What Untreated OCD does to your Mental Health
When people think of OCD, they often picture neatness or handwashing—but untreated OCD can be so much more than that. From intrusive thoughts and moral anxiety to social withdrawal and time-consuming rituals, it can quietly erode your peace of mind. In this video, we explore the deeper realities of what untreated OCD does to your mental health—and why recognizing the signs can be life-changing. We’re incredibly grateful to have BetterHelp as an affiliate partner, allowing us to keep creating meaningful content like this. Special thanks to our amazing team, including animator Rose Lam and voice actress @amandasilvera for bringing this project to life. If this video resonates with you or helps you feel seen, consider sharing your story in the comments and subscribing for more mental health content from Psych2Go.
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Researcher & Writer: Dylan Swanepoel
Voice Artist & Script Editor: @amandasilvera
Animator / Storyboarder: Rose Lam
Project Director: Tai Khuong
Project assistant: Cindy Cheong & Kelly Soong
Producer: Psych2Go
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21 Comments
We worked really hard on this animation and script and research. We hope you found it as helpful as we enjoyed making this video.
If you enjoy this animation, you can visit Rose's playlist here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wP2hbD_t14Y&list=PLD4cyJhQaFwVmmg5iVtr3KHTmOLxFcx5Z
I have been taking medication for OCD for more than five years, and my life is much easier than it used to be. However, while I was suffering from OCD, I was becoming increasingly depressed. My OCD is much better now, but sometimes I feel that depression is more dangerous for me these days. Actually, my doctor told me that OCD and depression are quite related. Could you make a YouTube video about the correlation between OCD and depression? I would really like to learn more.
Real ,like I Can relate with All of this so Bad and Im sure that I have OCD even whitout Diagnosis . Like I always knew that something was wrong with me and that theese feeling aren't normal .But whenever I tried to talking abt IT with someone they say Thats its normal nad that Im overeacting ,when IT deffinetly wasnt normal.And the fact that ppl were minimalizing my problembs Made me keep IT in and now its getting worse and worse .😢
Intro: – The most frequent diagnosis of mine is OCD but I was often blamed for being messy and untidy as if it's my identity. It's false. Also, I'm not surrounded by anyone who has a good understanding about OCD and those who've don't need to show empathy (the "professionals")
1. Yes, these thoughts are so f'ed up and of course, by listening to them, no one will never agree with "OCD people are not violent" quote from this video. They're so so intense and the people can watch horror gore compilation videos on YouTube itself which would make a little light sense about the kind of thoughts. Also, I think watching Happy Tree Friends would also give what processes inside the mind which they try hard to get rid from but the difference in my experience is, I felt being possessed by God making me worsen myself through the very same way how I became rebellious (self ERP. It's not atheistic satanism but somewhat similar), I started enjoying kind of things shown in that cartoon where ChatGPT called this "Morbid Curiosity", Somehow, genuinely, I show my empathy towards those who've felt bad experiences even though not great at showing it and I was extremely compassionate towards 2 dogs in my house and now I doubt whether when I reclaim my sense of power, whether I'm becoming more evil. Somehow, that's migrating away from OCD but I guess OCD makes you good and a self-sacrificing person for others where I'm the villain who still blasphemes against holy spirit.
2. For me I think, therapy did nothing for my OCD but rather the way I followed along with the prescribed drugs kinda healed me.
3. Actually, the 1st one I met was good and gave me this diagnosis under the lie of being capable of diagnosing me by just looking at me and the questions he asked were just to make me glad. Somehow, he's a child psychiatrist. The psychiatrist I met just after under the diagnosis of OCD didn't inform me much about it and he faked that I don't experience depression where the latter psychiatrists gave me a drug with a mood stabiliser and still taking it. Somehow, at that moment I was kind mockingly smiled for asking that.
4. Indeed! I often got these thoughts but that time of my life was also characterised by harsh verbal bullying, physical dehumanising acts done towards me and extremely high levels of spiritual abuse. Somehow, it was hella difficult and I don't know whether a normal person would even understand the kind of horror I experienced.
5. Yeah. The kind of everything explained here is true except for germophobia or cleanliness. I also washed my hands but what I did was cleansing it by putting sign of the cross and following certain numbers interpreted in bible (specifically) revelation, the colors to make sense, actually, it's more hypothetical than the truth which resonates with biblical teachings.
6.Indeed. These Pure-O type thoughts were also very common. I often suffered excessively with the fear of damnation of me and my family which no one as worthy as living deserves to go through.
Thank you very much for spreading this much of awareness!
i had always suspected that i have ocd… now i really need to get checked out because im 99% sure that i do
treatment is still possible, thanks
I'm actually a big OCD person and I'm extremely depressed but I don't know how to treat it honestly 😭😢.
Thank you for making such great videos. These animations are dope ! And the muaic is soothing 🙂
There have been so many symptoms I have looked up before to find out what's wrong with me but I never have enough to say I actually have them because I'm undiagnosed.
I had a learned OCD that I was evil, harmful, sexually deviant, always at fault etc. Being raised where even coming 1% of the way towards those things would lead to insane punishments and admonishment. It drove me insane until I broke. Basically spent a full summer by myself in my appartment. But, just with kind acceptance of the things that flared it up, the people that do that, etc, it's really gotten much better. I still have a bit of it, but its far less anger and hate inducing, it's more withdrawing
These videos are feeling…..targeted shout out Nathan Peterson another amazing resource if you're ocd
As a person who has researched quite a bit on OCD and is pretty sure they have it, let's take a look at my obsessions and anxieties that I experienced just yesterday!
Now, let's see…
– Not having any emotions or empathy and having faked/exaggerated them my whole life
– My pets
– Having a heart attack/having already had a heart attack multiple times because my fingertips were inexplicably in pain
– Not being able to remember large chunks of my childhood
– Being a bad person when I was in middle school
– Something else I can't remember for the life of me right now
In short, it's exhausting. So, so exhausting.
To those experiencing these and other ocd symptoms, what do you wish your loved ones could understand about you or do for you to help? My best friend has ocd and since i do not, i struggle to understand what she goes through and help her.
i cried 😞😞
For me, the problem is needing things to be done right the first time. This is why I have what some might call rituals, but actually these processes are just tried and proved "right ways" to accomplish certain tasks.
For example, I'm a reporter and journalist, a career that requires following specific style guidelines; there really is only one correct way to write for newspapers. My obsessive tendencies make me great at my job. When I first started out in my early 20s I ruminated much more than I do now I'm in my 60s.
I have learned that there are healthy compulsions, and in many cases there are several right ways of doing things. These days the thing that makes me crazy is when people refuse to learn to select one of the many right ways to handle certain situations and just ignore/avoid or chose to do something they know has resulted in failure in the past. The old saying is true: doing the same things and expecting different results is ridiculous. The difference between the master and the novice is the master has failed more times than the novice has even tried.
I think learning to get out of your own way and be gentle with yourself is key to managing obsessive tendencies.
I have diagnised OCD, I went rhough a it of treatment but I relaly needed to get continue less intense therpy afterowrds but I didnt, its been a few months now and I'm just getting back into therapy but its too late I'm sinking I've sunk so low into my Pure-O thoughts demanding I fix my lifespan that I solve my mortality and figure out what happens after death, and I dont know what to do anynore because how do you even fix something so real like that? Heo do you go through the process of coming to terms with it if its hijacked by OCD so that actually dealing with it is unhealthy?
I was diagnosed with OCD when I was in the 6th grade and now I'm 41. Did therapy and medications work over the years? Sometimes… but about 95 percent of my life is spent inside my own mind and not connected to the outside world, or at least that's what my OCD feels like. OCD works on a wide spectrum, which means that everybody's OCD is different.
I never realized until i saw this video, i have the exact symptoms of harmful ocd. When im in public, and see someone, every now and then my mind is flooded with thoughts of murdering them, or really anything awful, and it makes me deeply depressed that my mind creates those thoughts for me, as if it wants me to do them. It hurts me so much when it happens. This video made me feel better. This video made me feel like less of a monster. Thank you. I really, really needed that.
I've had OCD for as long as I can remember and people never realised how bad it was because of people just throwing the term around so casually. I got diagnosed last year and have been getting therapy for it and it's been really helping so far! My score has gone down and it's helped me realise my progress. Good luck to anyone who is struggling and please do reach out for help!
😂 I have learned to adapt and live with my pure OCD after 10 years of misery
Started when I was 13 and now I'm 24
You don't really need medications or any diagnosis
All you need is a lot of resilience, adaptability and a will to find a way
It's quite rough when comorbid with depression. The runinating and internalized thoughts can keep you up late stealing sleep and happiness. Replaying past experiences over and over and over. Only thing that helps me sometimes that late feeling that way is putting on headphones with music and letting it wash over me. I have to be careful about the lyrics though or I could loop back into the obsessive worries