I read your article, and it made glad to see someone my age overcoming such a difficult disorder. I have ocd myself, I have to do things like touch whatever i'm drinking as it's about to hit my mouth, and right before I mput it down. Sometimes I have to touch something up to 10 times before I can move on. I sometimes have to look at things 2 or 3 times for the same reason. I have been working hard to stop and overcome my disorder, and I have been making progress. I have been working on not flipping things like paper or a ball or pens...etc. I am going to continue working to overcoming my disorder. I am a frequent visitor to this site and It helps. Thanks for reading, Michael Delahoussaye

Ellen: I am sorry for your suffering, but the good news is that, with dedication and motivation, OCD is entirely treatable. If you are not receiving ERP or CBT treatment from a trained therapist, there are some things you should know. The gold standard treatment for OCD is ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention), which is a form of CBT (Cognitive Behavioral Therapy). ERP is best undergone with a therapist specializing in the treatment of OCD using CBT and ERP. You should make it a top priority of yours to find a good therapist. I would recommend going to the OCF website and searching for a treatment provider in your area. Other good resources for finding an ERP/CBT therapist include http://adaa.org/ and http://abct.org/. You can also become a part of the Yahoo group called "OCD in Parenting" as well as our group, "OCD Kids Sacramento", to get recommendations from other families about qualified therapists across the country. If you are unable to find a therapist, you can look into self-help books such as The OCD Workbook by Bruce Hyman, Ph.D. and Cherry Pedrick, R.N.. If you are already working with a therapist, I would encourage you to stay strong and engross yourself in facing your fears. Think about all the things that OCD keeps you from doing, and all the things you could spend that time doing. You can overcome OCD if you have faith that facing your fears will result in an ultimate reduction of your stress level, have a strong support system, stay committed and courageous, and have a good therapist leading you through therapy. Overcoming OCD is probably the hardest thing you will have to do in your life, but overcoming it will also provide you with the greatest happiness of your life. Stay strong and face your fears in the hopes that one day you will be free of OCD!

Hi Nikita I read your articale . i found out i had Ocd at 10 i am still working threw it and i am going threw some hard stuff and doing crazy rituals and i need your help. okay every time i feel like i am about to concqour another ritual it tells me no and i do the ritual anyway so i'm really angry at myself because i feel like i'm not trying!

My mom just sent me your article. I just wanted to say I was diagnosed with ocd 4 years ago and I have now found it easy to manage after therapy. I no longer spend hours checking my alarm clock in fear that I will miss school or making sure every door and window in the house is locked. I am now going to UC Berkeley and find myself dealing with stress much better then many others. Thank you for creaqting a site to help kids with ocd, it is always helpful to see other sucess stories.

Hi Nikita, Thank you for the article. My daughter, who is now 19, has been battling OCD for years. We tried a therapist when it first started but he was terrible. She has dealt with it on her own. It comes and goes. Her first year away at college, living in tight quarters with others, has caused it to return. I noticed the stressed behavior when she was home this summer. She tends not to want to talk about it. I was wondering if you could tell me who your therapist was. You sound so much like my daughter. Thank you. It is nice to know that there is hope out there.