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Charley7Charley7 Posts: 29 Boards Initiate
in Health & Wellbeing
Hi, my boyfriend has OCD and sometimes I struggle to understand / help him, does anyone have any advice on how I can help out? Thanks :)

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    JordanJordan Moderator Posts: 343 The Mix Regular
    It's good that you are trying to better understand your boyfriend and ways in which you help him. It's not something a lot of people would do, and the fact that you are taking extra time to find out ways to support him is positive.

    I can understand how you might struggle to understand him, especially if it's something you've never personally experienced yourself. 

    Just in case you don't know fully what OCD is, it's a disorder which causes obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviours. People with OCD often have compulsive behaviours that they genuinely feel they *need* to do. If they don't do them, then they can have some unpleasant feelings and anxiety.

    I'm not sure what your boyfriends OCD is like, but patience is the most important thing here. His fear surrounding his compulsion might seem extreme and irrational to you, but it's important to recognise that for him that fear is 100% real.

    Have you talked about your boyfriends OCD with him? He might know from past experiences how you are best suited to help.  MIND recommend working out how to deal with someone's compulsions together. For example, you might help them carry out their compulsion or simply just offer reassurance.

    You should check out MIND and their advice regarding helping someone with OCD here.
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    BubblesGoesBooBubblesGoesBoo Posts: 3,590 Community Veteran
    Hey, its good you want to understand and help him :) I don't have OCD, but I do have traits of it and something I got shown was this video, and i'm sure there's plenty others like it, with learning how to overcome it...  it's all about carrying out these rituals to help with anxiety, so it's important to find other things that can help with our anxiety instead of these compulsions, it will be hard, but it is worth it :) hope you find this helpful :)

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=epDVMBNXsXY 
    ' So I put a bullet where I shouda put a helmet, and I crash my car cause I wanna get carried away, that's why I'm standing on the overpass screaming at myself 'hey, I wanna get better''  
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    Butterfly23Butterfly23 Posts: 810 Part of The Mix Family
    Hey Charly!

    It's awesome that you want to learn about OCD and try to understand it better for your boyfriend, I think that the resources that @Jordan and @BubblesGoesBoo shared are worth looking at and seem to have some good information on  <3

    You seem like you are trying your best to understand and that is sometimes enough when supporting someone, so keep doing what you are doing and well done. :)

    Butterfly x
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    Charley7Charley7 Posts: 29 Boards Initiate
    Thank you all for the advice @Jordan @BubblesGoesBoo @Butterfly23 <3
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    Butterfly23Butterfly23 Posts: 810 Part of The Mix Family
    No problem, I hope things work out for you :) x
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