A Pandemic Is Hell For Everyone, But Especially For Those With OCD

LOADING ERROR LOADING In these dark times, silly homemade videos encouraging people to vigilantly wash their hands to curb the spread of the coronavirus have been a rare source of levity for many people. “I’ve certainly observed in my clients ― and in my community ― just how profoundly activating this moment is for people with OCD, OCD-spectrum and mental health concerns,” said Annalise Ophelian, a San Francisco-based psychotherapist. “A lot of what’s going on right now will feel like it’s undoing progress that was made in treatment.” OCD can manifest in many different ways, all of them connected to a central tension, according to Jeff Szymanski, the executive director of the Boston-based International OCD Foundation. “What’s important is being able to objectively separate the facts of a situation from the way that you feel about it,” Ophelian said. “Make sure you’re getting sound information from medical sources ― like the World Health Organization, the, research hospitals ― and avoiding repetitive stories of horror or loss or highly commercial news sources that play information on a loop,” she said.