Just diagnosed with OCD

I was recently diagnosed with OCD after sharing my darkest secret with my counselor of 7 years. I feel so much yuck and shame over this. I don’t want this to be my label or part of my story. To make things harder, my counselor isn’t trained in OCD so if I want to get help, I have to find someone else. This is all so overwhelming.

Hey @Scramblerb,

A diagnosis can be a shock at first, because you didn’t necessarily expect it. Maybe you’re asking yourself a lot of questions and start to consider your life a bit differently. That’s okay. Even if it can be a bit disturbing for the moment, it’s also something really positive for you. You’ve been brave enough to share important things with your counselor. And knowing about OCD from now will be helpful for you. It will help you to learn progressively how to deal with it in your everyday life and how to create a better environnement for yourself.

There’s nothing wrong with you, friend, and absolutely no reason to feel ashamed. This diagnosis may be part of your story, and you’ll need some time to acknowledge it, but it’s not defining you. Do you think that a person who has an alcohol problem is only alcoholic? Do you think that a musician, as passionate as he is, is nothing else than that? :wink: We’re all human beings with unique personalities, qualities, abilities, struggles, desires, values… And that’s what makes you wonderful as you are. :two_hearts:

OCD certainly occupies an important part in your life, but apart from being able to name it, things are not fundamentally different between today and the day before the diagnosis. You have just acquired a new reading grid. It’s only a tool that can serve you from now on.

Also, I’m sorry for your counselor. It can take time to build a therapeutic relationship and 7 years is not nothing. Maybe you can still see them and consult another one to answer your specific questions and discuss your experience related to OCD. I knew someone who had two therapists at the same time, more or less for the same reasons as you (a relationship of trust established for years and a need to consult someone else at the same time). So I don’t know if that would be possible for you (practically and financially), but maybe it’s worth to ask your counselor about it. It’s a unique relationship, and if this situation and the changes that could happen are stressing you, feel free to discuss it with them. This diagnosis doesn’t mean that you have to say goodbye at once. Every transition can take some time. But this will be okay. :wink:

Take care. :kissing_heart: