I am currently 17. My first symptoms started when I was 10. It started with hoarding, Contamination OCD, checking and reassurance seeking. The symptoms were not too bad and I didn’t pay any attention to them, thinking it was normal. Then came Covid 19. I got excess time to dwell over my intrusive thoughts. There was a lot of uncertainty and I was depressed and did not study all year. This is where OCD started levelling up and the symptoms intensified. Then 1 year later, it evolved to it’s full form. My life became hell and I had no idea what was happening. About 3 months in, I visited this sub for the first time. I had never felt that understood ever in my life. I tried to deal with it myself for about 7 months without telling anyone. It kept getting worse and I eventually could not take it anymore. My psychiatrist started Fluoxetine. I took 10mg for 1 week, 20mg for another, 30 mg for another. I then took 40mg for around a month and a half. It was helping a lot but not completely. So I started 60mg which I have been on for 3 months. I would say it fixed about 85 percent of my symptoms. It has been a real blessing. There were some side effects but my body adapted to them in due time. Then, using this progress as a base, my CBT sessions started. I have had 13 sessions as of now and it too is helping me a lot. Fluoxetine helped me to the level at which CBT could be effective.

My advice will be to definitely go see a psychiatrist if you haven’t already. Medication really helps. Also, if and when your therapy starts, I recommend you should make sure you have a good rapport with them. I changed my first therapist after 2 sessions as I could not connect with them completely. My current therapist though is really good and we are making some serious progress.

Trust me, it does get better