Knowing someone you care for struggles with their mental health is hard to deal with. You want to help them, but you don't know how. It seems as if no words are appropriate to say to them and nothing you can do would actually help them. While it's understandable to think that way, there are definitely ways to help someone.

OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, is a mental health disorder that causes someone to have intrusive and reoccurring obsessions or thoughts. These thoughts cause someone to need to complete a series of rituals or repetitive actions, known as compulsions.

There is no singular reason for what causes OCD to be present in a person's life. However, mental health professionals as well as doctors agree that it is partially caused by anxiety.

If you know someone who has OCD, here are a few ways that you can help support them.

4 Tips For Supporting Someone With OCD

1. Educate Yourself

One of the most crucial steps to helping someone with OCD is to educate yourself about the disorder. The following lists are not exhaustive in the ways that OCD can manifest itself. However, these are some of the most general ways that OCD presents in individuals who are struggling with it.

Obsessions

Counting
Obsession with germs/cleanliness
Needing order and symmetry
Repeated doubts about actions they completed. "Did I lock the door? Is the oven turned off? Did I actually shut the garage door?"

Compulsions

Checking and rechecking
Being extremely well organized so order and symmetry are met
Repeated actions, such as washing hands multiple times of day

Compulsions, at the end of the day, are a way to self-soothe and ease the intrusive thoughts and feelings that they are having.

2. Ask Them Questions

Once you recognize the overall signs of OCD, don't be afraid to try and engage them to talk about their own. This way, in the future, you can pick up that something is bothering them when you notice them going through a compulsion that they previously talked to you about.

3. Don't Try To 'Fix' Them

Someone struggling with OCD is not broken. They are just like everyone else - trying to get through their day and struggles in the best way they know how. Your job isn't to fix them or cure them of OCD but to find ways to help them cope with it in healthier ways.

Some healthy coping alternatives to OCD to help them with their obsessions are to:

Suggest going for a walk or exercising together
Researching mindfulness techniques to help them self-soothe when their anxious thoughts pick up (such as deep breathing techniques)
Recognize when they resist the urge to complete a compulsion

4. Encourage Them To Seek Support

Trying to live with OCD isn't easy. It's a challenging condition that causes many people with it to feel frustrated and alone with their struggles.

Even with these challenges, managing and treating OCD is definitely possible. When it comes to mental health, there is nothing wrong in admitting that you or someone you love is struggling with OCD.

Just because someone has this disorder does not mean they are crazy or can't learn to manage and lessen the impact that OCD has.

Encourage them to seek out support with the help of a licensed therapist. OCD Treatment can be a transformative way to learn techniques for when something triggers obsessions and compulsions. We can be contacted at any time to get this process started.

4 Ways To Support Someone Who Has OCD