When you have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) it feels like you worry all the time and it won’t stop even if you try. It can also make you feel alone – like you are the only one who feels this way.

OCD can make you feel like you have to do certain things to try to make the worry go away or if you don’t do these things, something bad is going to happen to you, or to your family. So you do it over and over. Often people feel they have to make things just right and they get very anxious when things seem to be out of place. This is the compulsive part – the things you must do to prevent harm. Sometimes these things can't be seen by anyone else because you are doing them in your head.

Some people get thoughts that pop into their heads that make them worry or that make them feel bad. These thoughts are hard to ignore and very hard to stop – this is the obsessive part. It seems to make sense that if you do the things you have to do so that something bad won’t happen, then you will stop worrying about it. But this is only temporary, the worries come back and so you keep doing it over and over again.

OCD is much more common than you might think.

Kids don’t always tell their parents or friends about it because they are embarrassed or they don’t know how to explain what is going on their minds. It’s common for kids with OCD to be diagnosed around 7 to 12 years of age because this is when they start to feel anxious about fitting in with friends. Parents and teachers might notice something is not ok but do not always know why.

If you have OCD, you can’t just stop it by trying harder, but there are ways to recover from OCD with the help of parents or other family members. You might also have someone at school like a teacher or councillor who you can talk to.

The most common treatments are:

• cognitive behavioural therapy,
• medication, and

• relaxation techiniqies such as deep breathing.

Deep breathing will help you to reduce your stress the next time you start to feel worried and anxious.