500 Inspirational OCD Quotes: Mental Health (2023)

1. ‘Obsessive Compulsive Disorder,’ commonly known as OCD, is a mental health condition.

2. “ A lot of mental disorders are initially things that are adaptive. Like even OCD, it’s good to sort of have structure and have certain rituals, but when it gets to be extreme, then it becomes problematic. ” — H. A. Berlin

3. “… the irony of OCD—it tells you bad things will happen if you don’t do these compulsions, but ultimately, it’s these compulsions that pull you further and further away from your life. Before you know it, all this time and energy that was put into preventing bad things actually caused bad things to happen!” – Marisa T. Mazza

4. “…if you rely solely on medication to manage depression or anxiety, for example, you have done nothing to train the mind, so that when you come off the medication, you are just as vulnerable to a relapse as though you had never taken the medication.” — Daniel Goleman

5. “…people with OCD often wear a mask. On the outside they appear so put together, but on the inside, they are falling apart. ” – Marisa T. Mazza

6. “‘Positive vibes only’ isn’t a thing. Humans have a wide range of emotions and that’s OK.” — Molly Bahr, LMHC

7. ““It’s not the thoughts but rather what you do with them that maintains the OCD cycle.”

8. ““When it isn’t thinking about the future, the OCD mind dwells on possibilities from the past. The mind fills with thoughts about what might have occurred.”

9. “[It’s] like that song that plays over and over in your head, only you can’t get rid of it. ” — Kimberly Matthews-Cifra

10. “[It’s] like that song that plays over and over in your head, only you can’t get rid of it.” – Kimberly Matthews-Cifra

11. “[Slow breathing] is like an anchor in the midst of an emotional storm: the anchor won’t make the storm goes away, but it will hold you steady until it passes. — Russ Harris

12. “A common misconception held by individuals with OCD is that they can and should control what pops into their heads. Given that nobody can dictate the kinds of thoughts and images that enter the mind, this idea can lead to an unwinnable war with your own brain. At the core of OCD is a tendency to greatly misinterpret thoughts and images that you experience. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

13. “A full recovery doesn’t in any way depend on having the mental events no longer enter your mind. A full recovery depends on reclaiming your mind, body, heart and soul from the clutches of your OCD. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

14. “A full recovery doesn’t in any way depend on having the mental events no longer enter your mind. A full recovery depends on reclaiming your mind, body, heart and soul from the clutches of your OCD.” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

15. “A lot of people assume that having OCD means liking things organized or hating germs. It tends to be treated like a quirk or an endearing trait. But it’s so much more than that. ” ― Whitney Amazeen

16. “A lot of people assume that having OCD means liking things organized or hating germs. It tends to be treated like a quirk or an endearing trait. But it’s so much more than that. It’s the one thing that prohibits me from being free of myself. ” ― Whitney Amazeen

17. “A lot of people assume that having OCD means liking things organized or hating germs. It tends to be treated like a quirk or an endearing trait. But it’s so much more than that. It’s the one thing that prohibits me from being free of myself.”

18. “A lot of people assume that having OCD means liking things organized or hating germs. It tends to be treated like a quirk or an endearing trait. But it’s so much more than that. It’s the one thing that prohibits me from being free of myself.” – Whitney Amazeen

19. “A man that flies from his fear may find that he has only taken a shortcut to meet it.”

20. “A physical sensation crawls up my arm as I avoid compulsions. But if I complete it, the world resets itself for a moment like everything will be just fine. But only for a moment. ” — Mardy M. Berlinger

21. “All people eventually suffer from a variety of risky situations and outcomes such as illness, accidents, tragedy, war, grief, and ultimately death. But the OCD mind tries to create the illusion that almost all risks can be anticipated and avoided. In truth, OCD doesn’t provide significant protection in spite of extraordinary efforts to reduce risks. ” – Laura L. Smith

22. “All stress, anxiety, depression, is caused when we ignore who we are, and start living to please others.”

23. “Although the general perception of mental illness has improved over the past decades, studies show that stigma against mental illness is still powerful, largely due to media stereotypes and lack of education, and that people tend to attach negative stigmas to mental health conditions at a far higher rate than to other diseases and disabilities, such as cancer, diabetes or heart disease.”

24. “Although the world is full of suffering, it is also full of the overcoming of it.”

25. “An important idea that keeps OCD going is that even if something bad happening is unlikely, you should still do everything possible to try to prevent it (i. e. inflated responsibility belief). ” – Fiona Challacombe

26. “An important idea that keeps OCD going is that even if something bad happening is unlikely, you should still do everything possible to try to prevent it (i.e. inflated responsibility belief).” – Fiona Challacombe

27. “And sometimes I have kept my feelings to myself, because I could find no language to describe them in.”

28. “And will you succeed?

29. “Another way to think about it is that OCD likes to get you where it hurts. When people have particularly strong beliefs (for example, about things like cleanliness, order, religion, etc. ), their OCD tends to have content related to these beliefs. This connection is likely because the out-ofcharacter thought sticks out immediately (because it goes directly against everything the person holds true) and the person therefore attaches a meaning to it. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

30. “Another, very important, issue is that due to the shame and secrecy that often surrounds OCD, people can become very good at hiding their symptoms, or delaying their rituals until they are alone. People with OCD can become very skilled at generating subtle excuses so they can avoid situations where their problem will be worse. ” – Fiona Challacombe

31. “Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength.” — Charles Spurgeon

32. “Anxiety is a thin stream of fear trickling through the mind. If encouraged, it cuts a channel into which all other thoughts are drained.” — Arthur Somers Roche

33. “Anyone can be affected, despite their level of success or their place on the food chain. In fact, there is a good chance you know someone who is struggling with it since nearly 20% of American adults face some form of mental illness in their lifetime. So why aren’t we talking about it?” — Kristen Bell

34. “Anyone can have a few obsessions or compulsions, and, in fact, most people do. But it isn’t obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) unless the obsessions and compulsions consume considerable amounts of time and interfere significantly with the quality of your life. ” – Laura L. Smith

35. “Anything that’s human is mentionable, and anything that is mentionable can be more manageable. When we can talk about our feelings, they become less overwhelming, less upsetting, and less scary.” — Fred Rogers

36. “As the saying goes, ‘the wheel that squeaks the loudest gets the grease’. And with emotions like fear and guilt, plus strong urges to carry out compulsions, OCD can squeak so very loudly!” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

37. “As you move through life, the OCD will be on one shoulder and your values on the other. The OCD barks orders, driving you to live in fear, while your values remind you of the things that give you deeper meaning and help you feel alive. You always have the freedom to choose which to focus on: feeding your OCD or living your values. ” – Marisa T. Mazza

38. “As you reflect back on the previous weeks, months or year, look for moments you can celebrate too. There will be some, even if you have to look a little harder.” — Emily Coxhead

39. “As you’ve unwittingly trained yourself to deal with your OCD in unhelpful ways, it’s going to take time and perseverance to retrain yourself. OCD is a cunning beast and will try as many ways as possible to deter you from doing anything it doesn’t like – the trick is to make a plan and stick to it no matter what the OCD says or does to try to dissuade you. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

40. “At its crux, OCD treatment is about learning to live with the discomfort of uncertainty. ” – Jeff Bell

41. “At its crux, OCD treatment is about learning to live with the discomfort of uncertainty. ” — Jeff Bell

42. “At its crux, OCD treatment is about learning to live with the discomfort of uncertainty.”

43. “At its crux, OCD treatment is about learning to live with the discomfort of uncertainty.” – Jeff Bell

44. “At times, seeing your way out of OCD through the forest of intolerance of uncertainty, fear, excessive responsibility and so on can be hard. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

45. “At times, seeing your way out of OCD through the forest of intolerance of uncertainty, fear, excessive responsibility and so on can be hard. ” ― Katie d’Ath

46. “At times, seeing your way out of OCD through the forest of intolerance of uncertainty, fear, excessive responsibility and so on can be hard.” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

47. “Because all mental compulsions or responses maintain the problem, it stands to reason that in order to kick your OCD into touch, you need to respond differently. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

48. “Because all mental compulsions or responses maintain the problem, it stands to reason that in order to kick your OCD into touch, you need to respond differently.” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

49. “Because OCD is characterised by doubt, a need for certainty and often perfectionism, people tend to get tied up in knots about which kind of thought or thinking they’re having. Instead of trying to get it right, think of this obstacle as another exercise in figuring out how to deal with doubt differently and challenge yourself to assume you’ve understood correctly even if you’re not absolutely sure. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

50. “Because OCD tends to inflate the importance of certain inner experiences (such as thoughts, images and so on) or narrow your focus to particular feared threats, you can easily end up neglecting your health. What’s important to you as far as your mental health is concerned alongside your physical health? Do you regularly exercise, eat well and get an appropriate amount of sleep? If not, what can you do to improve in these areas?” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

51. “Because the thoughts and behaviors of those with OCD are so unusual or socially unacceptable, people with OCD often feel deeply embarrassed and ashamed. ” – Laura L. Smith

52. “Because the thoughts and behaviors of those with OCD are so unusual or socially unacceptable, people with OCD often feel deeply embarrassed and ashamed.”

53. “Because the thoughts and behaviors of those with OCD are so unusual or socially unacceptable, people with OCD often feel deeply embarrassed and ashamed.” – Laura L. Smith

54. “Because wherever I sat — on the deck of a ship or at a street café in Paris or Bangkok — I would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air.” ― Sylvia Plath

55. “Being able to be your true self is one of the strongest components of good mental health.”

56. “Being able to be your true self is one of the strongest components of good mental health.” – Dr. Lauren Fogel Mersy

57. “Being able to be your true self is one of the strongest components of good mental health.” — Dr. Lauren Fogel Mersy

58. “Being vulnerable is actually a strength and not a weakness — that’s why more and more mental health is such an important thing to talk about. It’s the same as being physically sick. And when you keep all those things inside, when you bottle them up, it makes you ill.” — Cara Delevingne

59. “Better isn't always a feeling.”

60. “But here’s the catch for those of us with OCD: We don’t need a bear or a lion — or any other legitimate threat — to trigger our fight- or-flight responses. Our core fears —those “what if” questions our bullies pose — do the trick just fine. ” – Jeff Bell

61. “But the most important part of her ritual was cleaning the toilet. In order to prevent the spread of bacteria and viruses, it had to be done with absolute thoroughness and precision. Cleaning the toilet was a test of her competence and loyalty to Oliver, her god, and the precept of staying in control.”

62. “By taking care of myself I have so much more to offer the world than I do when I am running on empty.” – Ali Washington

63. “Cats are like four-legged poster children for OCD. ” — Caroline Knapp

64. “Change what you can, manage what you can’t.” ― Raymond McCauley

65. “Compulsions are a form of control. They work in the short run, in that they usually reduce or at least neutralize anxiety. However, in the long run, the unwillingness to experience what shows up gets in the way of people accepting themselves and learning that they are truly capable. ” – Marisa T. Mazza

66. “Consequently, actions that successfully improve the overall mental health of the population are likely to be accompanied by other important benefits to society.”

67. “Contrary to popular belief, OCD isn’t simply a disorder where people wash their hands too much, check things or keep things orderly. You may have heard people say, ‘I’m a bit OCD’, usually referring to a tendency for liking things clean or tidy; however, people can have a strong preference for things to be in order and not have OCD. In these cases, people find their preference for cleanliness or orderliness a helpful attribute from which they may often derive satisfaction. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

68. “Crazy isn’t being broken or swallowing a dark secret. It’s you or me amplified. If you ever told a lie and enjoyed it. If you ever wished you could be a child forever.” ― Susanna Kaysen

69. “Curing yourself of obsessive compulsive disorder by going to a strip club is pretty strange.” – Tracy Kidder

70. “Deep breathing is our nervous system’s love language.” — Dr. Lauren Fogel Mersy

71. “Depression weighs you down like a rock in a river. You don’t stand a chance. You can fight and pray and hope you have the strength to swim, but sometimes, you have to let yourself sink. Because you’ll never know true happiness until someone or something pulls you back out of that river — and you’ll never believe it until you realize it was you, yourself who saved you.” ― Alysha Speer

72. “Despite the noises,

73. “Don’t believe everything you think.” — Unknown

74. “Don’t believe the guilt. It’s only a byproduct of OCD.” – Unknown

75. “Don’t feel bad for yourself because you have OCD. Feeling bad is a sign of weakness and you need to be strong in your battle with OCD.” – Unknown

76. “Don’t let OCD control your life. You are in charge, not the disorder. ” — Charlize Theron

77. “Don’t let OCD control your life. You are in charge, not the disorder.”

78. “Don’t let OCD control your life. You are in charge, not the disorder.” – Charlize Theron

79. “Don’t let your mind bully your body into believing it must carry the burden of its worries.” — Astrid Alauda

80. “Don’t make fun of anyone with OCD because the person from outside is calm like water but from the inside anxiety can develop a hurricane.” – Unknown

81. “Don’t try to figure out an OCD question. Accept the uncertainty.” – Unknown

82. “Doubt and uncertainty plague the minds of those with the “checking” form of OCD. Some experts even call OCD a “disease of doubt. ” When doubts show up, the person goes back to check over and over again. A slight amount of uncertainty always remains even after checking, so the person does it yet again. Sometimes it takes an awful lot of rechecking before the person is able to stop. ” – Laura L. Smith

83. “Doubt permeates the OCD mind. It’s difficult to be 100 percent certain of almost any situation in life. ” – Laura L. Smith

84. “Doubt permeates the OCD mind. It’s difficult to be 100 percent certain of almost any situation in life.” – Laura L. Smith

85. “Emotions, moods, impulses, ebb and flow with the tide of my life. Tidal waves, at times, in a bipolar mind.” ― H.G.

86. “eople with OCD go to great lengths to avoid bad things happening. They tend to focus on the worst possible thing, focusing on how awful it would be if it did happen. People with OCD feel that what they fear is likely to happen and are very motivated to avoid the possibility that they could be responsible if they did not try to prevent it happening. ” – Fiona Challacombe

87. “Ever seen ‘Inside Out’? With OCD, it’s like Doubt has it’s own control console. ” — Josey Eloy Franco

88. “Everyone experiences a version of anxiety or worry in their lives, and maybe we go through it in a different or more intense way for longer periods of time, but there’s nothing wrong with you.” – Emma Stone

89. “Feel the feelings and do it anyway.”

90. “Feeling your feelings will not lead to depression.” — Jordan Pickell, MCP RCC

91. “Feelings come and go like clouds in a windy sky. Conscious breathing is my anchor.” — Thich Nhat Hanh

92. “Fighting OCD is like boxing. Each time you go against a thought, it’s a punch to its strength. Each time you listen to your OCD, its biceps get bigger and it becomes a more powerful opponent. It’s a war of attrition – you just have to keep fighting.”

93. “Fighting OCD is like boxing. Each time you go against a thought, it’s a punch to its strength. Each time you listen to your OCD, its biceps get bigger and it becomes a more powerful opponent. It’s a war of attrition – you just have to keep fighting.” – Allison Britz

94. “Fighting OCD is like boxing. Each time you go against a thought, it’s a punch to its strength. Each time you listen to your OCD, its biceps get bigger and it becomes a more powerful opponent. It’s a war of attrition—you just have to keep fighting. ” – Allison Britz

95. “Fighting OCD is like boxing. Each time you go against a thought, it’s a punch to its strength. Each time you listen to your OCD, its biceps get bigger and it becomes a more powerful opponent. It’s a war of attrition—you just have to keep fighting.” – Allison Britz

96. “Fighting OCD is like boxing. Each time you go against a thought, it’s a punch to its strength. Each time you listen to your OCD, its biceps get bigger, and it becomes a more powerful opponent. ” — Allison Britz

97. “For me, it’s an ever-present nagging feeling that something is just ‘not right. ’ I can never really, truly ‘make it right. ’ I have to learn to live with the all-consuming feeling of mental discomfort. ” — Laura McCarthy

98. “For me, it’s an ever-present nagging feeling that something is just ‘not right.’ I can never really, truly ‘make it right.’ I have to learn to live with the all-consuming feeling of mental discomfort.” – Laura McCarthy

99. “For me, it’s an ever-present nagging feeling that something is just ‘not right.’ I can never really, truly ‘make it right.’ I have to learn to live with the all-consuming feeling of mental discomfort“

100. “For me, it’s like someone else has control of your brain. Like you’re being forced to do an endless number of completely random, pointless tasks you don’t want to do. It’s so exhausting and emotionally draining — like your brain needs an off switch!” — Clarissa Chay

101. “For most people, OCD is probably best understood as a misunderstanding of how their minds work, which can lead to some attempts to solve the problem that backfire. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

102. “For most people, OCD is probably best understood as a misunderstanding of how their minds work, which can lead to some attempts to solve the problem that backfire.” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

103. “For OCD checkers such as myself, the act of checking is akin to treasure hunting in a dark cave and discovering a hatch marked “Gold. ” We pry it up, look inside, and fall in, only to find ourselves even deeper in the cave. We get back on our feet, start looking around, and come across another hatch marked “Diamonds. ” We pry it open, look inside, and again fall deeper into the cave. This is how trapdoors work, and this is how checking leaves us ever more stuck in Doubt. ” – Jeff Bell

104. “For some people, this driven impulsivity seems to underlie their OCD more than anxiety or worry. That’s why some experts suggest that problems such as trichotillomania (uncontrollable hair-pulling) and tics (uncontrollable jerking, body movements, or sounds) are related to OCD. ” – Laura L. Smith

105. “Given the idiosyncratic nature of OCD, the particular triggering event, or events, can also be very individual. Common triggering events are changing school, other major life transitions like leaving home, losing a loved one, illness in yourself or someone important to you, having a baby, parental conflict, bullying, and relationship break-up. These events would, of course, be stressful for anyone, but for people who go on to develop OCD, there are often particular conclusions drawn at the time in relation to responsibility and the need to control what is happening. ” – Fiona Challacombe

106. “Gloria watched the swollen white orb of a hot-air balloon rising over Navy Pier and knew she had to break it off with Oliver, for he was the type who would never enjoy hot-air balloons, Van Morrison songs, or mess, whether from orgasm or otherwise. But who was she to be dreaming about mess today?”

107. “Good humor is a tonic for mind and body. It is the best antidote for anxiety and depression. It is a business asset. It attracts and keeps friends. It lightens human burdens. It is the direct route to serenity and contentment.” — Grenville Kleiser

108. “Habit if not resisted, soon becomes necessity.” – St. Augustine

109. “Happiness can be found even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.” — Albus Dumbledore from Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban

110. “Happiness can be found, even in the darkest of times, if one only remembers to turn on the light.”

111. “Have patience with all things, but chiefly have patience with yourself. Do not lose courage in considering your own imperfections but instantly set about remedying them—every day begin the task anew.” –Saint Francis de Sales

112. “Healing doesn’t mean the damage never existed. It means the damage no longer controls our lives.” – Unknown

113. “However much rational argument you provide, you still won’t feel 100 percent convinced. The OCD likes to have the last word, so you could keep arguing with it forever. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

114. “However much rational argument you provide, you still won’t feel 100 percent convinced. The OCD likes to have the last word, so you could keep arguing with it forever. ” — Rob Willson

115. “However much rational argument you provide, you still won’t feel 100 percent convinced. The OCD likes to have the last word, so you could keep arguing with it forever.” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

116. “However, the frightening, disturbing thoughts of OCD are not based on reality. People with OCD have these thoughts because their OCD minds produce them, not because they are evil or malicious. It is extremely rare for someone with OCD to actually carry out a shameful act. ” – Laura L. Smith

117. “I actually have OCD really bad, and it’s getting a bit worse at the moment. I have to check taps… before I leave the house, to make sure I’ve checked everything in case it floods. ” — Sam Smith

118. “I am bent, but not broken. I am scarred, but not disfigured. I am sad, but not hopeless. I am tired, but not powerless. I am angry, but not bitter. I am depressed, but not giving up.” — Anonymous

119. “I am bipolar, and I am proud. And that is why I wanted to write a book. To shine a light on mental illness, to be vulnerable about the days I let it take control and paid dearly for it, and to tell anyone fighting a similar battle: You are not alone. You are not broken.” — AJ Lee

120. “I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.”

121. “I am not afraid of storms for I am learning how to sail my ship.” — Amy March, from Little Women

122. “I believe the best way to manage our thoughts is to first educate ourselves. We need to fully understand how a mental illness can feel to someone before we thoughtfully talk about it.”

123. “I could think of nothing but the loneliness of being stuck in that glass room with only OCD for company. OCD, the bully; OCD, the oppressor; OCD, the destroyer of lives; OCD”

124. “I could walk through fire if it meant making my dreams come true. That is the gift being bipolar gave me. It blessed me with a lofty imagination, an iron will, and an unbreakable belief in the impossible.” — AJ Mendez

125. “I do not have OCD OCD OCD. ” — Emilie Autumn

126. “I do not have OCD OCD OCD.”

127. “I don’t regret opening up about what I went through [with depression], because, it sounds really cliché, but I have had women come up to me and say, ‘It meant so much to me.’ It means so much when you realize that someone was having a really hard time and feeling shame and was trying to hide this whole thing.” — Winona Ryder

128. “I found that with depression, one of the most important things you can realize is that you’re not alone. You’re not the first to go through it, you’re not gonna be the last to go through it,” — Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson

129. “I got 99 problems and OCD is one of them.” – Unknown

130. “I guess I wonder what it would be like, to be living their live instead of mine.”

131. “I have a slight bit of OCD, I think. I’m not walking around flipping light switches. But when I say I’m going to do something, I have to do it.” – Eminem

132. “I have got this obsessive compulsive disorder where I have to have everything in a straight line, or everything has to be in pairs.” – David Beckham

133. “I have OCD mixed with ADD; you try living with that. It’s complicated. ” ― Justin Timberlake

134. “I have OCD mixed with ADD; you try living with that. It’s complicated.”

135. “I have OCD mixed with ADD; you try living with that. It’s complicated.” – Justin Timberlake

136. “I have OCD, which is not fun. I have to be incredibly tidy and organized or it messes with my mind and switches off on me.” – Charlize Theron

137. “I have OCD, which is not fun. I have to be incredibly tidy and organized or it messes with my mind and switches off on me”

138. “I have seen many cases like N. during the five years I've been in practice. I sometimes picture these unfortunates as men and women being pecked to death by predatory birds. The birds are invisible - at least until a psychiatrist who is good, or lucky, or both, sprays them with his version of Luminol and shines the right light on them - but they are nevertheless very real. The wonder is that so many OCDs manage to live productive lives, just the same. They work, they eat (often not enough or too much, it's true), they go to movies, they make love to their girlfriends and boyfriends, their wives and husbands . . . and all the time those birds are there, clinging to them and pecking away little bits of flesh.”

139. “I have sporadic OCD cleaning moments around the house. But then I get lazy, and I’m cured. It’s a very inconsistent personality trait. ” — Chris Hemsworth

140. “I keep moving ahead, as always, knowing deep down inside that I am a good person and that I am worthy of a good life.” ― Jonathan Harnisch

141. “I knew well enough that one could fracture one’s legs and arms and recover afterward, but I did not know that you could fracture the brain in your head and recover from that too.” ― Vincent van Gogh

142. “I may have OCD, but it’s also my superpower. ” — Amrapali Gupta

143. “I think everyone has a bit of OCD in them. It’s just a matter of degree. ” — David Beckham

144. “I think everyone has a bit of OCD in them. It’s just a matter of degree.” – David Beckham

145. “I was with someone recently who asked: ‘Well, don’t you think that if you do too much therapy it will take away your artistic process?’ And I told them: ‘The biggest lie that we’ve ever been sold is that we as artists have to stay in pain to create.'” — Katy Perry

146. “I would say what others have said: It gets better. One day, you’ll find your tribe. You just have to trust that people are out there waiting to love you and celebrate you for who you are. In the meantime, the reality is you might have to be your own tribe. You might have to be your own best friend. That’s not something they’re going to teach you in school. So start the work of loving yourself. — Wentworth Miller

147. “I'm a person who also happens to have OCD.” – Patricia Perkins-Doyle

148. “I'm tired of being inside my head. I want to live out here, with you.”

149. “I’m a hygiene freak. I’m like obsessive-compulsive when it comes to washing your hands.” – Kelly Clarkson

150. “I’m a person who also happens to have OCD”

151. “I’m able to say at some point, ‘OK, you’re being ridiculous, stop stepping on every gum stain you see. You don’t need to do that. You don’t need to walk 20 feet back and put your foot on that thing. Nothing bad is going to happen,’” – Leonardo DiCaprio

152. “I’m not the kind of person who likes to shout out my personal issues from the rooftops, but with my bipolar becoming public, I hope fellow sufferers will know it’s completely controllable. I hope I can help remove any stigma attached to it, and that those who don’t have it under control will seek help with all that is available to treat it.” — Catherine Zeta-Jones

153. “I’m OCD beyond comparison. ” — Fred Durst

154. “I’m Smart, So I Should Be Able to Overpower ADHD. Right?”

155. “I’m tired of being inside my head. I want to live out here, with you.”

156. “I’m too measured and controlling – about everything. That’s why I take Lexapro. It’s for OCD. I don’t feel like I’m struggling with it. I think OCD is a part of me that protects me. It’s also the part of me that I use in my job in a positive way. ” — Amanda Seyfried

157. “If OCD is causing significant interference in your life it is important to acknowledge this reality. Even if this is difficult, it is the springboard for thinking about why it’s so important to change, and for imagining how you would like your life to be without this problem. ” – Fiona Challacombe

158. “If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” — Fredrick Douglass

159. “If you are going through an OCD spike, allow it to pass, don’t force it to leave. Give no energy towards it!” – Unknown

160. “If you have OCD you may think of the problem as one of ‘mad, bad or dangerous to know’, all ideas that can fill you with some combination of shame, terror and misery. OCD is none of these things, and understanding how OCD works is an intrinsic part of moving through treatment and beating the problem so you can reclaim your life. ” – Fiona Challacombe

161. “If you know someone who’s depressed please resolve to never ask them why. Depression isn’t a straightforward response to a bad situation; depression just is, like the weather. Try to understand the blackness, lethargy, hopelessness and loneliness they’re going through. Be there for them when they come through the other side. It’s hard to be a friend to someone who’s depressed, but it is one of the kindest, noblest and best things you will ever do.” — Stephen Fry

162. “If you want to conquer the anxiety of life, live in the moment, live in the breath.” — Amit Ray

163. “If you want to get over OCD you need to be as strong as the disorder.” – Unknown

164. “If you’re going through hell, keep going.” — Winston Churchill

165. “Imagine all your worst thoughts as a soundtrack running through your mind 24/7, day after day. ” — Adam Walker Cleveland

166. “Imagine all your worst thoughts as a soundtrack running through your mind 24/7, day after day.”

167. “Imagine all your worst thoughts as a soundtrack running through your mind 24/7, day after day.” – Adam Walker Cleveland

168. “Imagine you have an OCD-free twin who is the same as you in every way but free from excessive fears, compulsions, and avoidance. This can be a great reference point when thinking how you could change your behaviour and resist participating with your OCD—ask yourself the question, ‘what would my OCD-free twin do in this situation?’” — Katie d’Ath

169. “Imagine you have an OCD-free twin, who is the same as you in every way but free from excessive fears, compulsions and avoidance. This can be a great reference point when thinking how you could change your behaviour and resist participating with your OCD – ask yourself the question, ‘what would my OCD-free twin do in this situation?’” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

170. “In OCD, not getting things we believe we have a responsibility for ‘just right’ turns out to be at the centre of things. ” – Fiona Challacombe

171. “In OCD, not getting things we believe we have a responsibility for ‘just right’ turns out to be at the centre of things. ” ― Fiona Challacombe

172. “In OCD, not getting things we believe we have a responsibility for ‘just right’ turns out to be at the centre of things.” – Fiona Challacombe

173. “In the middle of winter I at last discovered that there was in me an invincible summer.” — Albert Camus

174. “Increasing the strength of our minds is the only way to reduce the difficulty of life.” ― Mokokoma Mokhonoana

175. “Is it fear?” Felicity asks. “Though I suppose fear is elicited by an immediate threat, and it sounds as though often there isn’t one. Except those created inside your mind. So it’s fear looking for a source? Does that sound right?”

176. “It (trying to keep the law) grants you the power to judge others and feel superior to them. You believe you are living to a higher standard than those you judge. Enforcing rules, especially in its more subtle expressions like responsibility and expectation, is a vain attempt to create certainty out of uncertainty. And contrary to what you might think, I have a great fondness for uncertainty. Rules cannot bring freedom; they only have the power to accuse.”

177. “It can look like still waters on the outside while a hurricane is swirling in your mind. ” — Marcie Barber Phares

178. “It can look like still waters on the outside while a hurricane is swirling in your mind.” – Marcie Barber Phares

179. “It is during our darkest moments that we must focus to see the light.” — Aristotle

180. “It may sound strange, but the more thorough you are in doing the opposite of what the OCD wants (for example, spreading the contamination or saying the things you usually avoid thinking), the easier it will be for you not to perform any compulsions. It’s as if the OCD thinks ‘Whoa, that’s way too much for me to put right, so I may as well just lump it and get used to it. ’” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

181. “It means constantly questioning whether what I’m thinking or feeling is me or the OCD. The decision is usually a crap shoot. And then you question the decision over, and over, and over, and over and over, trying to come up with the ‘right’ answer. ” — Anna Stinson

182. “It takes dedication, perseverance and patience to overcome OCD, and each of these is far more valuable to you than thinking about your speed!”

183. “It takes dedication, perseverance and patience to overcome OCD, and each of these is far more valuable to you than thinking about your speed!” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

184. “It takes ten times as long to put yourself back together as it does to fall apart.”

185. “It’s like a broken machine. Thoughts go in your head, get stuck and keep going around and around. ” — Megan Flynn

186. “It’s like being controlled by a puppeteer. Every time you try and just walk away he pulls you back. Are you sure the stove is off and everything is unplugged? Back up we go. Are you sure your hands are as clean as they can get? Back ya go. Are you sure the doors are securely locked? Back down we go. How many people have touched this object? Wash your hands again. ” — Toni Neville

187. “It’s like having mental hiccups. Mostly, we can function despite the ‘hiccups,’ but we’re exhausted attempting to carry on as if they didn’t exist. ” — Sheila Cavanaugh

188. “It’s like having mental hiccups. Mostly, we can function despite the ‘hiccups,’ but we’re exhausted attempting to carry on as if they didn’t exist.” – Sheila Cavanaugh

189. “It’s like listening to a CD with an invisible scratch. ” — Penny Hare

190. “It’s like looking through a magnifying glass that only picks up on the potentially dangerous, harmful and scary. ” — Laura

191. “It’s like you have two brains — a rational brain and an irrational brain. And they’re constantly fighting. ” — Emilie Ford

192. “It’s like you have two brains a rational brain and an irrational brain. And they’re constantly fighting.” – Emilie Ford

193. “It’s my experience that people are a lot more sympathetic if they can see you hurting, and for the millionth time in my life I wish for measles or smallpox or some other easily understood disease just to make it easier on me and also on them.” ― Jennifer Niven

194. “It’s not the thoughts but rather what you do with them that maintains the OCD cycle. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

195. “It’s not the thoughts but rather what you do with them that maintains the OCD cycle. ” — Katie d’Ath

196. “It’s not the thoughts but rather what you do with them that maintains the OCD cycle.” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

197. “It’s possible to live well, feel well, and also find happiness with bipolar disorder or any other mental illness [you’re] struggling with.” — Demi Lovato

198. “IWe would never tell someone with a broken leg that they should stop wallowing and get it together. We don’t consider taking medication for an ear infection something to be ashamed of. We shouldn’t treat mental health conditions any differently.” – Michelle Obama

199. “Just because no one else can heal or do your inner work for you doesn’t mean you can, should, or need to do it alone.” — Lisa Olivera

200. “Just because no one else can heal or do your inner work for you, doesn’t mean you can, should, or need to do it alone.”

201. “Just remember, you are not alone, in fact, you are in a very commonplace with millions of others. We need to help each other and keep striving to reach our goals.” — Mike Moreno

202. “Kessa began to cut her meat into tiny pieces. As a whole it was unmanageable, frightening; but divided and arranged, the meat could be controlled. She cut four pieces. She'd count to four between each bite.”

203. “Leaving knots untied and scattering seeds to distract them will only work on vampires with OCD.”

204. “Let OCD tell you whatever it wants, just don’t try to solve it. The thoughts are not the problem.” – Unknown

205. “Let OCD tell you whatever it wants. Don’t try to solve it.” – Unknown

206. “Life doesn’t make any sense without interdependence. We need each other, and the sooner we learn that, the better for us all.” — Erik Erikson

207. “Life is like a piano; the white keys represent happiness and the black show sadness. But as you go through life’s journey, remember that the black keys also create music.” — Ehssan

208. “Many people confuse distracting yourself from your OCD thoughts and feelings (which is unhelpful and compounds the problem) with redirecting your attention to external activities. The line between the two is quite fine. However, here’s a simple way to understand the difference: It’s all about your intention. When you try to distract yourself from your OCD thoughts and feelings, you’re trying to get away from them or escape from them in some way. You’re trying not to think or feel these things. This approach is a kind of avoidance and only makes the problem worse in the long run. When you try to redirect your attention elsewhere, you’re letting the thoughts and feelings be there but choosing not to engage in them. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

209. “Many survivors insist they’re not courageous: ‘If I were courageous I would have stopped the abuse.’ ‘If I were courageous, I wouldn’t be scared’… Most of us have it mixed up. You don’t start with courage and then face fear. You become courageous because you face your fear.” ― Laura Davis

210. “Martin said, "It feels as though part of my self has detached and gone to Amsterdam, where it—she—is waiting for me. Do you know about phantom-limb syndrome?" Julia nodded. "There's pain where she ought to be. It's feeding the other pain, the thing that makes me wash and count and all that. So her absence is stopping me from going to find her. Do you see?”

211. “Media, especially social media, depends on sensationalism to gain viewers. News is mostly negative and dramatic. Human beings are prewired to pay attention to potential threats. And the media takes advantage of that tendency. No wonder people with OCD tend to get worse when the news constantly spews out possible catastrophes. ” – Laura L. Smith

212. “Mental health affects every aspect of your life. It’s not just this neat little issue you can put into a box.” — Shannon Purser

213. “Mental health clinicians need to address the issue of stigma, which is so often attached to mental illness. They need to support efforts to prevent mental ill health and promote health, wellness and resilience. Clinicians need to support the rights of people with mental illness, and enable them to participate meaningfully in society.”

214. “Mental health is something that we all need to talk about, and we need to take the stigma away from it. So let’s raise the awareness. Let’s let everybody know it’s OK to have a mental illness and addiction problem.” — Demi Lovato

215. “Mental health problems don’t define who you are. They are something you experience. You walk in the rain and you feel the rain, but, importantly, YOU ARE NOT THE RAIN.” — Matt Haig

216. “Mental illness is nothing to be ashamed of, but stigma and bias shame us all.“

217. “Mental illness… occurs when our mental health is compromised or neglected for so long that it affects our ability to function in our everyday life.”

218. “Mental pain is less dramatic than physical pain, but it is more common and also more hard to bear. The frequent attempt to conceal mental pain increases the burden: It is easier to say ‘My tooth is aching’ than to say ‘My heart is broken.’”

219. “More important than the quest for certainty is the quest for clarity.”

220. “Most people say "I'd do anything for my child," but the Harm OCD sufferer has to do more than just show up for the job. You have to show up to this amazing beautiful being even knowing that it aggravates your disorder. You have to do exposure to the darkest, most terrifying corners of the mind. You have to cope with extreme love, often reminding you of extreme fear. You have to tolerate the uncertainty that your child may have a short or painful life in order to maximize the possibility that she has a happy one. To love your children is to be vulnerable to them and to see their vulnerability. You have to risk being harmed and you have to risk harming in order to be close to anyone. OCD can make you think you're too crazy to deserve this closeness with a child. But you're not crazy. You got this.”

221. “My anxiety doesn’t come from thinking about the future but from wanting to control it.” — Hugh Prather

222. “My dark days made me stronger. Or maybe I already was strong, and they made me prove it.” — Emery Lord

223. “My doctor said I had OCD. I couldn’t believe it. I had to call him nine times to make sure. ” — Judy Gold

224. “My father taught me that you can you read a hundred books on wisdom and write a hundred books on wisdom, but unless you apply what you learned then its only words on a page. Life is not lived with intentions, but action.”

225. “My OCD is a speed bumb, not a barrier, to happiness. ” ― Amelia Diane Coombs

226. “My OCD is a speed bumb, not a barrier, to happiness.” – Amelia Diane Coombs

227. “My OCD is a speed bump, not a barrier, to happiness. ” ― Amelia Diane Coombs

228. “My OCD is a speed bump, not a barrier, to happiness.”

229. “My OCD is a speed bump, not a barrier, to happiness.” – Amelia Diane Coombs

230. “My OCD is like a never-ending cycle of doubt and fear. ” — Camila Cabello

231. “My recovery from manic depression has been an evolution, not a sudden miracle.” — Patty Duke

232. “No amount of anxiety can change the future. No amount of regret can change the past.” — Karen Salmansohn

233. “No amount of support or generosity justifies someone treating you badly. This includes parents.” — Sarah Crosby

234. “No amount of therapy can or self care can make up for scarcity of food & drink, time, or financial resources.” — Whitney Goodman, LMFT

235. “No one would ever say that someone with a broken arm or a broken leg is less than a whole person, but people say that or imply that all the time about people with mental illness.”

236. “No passion so effectively robs the mind of all its powers of acting and reasoning as fear“

237. “Not having to control or fight OCD can lead to a sense of freedom or lightness. Your energy can then be spent on things that you find meaningful. I often hear people say, ‘My OCD is exhausting. ’” — Marisa T. Mazza

238. “Not having to control or fight OCD can lead to a sense of freedom or lightness. Your energy can then be spent on things that you find meaningful. I often hear people say, “My OCD is exhausting. ” After working on letting go of control, suddenly people report having more energy. ” – Marisa T. Mazza

239. “Not having to control or fight OCD can lead to a sense of freedom or lightness. Your energy can then be spent on things that you find meaningful. I often hear people say, “My OCD is exhausting.” After working on letting go of control, suddenly people report having more energy.”

240. “Not having to control or fight OCD can lead to a sense of freedom or lightness. Your energy can then be spent on things that you find meaningful. I often hear people say, “My OCD is exhausting.” After working on letting go of control, suddenly people report having more energy.” – Marisa T. Mazza

241. “Not only can you not predict the future, you can never be certain what your intentions were in the past. We only ever know what our intentions are right now in this exact moment.”

242. “Not surprisingly, there has been a mismatch between the enormous impact of mental illness and addiction on the public’s health and our society’s limited commitment to addressing these problems.”

243. “Not until we are lost do we begin to understand ourselves” ― Henry David Thoreau

244. “Nothing diminishes anxiety faster than action.” — Walter Anderson

245. “O. C. D. feels like a daily battle with my own brain.” – Unknown

246. “Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is experiencing unwanted intrusive thoughts or urges and repetitive physical or mental behaviors. OCD is associated with anxiety or disgust and has a negative impact on your daily life. ” – Marisa T. Mazza

247. “Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is experiencing unwanted intrusive thoughts or urges and repetitive physical or mental behaviors. OCD is associated with anxiety or disgust and has a negative impact on your daily life.” – Marisa T. Mazza

248. “Obsessive-compulsive disorder is not a quirk or just a habit. You may hear people say, “I’m so OCD” to describe their desire to be neat and tidy. But OCD doesn’t feel like a choice and doesn’t bring a sense of fulfillment and joy. ” – Marisa T. Mazza

249. “OCD also costs money. These costs include money spent on treatment, lost productivity on the job, and lost days at work. Costs of treatment are often high in part because many with OCD don’t get effective treatment for years. They may enter treatment and be too ashamed to tell the therapist their symptoms. Or well-meaning therapists may not be trained to provide effective OCD treatment. ” – Laura L. Smith

250. “OCD can also impact your family and friends. Watching someone suffering from OCD isn’t easy. ” – Marisa T. Mazza

251. “OCD can also impact your family and friends. Watching someone suffering from OCD isn’t easy.” – Marisa T. Mazza

252. “OCD can make people become housebound, like being an agoraphobic, and avoidance can mean that the sufferer is completely paralysed, stuck in one position for literally hours on end. Equally, the avoidance can become both subtle and complicated, so that although it consumes the person’s entire time and effort, the outside observer would notice little wrong. ” – Fiona Challacombe

253. “OCD can manifest itself as quirky behavior, exaggerated fears, or seriously disturbed thinking. Thus, in one instance, the diagnosis of OCD may be assigned to someone with the odd habit of hanging clothes exactly 1. 2 inches apart in the closet, whereas in someone else, OCD may show up as excessive worries about germs and constant hand-washing. Alternatively, OCD could cause someone to check and recheck to see whether the windows and doors are locked, not once or twice but dozens and dozens of times. ” – Laura L. Smith

254. “OCD doesn’t feel like a choice and doesn’t bring a sense of fulfillment and joy.” – Marisa T. Mazza

255. “OCD has many faces. Millions of people are held prisoner by the strange thoughts and feelings caused by this disorder. Between 1 and 2 percent of the worldwide population has OCD. Most people with OCD are bright and intelligent. But doubt, uneasiness, and fear hijack their normally good, logical minds. ” – Laura L. Smith

256. “OCD is a complex and often debilitating disorder the sufferer doesn’t find useful or enjoyable. People suffering from OCD tend to feel high levels of discomfort, often in the form of anxiety, guilt or disgust. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

257. “OCD is exactly a self-torturing comfort zone in the form of a loop. You must have to break it first to be free from OCD.” – Unknown

258. “OCD is like a monster living inside my head that I can’t escape from. ” — Unknown

259. “OCD is like a prison, and my thoughts are the bars. ” — Judy Gold

260. “OCD is like having a bully stuck inside your head and nobody else can see it. ” — Krissy McDermott

261. “OCD is like having a bully stuck inside your head and nobody else can see it.” – Krissy McDermott

262. “OCD is not a choice, but recovery is.” – T.J

263. “OCD is not a cute, little thing that makes you particular about things. ” — David Neeleman

264. “OCD is not a disease that bothers; it is a disease that tortures. ” ― J. J. Keeler

265. “OCD is not a disease that bothers; it is a disease that tortures.” – J.J. Keeler

266. “OCD is not a flaw in character, but a malfunction in the brain.” – Unknown

267. “OCD is not a weakness; it’s a battle. ” — Michelle Visage

268. “OCD is not a weakness; it’s a battle.” – Michelle Visage

269. “OCD is NOT cute, fun, quirky desirable, cool, or trendy. OCD is anxiety and guilt-ridden. debilitating, demoralizing, frustrating, embarrassing, exhausting and painful. The next time you think you’re “so OCD” …you’re not. You’re “so misinformed.” – Unknown

270. “OCD is not just a quirky personality trait, it’s a battle that’s fought every day.” – Unknown

271. “OCD is not something you can ignore or push away. It’s a part of who I am. ” — Unknown

272. “OCD is not something you can just ‘get over. ’ It’s a lifelong battle. ” — Justin Timberlake

273. “OCD is on a spectrum: some people may experience severe symptoms, meaning that unwanted thoughts, urges, or compulsions are present most of the time and significantly impair their life. Others may experience mild symptoms of OCD, meaning that the unwanted thoughts, urges, and repetitive behaviors take up some time (at least an hour per day) and impair some areas of their life. Some people may experience unwanted thoughts, urges, compulsions, anxiety or disgust, without it taking up much time or having a major impact on their life. These people may have symptoms of OCD but cannot be diagnosed with OCD, because the unwanted thoughts, urges, and compulsions do not take up at least an hour a day” – Marisa T. Mazza

274. “OCD makes their brains believe that something horrible is about to happen. Some people fear that they left an appliance on and the house will burn down. Others are terrified that they may get infected with some unknown germ. OCD causes good, kind people to believe that they might do something horrible to a child, knock over an elderly person, or run over someone with their car. ” – Laura L. Smith

275. “OCD ranges in severity from causing distress and negatively impacting your everyday routine to being totally debilitating to the point where you’re unable to function normally. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

276. “OCD ranges in severity from causing distress and negatively impacting your everyday routine to being totally debilitating to the point where you’re unable to function normally.” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

277. “OCD recovery doesn’t just come to you. You have to make it happen.” – Unknown

278. “OCD thoughts are not the problem. Your choice to take them seriously is the problem.” – Unknown

279. “OCD thoughts can come into your mind but it’s up to you if you pay attention to them.” – Anonymous

280. “OCD, we discovered, is a lot of different things-it’s not just washing your hands; it’s whatever you’re obsessed with. It can be just the way you hold a pen, and you always have to have it a certain way, or you have to eat your food; it depends. ” — Antoine Fuqua

281. “Often during writing, I am compelled by Obsessive compulsive disorder to delete and rewrite a word or sentence over and over again“

282. “Oftentimes, giving in to the OCD means moving further away from your values and the life you want. Your OCD may have been guiding your life for far too long. You now have an alternate path. Are you willing to let your values be your guiding light?” – Marisa T. Mazza

283. “Oh, I’m crazy, all right. I do have plenty of psychoses. Multiple personality, delusional dementia, OCD. I’ve got them all, but most of all, I’m crazy about you. ” — Eoin Colfer

284. “On OCD: “The OCD sufferer may feel they have to do increasingly more of their compulsive behaviour just to feel ‘normal’ just as the addict may need to take increasingly more of a substance to get the same hit.” – Mark Tyrrell

285. “One of the things that baffles me (and there are quite a few) is how there can be so much lingering stigma with regards to mental illness, specifically bipolar disorder. In my opinion, living with manic depression takes a tremendous amount of balls. Not unlike a tour of Afghanistan (though the bombs and bullets, in this case, come from the inside). At times, being bipolar can be an all-consuming challenge, requiring a lot of stamina and even more courage, so if you’re living with this illness and functioning at all, it’s something to be proud of, not ashamed of. They should issue medals along with the steady stream of medication.” — Carrie Fisher

286. “Others imply that they know what it is like to be depressed because they have gone through a divorce, lost a job, or broken up with someone. But these experiences carry with them feelings. Depression, instead, is flat, hollow, and unendurable. It is also tiresome. People cannot abide being around you when you are depressed. They might think that they ought to, and they might even try, but you know and they know that you are tedious beyond belief: you are irritable and paranoid and humorless and lifeless and critical and demanding and no reassurance is ever enough. You’re frightened, and you’re frightening, and you’re ‘not at all like yourself but will be soon,’ but you know you won’t.” ― Kay Redfield Jamison

287. “Over the course of the past decade, there’s been increased willingness to recognize mental health as an essential part of one’s well-being.”

288. “Pain of mind is worse than pain of body.” – Publius Syrus

289. “Pain of mind is worse than pain of body”

290. “Part of my identity is saying no to things I don’t want to do… I check in with myself throughout the day and I say, ‘Do I really want to do this?’ and if the answer is no, then I don’t do it. And you shouldn’t either.” — Lady Gaga

291. “People have this impression that I’m a little kooky, but I’m actually very OCD. ” — Kate Spade

292. “People who live with OCD drag a mental sea anchor around. Obsession is a brake, a source of drag, not a badge of creativity, a mark of genius or an inconvenient side effect of some greater function“

293. “People who live with OCD drag a metal sea anchor around. Obsession is a break, a source of drag, not a badge of creativity, a mark of genius or an inconvenient side effect of some greater function. ” ― David Adam

294. “People who live with OCD drag a metal sea anchor around. Obsession is a break, a source of drag, not a badge of creativity, a mark of genius or an inconvenient side effect of some greater function.”

295. “People who live with OCD drag a metal sea anchor around. Obsession is a break, a source of drag, not a badge of creativity, a mark of genius or an inconvenient side effect of some greater function.” – David Adam

296. “People will need help and support either intermittently or continuously, but their mental health experience no more defines them than their sexuality, gender, personality or any other aspect of their identity.”

297. “People with OCD including myself, realize that their seemingly uncontrollable behavior is irrational, but they feel unable to stop it. ” ― Abhijit Naskar

298. “People with OCD including myself, realize that their seemingly uncontrollable behavior is irrational, but they feel unable to stop it.”

299. “People with OCD including myself, realize that their seemingly uncontrollable behavior is irrational, but they feel unable to stop it.” – Abhijit Naskar

300. “People with OCD often have an overinflated sense of responsibility for preventing harm and tend to feel high levels of doubt and uncertainty. A person with OCD tends to know that his behaviours or responses to his obsessions are ridiculous but feels powerless to stop performing them. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

301. “People with OCD often wear a mask. On the outside they appear so put together, but on the inside, they are falling apart. ”

302. “People with OCD often wear a mask. On the outside, they appear so put together, but on the inside, they are falling apart. ” — Marisa T. Mazza

303. “People with OCD suffer. They are more likely than others to have other emotional disorders such as depression or anxiety. Due to embarrassment, they often keep their symptoms secret for years, which prevents them from seeking treatment. Worldwide, it is estimated that almost 60 percent of people with OCD never get help. ” – Laura L. Smith

304. “People with OCD, including myself, realize that their seemingly uncontrollable behavior is irrational, but they feel unable to stop it. ” ― Abhijit Naskar

305. “People without OCD also experience doubt. They demand certainty in what is almost always an uncertain world. For example, how certain can you be that the sun will come up tomorrow? Almost 100 percent certain, but there is an extremely remote possibility that the sun will implode. For people with OCD, that doubt may keep them up at night. Thus, the remote chance that a door is unlocked, even though a person recalls locking it, would nag at a person with OCD and literally cause a desperate need to recheck repeatedly. ” – Laura L. Smith

306. “People without OCD commonly have moments of doubt – ‘Did I turn my hair-straightener off?’ – that lead them to double-check. This tendency is part of being human and doesn’t mean you have OCD. If, on the other hand, you repeatedly check the item in an attempt to feel absolutely certain, then you may well have OCD. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

307. “Perfection I’ve lived with the pretense of perfection for seventeen years. Give my room a cursory inspection; you’d think I have OCD. But it’s only habit and not an obsession that keeps it all orderly. Of course, I don’t want to give the impression that it’s all up to me. ” Ellen Hopkins

308. “Perhaps you’ve heard “You don’t look sick,” “Don’t worry, relax,” or “That’s not rational” when you’ve told people you have OCD. If it were only that easy! You may feel misunderstood, like people don’t get how much you are suffering. ” – Marisa T. Mazza

309. “Personality is a slot machine, and the cherries, lemons, and bells are your SSRI system, your schizophrenic tendency, your left/right brain lobalization, your anxiety proclivity, your wiring glitches, your place on the autistic and OCD spectrums - and to these we must add the deep-level influences of the machines and systems of intelligence that guided your brain into maturity.”

310. “Picture standing in a room filled with flies and pouring a bottle of syrup over yourself. The flies constantly swarm about you, buzzing around your head and in your face. You swat and swat, but they keep coming. The flies are like obsessional thoughts — you can’t stop them, you just have to fend them off. The swatting is like compulsions — you can’t resist the urge to do it, even though you know it won’t really keep the flies at bay more than for a brief moment. ” — Cheryl Little Sutton

311. “Pretty hard to see when you refuse to look. Pretty hard to hear when you refuse to listen.”

312. “Promise me you’ll always remember — you’re braver than you believe, and stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think.” — Christopher Robin from Winnie the Pooh

313. “Rationally, you may know that what the OCD is saying is unlikely, maybe even untrue; however, there is always the chance that something you’re afraid of might happen, so it’s scary. ” – Marisa T. Mazza

314. “Rationally, you may know that what the OCD is saying is unlikely, maybe even untrue; however, there is always the chance that something you’re afraid of might happen, so it’s scary.” – Marisa T. Mazza

315. “Rationally, you may know that what the OCD is saying is unlikely, maybe even untrue; however, there is always the chance that something you’re afraid of might happen. ” ― Marisa T. Mazza

316. “Recovery from OCD is possible. Keep fighting, keep pushing, and most importantly, keep believing in yourself. ” — Sheila Murray Bethel

317. “Recovery from OCD is possible. Keep fighting, keep pushing, and most importantly, keep believing in yourself.” – Sheila Murray Bethel

318. “Refuse to act on an obsession, and it will die of inaction”

319. “Religious obsessions can come in the form of blasphemous thoughts. Some people with OCD worry that they might shout out swear words during a religious ceremony. Others have repeated sexual images of contemporary spiritual leaders or even historical religious figures. Some have repeated phrases, such as “god damn,” popping into their thoughts throughout the day. These obsessions are accompanied by feelings of profound dread and shame. The person tries to neutralize or undo the feelings of intense guilt by resorting to compulsive prayers or rituals. ” – Laura L. Smith

320. “Rest assured that people with OCD are just as normal as those without! We use the word normal to refer to someone without OCD only because it’s what we often hear OCD sufferers say. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

321. “Rule your mind or it will rule you.” – Horace

322. “Ruminating on OCD obsession is like praying for something you don’t want.” – Unknown

323. “Running in Central Park is my favorite thing to wake up and do. I have my own specific path that I have to run every single time. There’s a little bit of OCD involved, but I love it. ” — Nate Ruess

324. “Self-compassion is simply giving the same kindness to ourselves that we would give to others.” – Christopher Germer

325. “Sensitive people usually love deeply and hate deeply. They don't know any other way to live than by extremes because thier emotional theromastat is broken.”

326. “Slow, deep breathing is important… It’s like an anchor in the midst of an emotional storm: the anchor won’t get rid of the storm, but it will hold you steady until it passes.”

327. “So many people look at [my depression] as me being ungrateful, but that is not it — I can’t help it. There’s not much that I’m closed off about, and the universe gave me all that so I could help people feel like they don’t have to be something they’re not or feel like they have to fake happy. There’s nothing worse than being fake happy.” — Miley Cyrus

328. “Some people have described their OCD like a “brain itch” or a “brain hiccup. ” In other words, OCD can feel impossible to suppress. ” – Laura L. Smith

329. “Some people have described their OCD like a “brain itch” or a “brain hiccup.” In other words, OCD can feel impossible to suppress.” – Laura L. Smith

330. “Someone asked me recently, what it is like to live with OCD. I paused for a while and said, imagine watching your sibling getting run over by a truck in front of your eyes, not once, not twice, but repeatedly like in a looped video, or your child getting beaten up at school, or your partner getting abused by strangers on the street – and the only way you can stop that event from happening is to keep on repeating the task that you were carrying out when the vision first appeared in your mind, until some other less emotionally agonizing thought breaks the loop of that particular vision and replaces it – and though you know, it’s just a thought and not the destiny of the people you love, you feel it excruciatingly necessary to keep repeating the task until the thought passes, so that nothing bad happens to your loved ones – and that’s what it is like inside the head of a person with OCD, every moment of their life. ” ― Abhijit Naskar

331. “Sometimes the people around you won’t understand your journey. They don’t need to, it’s not for them.” — Joubert Botha

332. “Sometimes you climb out of bed in the morning and you think, I’m not going to make it, but you laugh inside — remembering all the times you’ve felt that way.” — Charles Bukowski

333. “Sometimes, I think about what would happen if you were gone. If I woke up from charging overnight and you weren't here. I would look around for you, calling your name. I wouldn't find you. I would be alone. that would make me sad. ... I know you would never leave me behind, but I think about it. I don't mean to. Why am I like that?”

334. “Sometimes, when seen from the outside, the problem of OCD can seem extreme, bizarre and so far from ‘normality’ as to appear ‘mad’; this is, of course, one of the factors which stops people seeing the disorder for what it is and getting the right knowledge to fight the problem effectively. ” – Fiona Challacombe

335. “Start listening to the way you talk to yourself. These interactions will tell you how well you know yourself, how much you respect yourself, and what boundaries you are lacking.” — Sara Kuburic

336. “Stigma and self-stigma are some of the most significant barriers surrounding mental health. Pervasive stigma is defined as a negative attitude towards a condition or person which leads to negative action or discrimination.”

337. “Take a deep breath to remember you are the child who lived through survival mode and the empowered adult who chose their healing.” — Dr. Nicole LePera

338. “Tell your heart that the fear of suffering is worse than the suffering itself. And that no heart has ever suffered when it goes in search of its dreams.” – Paulo Coelho

339. “Telling someone with OCD to stop obsessing about something is like telling someone who’s having an asthma attack to just breathe normally. ” ― Tamara Ireland Stone

340. “Telling someone with OCD to stop obsessing about something is like telling someone who’s having an asthma attack to just breathe normally.”

341. “Telling someone with OCD to stop obsessing about something is like telling someone who’s having an asthma attack to just breathe normally.” – Tamara Ireland Stone

342. “That was the crux. You. Only you could work on you. Nobody could force you, and if you weren’t ready, then you weren’t ready, and no amount of open-armed encouragement was going to change that.” ― Norah Vincent

343. “The acknowledgement of having suffered evil is the greatest step forward in mental health.” ― Stefan Molyneux

344. “The advice I’d give to somebody that’s silently struggling is, you don’t have to live that way. You don’t have to struggle in silence. You can be un-silent. You can live well with a mental health condition, as long as you open up to somebody about it, because it’s really important you share your experience with people so that you can get the help that you need.” — Demi Lovato

345. “The basis of your life is Freedom; the purpose of your life is Joy.”

346. “The best thing you could do is master the chaos in you. You are not thrown into the fire, you are the fire.” — Mama Indigo

347. “The best way out is always through.” – Robert Frost

348. “The better you get at acting against your OCD, the easier ignoring it is. The easier ignoring it is, the less it bothers you. The less it bothers you, the easier it is to act against it and get on with more important things in your life!” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

349. “The content of the thoughts that others just had very fleetingly was remarkably similar to the thoughts that troubled people with OCD. The fact that ‘normal’ people experience all sorts of negative ‘intrusive thoughts’ is a very important fact to remember. ” – Fiona Challacombe

350. “The experience I have had is that once you start talking about [experiencing a mental health struggle], you realize that actually you’re part of quite a big club.” — Prince Harry

351. “The first thing to remember about...OCD is that the horrible and disgusting "abnormal" thoughts are actually totally normal. The problem has to do with how the thoughts are presented and how they are responded to, not with their existence or absence. The OCD mind is a wide open mind, highlighting extreme potentials in any given context. To cherish something is to also be aware of the horror of losing something that you cherish. In other words, as an OCD sufferer, you can't /not/ think about this stuff.”

352. “The first time I saw her,

353. “The gentlest reminder: You might not need to read another self-help book, attend another training, or bookmark another Instagram post as much as you need to listen to, trust, and practice what you already know. What if the answer you’re looking for is actually within you already?” — Lisa Olivera

354. “The humanity we all share is more important than the mental illnesses we may not” ― Elyn R. Saks

355. “The key to beating OCD is in learning to habituate to the distressing feelings that come with it so that in time the stimuli no longer produce these feelings. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

356. “The key to beating OCD is in learning to habituate to the distressing feelings that come with it so that in time the stimuli no longer produce these feelings.” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

357. “The less you open your heart to others, the more your heart suffers.”

358. “The most beautiful people we have known are those who have known defeat, known suffering, known struggle, known loss, and have found their way out of the depths. These persons have an appreciation, a sensitivity, and an understanding of life that fills them with compassion, gentleness, and a deep loving concern. Beautiful people do not just happen.” — Elisabeth Kübler-Ross

359. “The most likely thing your certainty-demanding OCD demon will say to any list of obsessions is ‘It’s not quite the same as mine; what if something more dangerous than OCD is going on with me?’” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

360. “The OCD mind attempts to avoid risks of all kinds almost all the time. That’s why those with contamination OCD spend many hours every single day cleaning, scrubbing, and sanitizing everything around them. People with superstitious OCD perform rituals to keep them safe over and over again. Interestingly, most OCD sufferers focus on reducing risks around specific themes such as contamination, household safety, the safety of loved ones, or offending God. But those with contamination fears don’t necessarily worry about damnation. And those who worry about turning the stove off usually don’t obsess about germs. ” – Laura L. Smith

361. “The OCD mind focuses on possible future calamities. The predictions almost never come true. Yet, the obsessive thoughts keep coming and demanding attention, very naughty. ” — Unknown

362. “The OCD mind focuses on possible future calamities. The predictions almost never come true. Yet, the obsessive thoughts keep coming and demanding attention, very naughty.”

363. “The OCD mind focuses on possible future calamities. The predictions almost never come true. Yet, the obsessive thoughts keep coming and demanding attention. ” – Laura L. Smith

364. “The OCD mind focuses on possible future calamities. The predictions almost never come true. Yet, the obsessive thoughts keep coming and demanding attention.” – Laura L. Smith

365. “The OCD mind greatly exaggerates real risks. Although dirt is well, dirty, it is not dangerous unless you eat large quantities, or it’s actually contaminated with toxins. Getting sick from the vast majority of dirty areas is unlikely. People with fears about becoming contaminated by dirt will repeatedly clean and sanitize to reduce risk. Cleaning rituals sometimes consume much of the day. ” – Laura L. Smith

366. “The OCD Recovery Program has high recovery rate because of continous text support throughout the day between Ali Greymond and her clients. She guides you through the difficult moments and pushes you to fight for recovery. You are never going to feel alone in your daily battle against against OCD and as long as you follow the program, you will recover.”

367. “The only way to overcome OCD is by facing your fears. ” — Jonathan Grayson

368. “The only way to overcome OCD is by facing your fears.” – Jonathan Grayson

369. “The pain of OCD is accompanied by loneliness. OCD disrupts relationships. People with OCD are less likely to marry, and, if they do, they are more likely to divorce than others. Those who do hang on to their families often have more conflict. ” – Laura L. Smith

370. “The pain of severe depression is quite unimaginable to those who have not suffered it, and it kills in many instances because its anguish can no longer be borne. The prevention of many suicides will continue to be hindered until there is a general awareness of the nature of this pain.” ― William Styron

371. “The person suffering from OCD does not feel that they have any choice about what is happening to them. However, we will show that the processes which drive OCD are all understandable as exaggerated versions of normal psychological experiences and worries which take hold and develop into OCD in certain people. ” – Fiona Challacombe

372. “The primary difference between people with OCD and those without it is not simply the content of the thoughts, but their perspective on the thoughts. If your perspective is that a particular thought is “bad” in and of itself, then that thought may become problematic. ” – Jon Hershfield & Tom Corboy

373. “The primary difference between people with OCD and those without it is not simply the content of the thoughts, but their perspective on the thoughts. If your perspective is that a particular thought is “bad” in and of itself, then that thought may become problematic.” – Jon Hershfield & Tom Corboy

374. “The problem with OCD isn’t that you think too much. It’s that you confuse the intensity, volume, or visibility of your thoughts with their importance. ” – Jon Hershfield & Tom Corboy

375. “The problem with OCD isn’t that you think too much. It’s that you confuse the intensity, volume, or visibility of your thoughts with their importance. ” ― Jon Hershfield

376. “The problem with OCD isn’t that you think too much. It’s that you confuse the intensity, volume, or visibility of your thoughts with their importance.” – Jon Hershfield & Tom Corboy

377. “The question of how somebody ends up developing OCD has no simple, precise answer. OCD is a combination of several factors: biological, personality, environment and life events. Like so many other kinds of psychological problems, no single type of person develops OCD. We’ve met people from all walks of life who have OCD, and it certainly has nothing to do with being weak or crazy. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

378. “The strongest people are not those who show strength in front of the world but those who fight and win battles that others do not know anything about.” — Jonathan Harnisch

379. “The talked about their messed-up, dysfunctional families, carefully respecting boundaries, never probing too deep in any one sitting. And they always ended up laughing. Even when the subject matter was intense or macabre, Henry’s sick and twisted and often politically incorrect sense of humor was infectious…Gloria laughed more in these first weeks at Oxford then she remembered laughing almost anywhere.”

380. “The true definition of mental illness is when the majority of your time is spent in the past or future, but rarely living in the realism of NOW.”

381. “The whole aesthetics of computers very much feeds into my OCD. They fill my head with obsessionalities and my actions become very repetitive. It seems quite inimical to the dreamy state out of which fiction comes, which seems so much less causally repetitive than the way one works on computers. ” — Will Self

382. “Then what’s wrong with me?” I ask. “Why do I have these . . . these thoughts?” The word doesn’t feel like enough; it’s too airy, and implies I am capable of telling them apart from reality.

383. “There are so many things in life to make you happy. The sound of a child laughing, a rainbow, or a friend losing a ton of weight; and giving away their Lululemon pants that are too big for them now.”

384. “There is a crack in everything, that’s how the light gets in” ― Leonard Cohen

385. “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.”

386. “There is hope, even when your brain tells you there isn’t.” ― John Green

387. “There is no cast, no scar, no stitches. No X-ray with the evidence of pain. Rarely is there physical evidence of mental illness, but for those suffering from pervasive mental illness the pain and exhaustion is deep and heavy.” – Emily Sanders, LMFT

388. “There is no doubt that OCD is a problem of thinking and how the sufferer reacts to their thoughts. We all have ‘silent’ beliefs about ourselves, how the world works, and our future; these are general attitudes which are based on our understanding of our place in the world and are linked to the values by which we live our lives. ” ― Fiona Challacombe

389. “There is no doubt that OCD is a problem of thinking and how the sufferer reacts to their thoughts. We all have ‘silent’ beliefs about ourselves, how the world works, and our future; these are general attitudes which are based on our understanding of our place in the world, and are linked to the values by which we live our lives. ” – Fiona Challacombe

390. “There is so much pain in the world, and most of these people keep theirs secret, rolling through agonizing lives in invisible wheelchairs, dressed in invisible bodycasts.” ― Andrew Solomon

391. “There isn’t anybody out there who doesn’t have a mental health issue, whether it’s depression, anxiety, or how to cope with relationships. Having OCD is not an embarrassment anymore – for me. Just know that there is help and your life could be better if you go out and seek the help.” — Howie Mandel

392. “Things not to say to someone with mental illness: Ignore it. Forget about it. Fight it. You are better than this. You are over thinking.”

393. “Think of deliberate exposures as sticking two fingers up to the OCD, as in, ‘Really, OCD, you don’t want me to do that? Well, tough; I’m going to anyway!’” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

394. “This feeling will pass. The fear is real but the danger is not.” ― Cammie McGovern

395. “This only is certain, that there is nothing certain“

396. “To react to OCD is to jump into compulsions. To respond to OCD is to observe what your mind is doing and choose your next step. ” – Jon Hershfield & Tom Corboy

397. “To react to OCD is to jump into compulsions. To respond to OCD is to observe what your mind is doing and choose your next step.” – Jon Hershfield & Tom Corboy

398. “To resist a compulsion with willpower alone is to hold back an avalanche by melting the snow with a candle. It just keeps coming and coming and coming.”

399. “Tough times never last, but tough people do!” — Robert Schuller

400. “Trusting yourself is the ultimate lesson. It’s where all the guidance leads.”

401. “Trying to achieve certainty was the domain of fools, and I was no longer the court jester.”

402. “Unfortunately, this process doesn’t work in the same way for OCD. When you spend time trying to understand why you have these thoughts or feelings and where they come from, you’re simply getting caught in the OCD’s trap. Searching for reasons adds more weight to the obsessions, which again maintains the cycle. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

403. “Unlike depression and some other disorders, OCD is variegated. People who suffer from depression look a lot alike. Although their symptoms differ somewhat, most depressed folks feel sad and gloomy, have low energy, and lack enthusiasm. By contrast, OCD looks more like breeds of dogs that differ in appearance the way that Dachshunds, Great Danes, Cocker Spaniels, Goldendoodles, and Yorkshire Terriers do. In other words, OCD shows up in very different forms from person to person. ” – Laura L. Smith

404. “Until you make the unconscious conscious, it will direct your life and you will call it fate.” — Carl Jung

405. “We all add to the stigma surrounding mental illness. I am not trying to call anyone out or make anyone feel bad, but in our own way, we all contribute to the stigma. It could be the way we think about other people with mental illness, or even the way we talk to ourselves about our own struggles.”

406. “We are not our trauma. We are not our brain chemistry. That’s part of who we are, but we’re so much more than that.” ― Sam J. Miller

407. “We believe that a mental health system that was fully supporting recovery would look different in language, assumptions, theory base and working practices. It would have a natural focus on strengths.”

408. “We envisage a society in which mental health problems are an acceptable and in some ways valued part of the human experience.”

409. “We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken.”

410. “We want you to know that you don’t need to be in crisis or distress to seek help as going to therapy has numerous benefits.” – Carla Avalos LCSW+PMH-C

411. “What does your anxiety do? It does not empty tomorrow of its sorrow, but it empties today of its strength. It does not make you escape the evil; it makes you unfit to cope with it if it comes.” ― Raymond L. Cramer

412. “What I love about therapy is that they’ll tell you what your blind spots are. Although that’s uncomfortable and painful, it gives you something to work with.” — Pink

413. “What if you moved through the world as if you were easy to be loved? Because I promise you, you are easy to love.” Sonalee Rashatwar, LCSW

414. “What mental health needs is more sunlight, more candor, and more unashamed conversation.” — Glenn Close

415. “What would you want them to say; that is, what sort of person do you want to be remembered as? It’s unlikely that you want to be remembered for the things your OCD makes you do or worry about. People aren’t likely to celebrate the way you washed your hands, checked, monitored your bodily reactions or tried to ward off disaster by changing your thoughts. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

416. “When everything was laid out before her, she felt safe, loved even. She was always trying to be more organized than she was. She knew it was weird and blamed her mother, with the lists and

417. “When I don’t pay attention to my feelings, I tend to put up with situations and people longer than I should.” — Allyson Dinneen

418. “When it isn’t thinking about the future, the OCD mind dwells on possibilities from the past. The mind fills with thoughts about what might have occurred. ” – Laura L. Smith

419. “When it isn’t thinking about the future, the OCD mind dwells on possibilities from the past. The mind fills with thoughts about what might have occurred.” – Laura L. Smith

420. “When it takes hold, OCD can affect many areas in a person’s life. However, it doesn’t always start like that. For some, the OCD takes the disguise of a friend, promising to keep you safe … but at a very high cost! And as time goes on, that cost escalates and keeps on rising. It can affect your well-being in a general way if you are constantly feeling anxious and can also have a direct impact on what you feel you can do and where you feel you can go. ” – Fiona Challacombe

421. “When learning any new technique to deal with your OCD, the aim is to help you notice the thoughts in a detached way without engaging in the thoughts in any way. This goal means giving up attaching meaning, ruminating, worrying, trying to suppress or change the thought and so on. Don’t use mindfulness meditation as a way of trying to get rid of thoughts or as a coping mechanism to reduce anxiety. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

422. “When mental health is ultimately recognized as essential to physical health, not an extraneous element of it, then we will have access to true, complete, modern medicine.”

423. “When people tell the OCD sufferer to ‘stop it’, this does not take into account the reason why the drive to carry out obsessional behaviours is so strong – the deep and crucially important underlying meaning that your intrusive thoughts have for you. If it were easy to stop acting on your fears, then clearly you would have done so already. ” – Fiona Challacombe

424. “When under the strain of bipolar’s strongest symptoms, we certainly can make selfish decisions, but that doesn’t make us selfish people. In fact, because we have struggled and known such depths of darkness, our compassion runs deeper.” — Lyss Trayers

425. “When you change the way you look at things, the things you look at change.”

426. “When you come out of the grips of a depression there is an incredible relief, but not one you feel allowed to celebrate. Instead, the feeling of victory is replaced with anxiety that it will happen again, and with shame and vulnerability when you see how your illness affected your family, your work, everything left untouched while you struggled to survive. We come back to life thinner, paler, weaker … but as survivors. Survivors who don’t get pats on the back from coworkers who congratulate them on making it. Survivors who wake to more work than before because their friends and family are exhausted from helping them fight a battle they may not even understand. I hope to one day see a sea of people all wearing silver ribbons as a sign that they understand the secret battle, and as a celebration of the victories made each day as we individually pull ourselves up out of our foxholes to see our scars heal, and to remember what the sun looks like.” ― Jenny Lawson

427. “When you deliberately do the opposite of what the OCD wants by exposing yourself to your fears and engaging in anti-OCD behaviour, you start to take the power away from the OCD. Imagine that you’re standing beside a cold swimming pool and someone (your OCD) is threatening to push you in. You’re likely to feel trepidation or fear about the prospect of getting pushed in. However, deciding to take the plunge and jump in yourself gets rid of your anxiety about the prospect of being pushed in; you’re probably too busy dealing with the actual situation rather than the threat of the situation. Now that you’re in the pool, how powerful is the threat of being pushed in? There’s no power in it anymore because the deed is already done. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

428. “When you have Harm OCD, it can often feel like you're repeatedly being accused of a terrible crime. OCD is your accuser, but it also acts like a high-powered defense attorney who says, "Look, I can get you a not-guilty plea, guaranteed. I'm going to get all the witnesses and all the evidence and bring it all up in your trial and if you stick with me, the jury will acquit you. 100%." You hear this and think, Great, let's do this. I know I'm not guilty. Let's make sure it's official. Then the OCD says, "Sure thing. By the way, I cost $1000/hour, I bill 24 hours a day, and the case will take a few years, maybe more. In the end, you'll get your not-guilty verdict, probably, but I should tell you, the long trial will decimate you and the verdict might not make that much of a difference. But never mind that, let's get to that evidence of your innocence."

429. “When you have OCD, you’ve unwittingly trained yourself to be very attentive to the thoughts that you don’t like. Luckily, you can retrain yourself to pay a whole lot less attention to these thoughts. Think of it like going to the attention gym. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

430. “When you have OCD, you’ve unwittingly trained yourself to be very attentive to the thoughts that you don’t like. Luckily, you can retrain yourself to pay a whole lot less attention to these thoughts. Think of it like going to the attention gym.” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

431. “When you try to rationalise your OCD worries, you’re engaging with the obsessions and therefore unwittingly feeding them. OCD is like a hungry stray dog; when you feed it, it comes back for more. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

432. “When your OCD is loud and you are caught up in it, what happens to the rest of your life? Oftentimes when we are struggling, we lose sight of what else is out there. ” – Marisa T. Mazza

433. “When your OCD is loud and you are caught up in it, what happens to the rest of your life? Oftentimes when we are struggling, we lose sight of what else is out there.” – Marisa T. Mazza

434. “With OCD, the more you seek the answer the more questions will arise.” – Unknown

435. “Worrying is carrying tomorrow’s load with today’s strength-carrying two days at once. Worrying doesn’t empty tomorrow of its sorrow, it empties today of its strength.” – Corrie Ten Boom

436. “Yes, I have OCD. No, it isn’t just about being a “neat freak.”” – Unknown

437. “You are in control of your OCD. No Fear = No OCD.” – Unknown

438. “You are not alone. You are seen. I am with you. You are not alone.” — Shonda Rhimes

439. “You are not your illness. You have an individual story to tell. You have a name, a history, a personality. Staying yourself is part of the battle. ” — Julian Seifter

440. “You are not your illness. You have an individual story to tell. You have a name, a history, a personality. Staying yourself is part of the battle.” — Julian Seifter

441. “You are not your OCD. You are not the thoughts and compulsions that torment you. ” — Jeffrey M. Schwartz

442. “You are not your OCD. You are not the thoughts and compulsions that torment you.” – Jeffrey M. Schwartz

443. “You are the one thing in this world, above all other things, that you must never give up on. When I was in middle school, I was struggling with severe anxiety and depression and the help and support I received from my family and a therapist saved my life. Asking for help is the first step. You are more precious to this world than you’ll ever know.” — Lili Reinhart

444. “You can't compare men or women with mental disorders to the normal expectations of men and women in without mental orders. Your dealing with symptoms and until you understand that you will always try to find sane explanations among insane behaviors. You will always have unreachable standards and disappointments. If you want to survive in a marriage to someone that has a disorder you have to judge their actions from a place of realistic expectations in regards to that person's upbringing and diagnosis.”

445. “You can’t control what pops into your head. This is true for everyone, OCD sufferer or not. That is why we refer to these thoughts, whether intrusive or not, as automatic thoughts. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

446. “You don’t have to be positive all the time. It’s perfectly okay to feel sad, angry, annoyed, frustrated, scared and anxious. Having feelings doesn’t make you a negative person. It makes you human.” — Lori Deschene

447. “You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you. ” — Dan Millman

448. “You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.” — Dan Millman

449. “You don’t have to control your thoughts. You just have to stop letting them control you.” – Dan Millman

450. “You don’t have to learn how to control your thoughts; you just have to stop letting them control you.” – Unknown

451. “You don’t need to find a lesson in your trauma.” — Jordan Pickell, MCP RCC

452. “You have within you right now everything you need to deal with whatever the world can throw at you. ” — Brian Tracy

453. “You lose time. You lose entire blocks of your day to obsessive thoughts or actions. I spend so much time finishing songs in my car before I can get out or redoing my entire shower routine because I lost count of how many times I scrubbed my left arm. ” — Kelly Hill

454. “You lose time. You lose entire blocks of your day to obsessive thoughts or actions. I spend so much time finishing songs in my car before I can get out or redoing my entire shower routine because I lost count of how many times I scrubbed my left arm.”

455. “You're not crazy. I'm going to remind you of this throughout the book. "Crazy" is a nonsense word we use to put ourselves down when we don't like what we see in the mind. You have a common, diagnosable, treatable disorder.”

456. “You’re not insane,” he says again.

457. “Your OCD is likely to try very hard to reject the normalising of intrusive thoughts: ‘Yeah, but if I was a truly good person I’d never have these thoughts; they must mean something’. The fact is they don’t mean a thing. You may notice them more because they are against what you want to think, and you may get more because you try to resist them. But they are normal. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

458. “Your OCD likes to fight to stay in control, so it may well continue to try to persuade you that this new way is too dangerous or won’t work. There’s only one way to find out who’s right, so try it and see what happens. You may well feel uncomfortable with this kind of uncertainty or risk, which isn’t surprising as these are key features in OCD, but tolerating this discomfort and testing out new behaviours is key to overcoming OCD. ” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

459. “Your present circumstances don’t determine where you go; they merely determine where you start.” – Nido Qubein

460. “Your thoughts are not facts. You don’t have to believe or act on them.” – Unknown

461. He said, Praise the name of God forever and ever, for he has all wisdom and power. He controls the course of world events; he removes kings and sets up other kings. - Author: Anonymous

462. Anxiety does not empty tomorrow of its sorrows, but only empties today of its strength

463. Be who you are and say what you feel because those who mind don’t matter, and those who matter don’t mind

464. Boredom strives to detach, but finds itself stuck. - Author: Mason Cooley

465. Don’t believe the guilt. It’s only a byproduct of OCD

466. Don’t feel bad for yourself because you have OCD. Feeling bad is a sign of weakness and you need to be strong in your battle with OCD

467. Don’t try to figure out an OCD question. Accept the uncertainty

468. Don’t waste this moment, this moment is your life

469. Fear is what stops you. Courage is what keeps you going

470. Friends such as we desire are dreams and fables, yet we never quite give up the hope of finding them. - Author: Logan Pearsall Smith

471. I am in charge of how I feel and today I choose happiness

472. I don't think anyone can grow unless he's loved exactly as he is now, appreciated for what he is rather than what he will be. - Author: Fred Rogers

473. I'm too measured and controlling - about everything. That's why I take Lexapro. It's for OCD. I don't feel like I'm struggling with it. I think OCD is a part of me that protects me. It's also the part of me that I use in my job, in a positive way. - Author: Amanda Seyfried

474. If you are going through an OCD spike, allow it to pass, don’t force it to leave. Give no energy towards it!

475. If you want to get over OCD you need to be as strong as the disorder

476. If you worry about being bad you are good

477. In spite of the direction his medical practice had taken in later years, he'd always remained less interested in appearance than those things a person couldn't see: kindness and integrity, humor and sensibility. - Author: Nicholas Sparks

478. Let OCD tell you whatever it wants. Don’t try to solve it

479. Never been dx with OCD, but I have some of the more common symptoms, but not to a crazy degree. I can't be anymore as I'm disabled. But when I read Emily's description, it hit me like a ton of bricks. I'm so thankful, Emily, that you put into perfect words, how I feel. God bless you for it

480. OCD is the disorder of doubt. Stop all doubt & you will stop OCD

481. OCD thoughts are not the problem. Your choice to take them seriously is the problem

482. OCD thoughts can come into your mind but it’s up to you if you pay attention to them

483. People who are meant to play an important role in your life will often come knocking on your front door. However, it is up to you to decide whether or not you want to open the door and let them in. - Author: K. R. Fajardo

484. Pleasure for one hour, a bottle of wine. Pleasure for one year, a marriage; but pleasure for a lifetime, a garden

485. Recovery takes time. Don’t get discouraged

486. Ruminating on OCD obsession is like praying for something you don’t want

487. Strength is born out of a deeply suffering heart

488. The most difficult phase of life is not when no one understands you; It is when you don’t understand yourself

489. The road to success is not the path you find but the trail you blaze

490. The strongest man is he who stands alone

491. The thoughts are not you and the scenario they present is not real

492. There is strength in solitude. A man who needs a crowd is much more alone than he imagines

493. With OCD, the more you seek the answer the more questions will arise

494. Yes, I have OCD. No, it isn’t about being a “neat freak”

495. You are free to choose, but the choices you make today will determine what you have, be, and do in the tomorrow of your life. - Author: Zig Ziglar

496. You are in control of your OCD. No Fear = No OCD

497. You can’t control your thoughts, but u can control your reaction to them. React with indifference

498. You never know how strong you are until strong is the only way you can be

499. “A full recovery doesn’t in any way depend on having the mental events no longer enter your mind. A full recovery depends on reclaiming your mind, body, heart and soul from the clutches of your OCD.” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson

500. “Imagine you have an OCD-free twin, who is the same as you in every way but free from excessive fears, compulsions and avoidance. This can be a great reference point when thinking how you could change your behaviour and resist participating with your OCD – ask yourself the question, ‘what would my OCD-free twin do in this situation?’” – Katie d’Ath & Rob Willson