiety plays a part in most cases and not primarily disgust. For example, fear that your family could be hurt if you don't do a specific thing doesn't really have anything to do with disgust and more to do with anxiety.

Sounds like a happy story - in the end - to me. :)

@ 4:20 about the part with the already thin guy with OCD when he lost 30 pounds trying to take care of the puppy. If you see the brain activity of someone with OCD vs someone who doesn't you'll see that the amount of brain activity of someone with OCD is 3-5 times larger. Just to give you an idea of how stressful it can be for someone with OCD.

I have OCD, and I can relate to this. I find that a lot of the times when I wash my hands, and I see dirt or something on my hands, I will wash them until they are fully clean. Another thing is intrusive thoughts. I find that I frequently feel the need to act on something negative, but never act on it because it’s only a negative thought that is unrealistic and not compatible with my reality.

He seems to focus more along the lines of the stereotypical ocd like hand washing and cleaning. That barely scratches the surface, let me assure you. OCD includes so many other areas and types of obsession. Hand washing in the realm of ocd is like one guy in a crowd.

He's explaining hypochondria not OCD

Animal rights activist are the worst sort of people.

I always wonder if my parents had of reacted to my ocd better and I got help as a child, that I probably wouldn't be struggling so much with it now as an adult

I gained a lot of respect for JP when he admitted his own extreme reaction to disgusting things. OCD is part of our hard wiring but so many don't recognize the OCD in themselves.

this video isnt very informative, just a silly story

OCD is devastating completely utterly devastating.

O.C.D does not always go hand in hand with disgust, with that line of thought you are going down the way of contamination O.C.D. Most types of O.C.D have nothing to do with disgust, ex. worrying thoughts O.C.D, checking O.C.D etc.

Living with ocd makes you uncertain with your own memories, speaking personally, I was losing my mind.

It does not have a disgust basis. It often has nothing to do with disgust. That said, the example he gave of having his patient (presumably with disgust-based OCD) print out disgust-inducing pictures to put in his house is actually a brilliant example of what treatment looks like with OCD. Exposure-based therapy and acceptance-based therapy works wonders.

Control and Orderliness. Thats the key. Disgust/Repulsion is just the beginning. To counteract the repulsion/dislike/hatred towards something that bothers a child, one develops this habit of control and orderliness. We can only be happy in a situation we don't like if we either surrender or keep fighting to change things. A child generally does not surrender and so he or she will try to control and create order as he or she likes it. If not outwardly then inwardly in the head. As they grow and they are able to vent out this thing that they developed more and more, it becomes OCD. They can't stop it. If they are not able to vent it out, it would cause depression. So be careful in treating a child's OCD. Manage it. Redirect it. Over time educate the child and help the child overcome it. Don't ever try to curb it when the brain is developing. A person might be inwardly OCD and become outward when he or she has more control, less fear and the option of exercising his control to create ordeliness that the brain kept demanding.

He’s actually describing germaphobia which may have symptoms associated with OCD, but may also be mutually exclusive to it. OCD is an anxiety spectrum disorder that has control at its core.

Man, the hand washing part resonates with me so much. As someone suffering from OCD, I'm a complete germaphobe. Can't stand getting dirty, especially my hands. This is why I always have to use a utensil whenever I'm eating something to avoid the grease, even if it's finger food. It's like your brain is running around in circles on you.

As someone with OCD, OCD is a lot lot lottt more than just disgust.

People need to see this video and apply this to other mental problems.

My brother used to have OCD, he would finish the soap in our house and also the body wash in two or three days. Then he would find the 'backup' soaps and used them all, my parents would have to buy new ones every week or so and it frustrates them so much they constantly have to scold him. He also doesn't take bath if the shower has been used by people earlier so he sometime would go 5 days without showering. There are also times he'll be so mad when others touch him or get near him especially if we have dirt on us. Eventually, my sister introduce him to friend who happens to be a clinical psychologist but my brother would go 1 or twice a month and then never follow up. So in the end, my parents sent him to live with our cousin instead because he seems to be a little bit content there and that my aunt can handle him more efficiently.

I'm bi-polar with paranoid delusions. I pray for all types of mental problems, especially for relief, not of my own but for others, it is tough on any body let alone family or not. Some people don't understand and retaliate, thinking they are right, they think they help, but it is a source of aggravation for the person who has the disease.

I got OCD back when I was 13, but my compulsions were more related to schizophrenic thoughts.

What? An illness of disgust? I’ve never heard that before, but it makes all of the sense in the world!

"They had a lot of sympathy for the dog, but not much for the guy". - sadly very true

I love this lecture but it’s really focusing on the typical type of OCD which is contamination. And he would often mention it as a disorder or cleanliness and disgust which can be true in some cases but in many others, it is not. So I wish he spoke more upon other types of OCD. But other wise I loved it.

I have OCD and have found I'm very particularly fond of animals especially dogs and cats for some reason they tend to like me, they give me a sense of peace I go to my brother's regularly to see his pitbull porkchop one of my favorite living things on this Earth 🌎

I have moderate OCD and Autism. I do not handwash, but I shower for a very long time sometimes. I'll answer work emails on my waterproof phone in the shower to stay on task. Gotta do what you gotta do.

I live this nightmare everyday. You know how you have a nightmare and wake up and say to yourself I glad that was just a nightmare and go back to sleep. Well I live this nightmare and can't wake up form it.

such a sweet man, on top of his brilliance...

I never though of giving a puppy to a person with OCD. That's a good one. Puppies are chaos.

As a man with ocd I can relate myself only my problem is more destructive than him in the sense I go around and apologies to people

For years I have sort of found it difficult to leave my house before I check to make sure that all the water faucets are turned off. I will check, double check, and triple check before I can leave the bathroom and then finally walk out of the front door. Also, I make sure that all of the floors are swept/vacuumed clean multiple times a day.

It annoys me that he only addresses contamination based obsessions. I suffer from OCD and while I know contamination fears are one of the most common obsessions in people with OCD I feel that there's not enough attention given to other types of obsessions. Sometimes I worry that people without OCD will just see it as a condition that causes excessive washing. My heart goes out to those with contamination obsessions and I'm not trying to be little them in any way. OCD is terrible no matter what form it takes but it often feels that many categories of OCD are overlooked.