‘Very scared’: Woman with late OCD diagnosis shares what it was like to grow up with disorder

Mental Health America wants people to know that obsessive-compulsive disorder is often misunderstood and not talked about much.

People have probably heard someone say, “I’m so OCD about keeping my house clean” as a joke, but it’s not funny to people who truly suffer from OCD.

Channel 9′s Scott Wickersham spoke to a young woman who has dealt with OCD since she was six years old but wasn’t diagnosed until she was 18 years old. Doctors told her she may never be a functional adult.

“So from a really young age, about five or six, I started struggling with what I now know are intrusive thoughts and compulsions. But being young, I didn’t have those terms, didn’t have that verbiage. So I just remember, I had a lot of fear. And I had a lot of thoughts that made me very uncomfortable. I was just very scared a lot of the times,” Rebekah Bagley said.

The Anxiety of Depression Association of America estimated that 2.5 million adults suffer from OCD, and women are three times more likely to be affected than men. It often starts in childhood.

>> In the video at the top of the page, Bagley talks about how she felt and what she was thinking as a child to help other parents better understand.

ADDITIONAL COVERAGE AND RESOURCES:

• Charlotte’s Hidden Crisis: The importance of mental health in our children
• Mental Health & Our Kids: Here’s what parents should know
• ‘He was in pain’: Family whose son died by suicide shares his story to help other parents, children
• Mental Health Resources: Programs and organizations helping children, teens
• Local school counselor creates safe place where students can reset

(WATCH BELOW: Anchor Erica Bryant speaks with clinical social worker about mental health)

Anchor Erica Bryant speaks with clinical social worker about mental health

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