October is National OCD Awareness Month, a time dedicated to fighting the stigma against obsessive-compulsive disorder and spreading awareness about the reality of this debilitating mental health condition.

In honor of this month, and in an effort to support the community as an OCD advocate, I wanted to share my own journey battling the disorder. I hope my story brings you peace, comfort, and awareness.

My OCD Diagnosis

I was first diagnosed with OCD when I was just six years old, two years after I endured child-on-child sexual assault. The guilt and shame of my “immoral” act consumed me, especially as a child in Catholic school, and soon after, I began doubting my own goodness.

At the time, I was too young to voice what had happened to me—what I’d been forced to do, how I’d been threa

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