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Some people....


Eureka!

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Myself included, we often do NOT think. 

I have ocd, thankfully mild, mainly I've thoughts and unwelcome feelings. Anyways, I talked about it to someone I though would be understanding. I told this person, "think I'm pretty standard (with ocd) as, when I'm stressed, I clean, tidy, etc like mad. Answer? Oh, isn't that just good housekeeping?!! Are you actually kidding me....I need to work on my own people skills it's true....that just left me reeling.

Thanks for read....anyone similar experience to share?

 

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Sounds like they just didn't get it, if you don't have OCD or haven't been close to someone that has then the severity and impact of it are not well understood by some people.

It's not so much that they don't think, it's more that they really don't have anything to base your experience on so they can't relate. Try to give them a pass and don't take it personally, it isn't their fault and I'm sure they intended no offence.

You could always try to explain how it's different, if you feel this person is open to listening and understanding. If not well just accept that they are ignorant of such things, and try and work around it (maybe don't talk to them about it). There are many people I don't talk to about my MH problems, because I know they won't get it and aren't really open to trying to understand it, unfortunately just the way some people are.

You wanted an example - I told my old boss that I have anxiety, he told me that another colleague has that (and named him), and told me that he's come across a few nervous people and I didn't seem like I was one of them. He didn't get it, and he wouldn't have had I tried to explain it, so I just didn't bother. I just responded with "Maybe I'm not that bad then" and carried on.

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I recently (and stupidly) took the risk of talking to a close family member about dissociation and how it was affecting me.  They replied with "isn't that just you getting bored and thinking about something else?"

Like Forest said, some people just don't get it.  Yes it is infuriating and I have had many more similar experiences but unfortunately it will always happen.

I agree - if you think it's worth it then you can always try and explain further but I have learnt that you have to pick your battles...

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It's not stupid Artemis, I can completely understand wanting to explain to a close family member how things are affecting you.

Disassociation is very difficult to explain to anyone who hasn't studied or experienced it, even then it gets difficult as everyone's experience of it is different although they tend to include some commonalities. When I was younger I tried to explain it to people and had parallels drawn to daydreaming. I feel like going back and telling people "yes daydreaming where you feel that you have left your body, can't get back in, don't know who you are, where you are or what is happening, and no matter how many times someone tells you to 'snap out of it' you can't stop it."

However in the end it was easier for people to believe I was having some kind of seizure and cart me off to hospital. After a while they even had me believing that I had epilepsy, this is much easier to explain as people are much more inclined to believe you can't just get over it if they think you have something wrong with your brain.  Definitely pick your battles, many can't be won!

Forest

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