Three’s a Crowd: OCD and Relationships

Navigating relationships and OCD at the same time can feel overwhelming. I’ve had OCD since I was a little kid, so I’ve moved through every life stage of relationships with OCD as an unwanted but ever present companion. Every challenge, heartbreak, and happiness throughout my life has been influenced by my OCD, but going through these taught me how to better myself and grow.
Here are some of the most impactful lessons I’ve learned from managing OCD in relationships:

The first time OCD became a presence in my relationships was in seventh grade. I was thirteen and had a crush on a boy in my class who was a year younger. My OCD convinced me that doing certain actions twelve times would make this boy like me. I’d had compulsions and rituals before, but they had never centered around relationships and romantic feelings. I was a socially awkward and quiet kid, and OCD seemed to give me power over the interpersonal interactions that I dreaded. I did as my OCD told me, even though the rituals were extremely disruptive to my life. Even small occurrences became opportunities for my OCD to confirm the power of compulsions: my crush complimented me that day because I’d washed my face twelve times during my morning shower. Any awkward moment or anxiety happened because I hadn’t completed a compulsion the correct number of times. During my junior year of high…