Key Takeaways:
- 9 Lies My OCD Has Told Me was published by Buzzfeed in July 2016.
- Author and model Lily Bailey explains the falsities her OCD makes her believe.
- No matter how hard coping with OCD becomes, recovery is possible.
In “9 Lies My OCD Has Told Me,” author Lily Bailey explains the illogical and awful ideas that her intrusive thoughts tell her. OCD is a manipulative disorder. It forces horrifying thoughts and images on sufferers of actions they would never commit in real life. However, despite believing they would never follow through with these ideas, it can be hard for sufferers to separate them from who they are.
Lily’s intrusive thoughts range from anxieties about killing family members to smelling bad in public. She recalls having an upsetting thought when she was 12 years old about wishing her friend with cancer would die. She was unaware of her OCD at the time, and horrified that her mind would go to such a place.
Many of her anxieties are based in religion. Having attended a religious high school and coming from a religious family, faith is an important part of her life. However, at church or at school she would have thoughts about going to hell, or screaming out obscenities that made her feel flawed and sinful.
She would feel guilty for things she had never done as well. Lilly recalls believing she had run someone over with her car, when in fact she never had. Or the belief that she had harmed a child and was going to go to jail for pedophilia. Of course, she hadn’t done that either.
Lilly reminds sufferers that while OCD is frightening, it is treatable and sufferers can lead fulfilling lives. Over the years she has learned how to cope with her symptoms, and wants everyone to know that recovery is possible.