Am I a troll? or is it OCD?

So glad I’m not a literal troll for living under a rock the past four years. In my defense, I did have a baby in there and that contributed greatly as I had perinatal and postpartum Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and anxiety.

I’m kind of relieved I’m not the only person who struggled to come out of lockdown and that it was my brethren in Obsessive Compulsive (OC) traits and specifically OC personality disorder who also struggled. Perfectionism and preoccupation with details showed the most robust correlations with struggles of coming out of lockdown.

Fascinatingly, people with OC traits were probably not able to accurately report their own level of rigidity. I can confirm this in myself. It is not until I am out of the weeds that I am able to reflect on my rigidity and inflexibility retrospectively. In the moment, it all feels 100% valid and extremely (like the level of life defining or even threatening) important.

So if you struggled coming out of lockdown, you are not alone in the slightest. Especially if you have OC traits!

One of the coping mechanisms and accommodations recommended for this inflexibility was a “graduated” return to work. Essentially, tapering your way back into work. I wish more employers had used this method as it would have prevented so much distress for my patients.

Source: https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35091357/

#mentalhealth #women #mentalhealthawareness #momlife #ocd #ocpd #postpartum #anxiety #octraits

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