I've had OCD for so long now. I didn't even know I had it until maybe four years back. The behavior seemed so normal to me. But when I realised that not much people had the same weird obsessions as me, I knew that there was something up. I still didn't get myself checked out though.

After maybe a year, I had a lesson at school in PSHE where the teacher was talking about OCD. Throughout the whole class, she was telling us all about the symptoms, side effects, and treatments, and I was thinking to myself this is everything that happens to me on a daily basis. I had a small chat about it with her after the lesson had finished, and she advised me to book an appointment with my doctors. That's exactly what I did.

A week later, I was diagnosed with OCD and depression! In the back of my mind I always knew I had depression but I didn't want to admit it. I went for one thing and came out with two. After I found out that I did have OCD, I ended up researching more about it. An absolute huge amount of people have this condition. I found out that OCD can also come with many other mental illnesses, such as depression, eating disorders and ADHD.

My OCD sometimes really gets the best of me. I'm always house-bound other than going to work and school. Even then, I sometimes try to get out of school, which has made my attendance go to a 90%. I've always had social anxiety, so it is really hard for me to interact at school. Especially since my biology teacher insists on us working together in groups and acting out mitosis as if we're in year 6. I hate it SO much.

If there's ever a trip that my friends organise, which is usually most of the times, I always make an excuse to get out of it. That's because I never feel comfortable. I can't even bring myself to hug people, let alone even touch them. The only people who I can hug is basically my immediate family (parents, siblings, etc.). If I do ever end up hugging any of my friends, it's always so awkward for me, and I try to escape as quickly as I can from their deathly grips.

Overall, my OCD effects my life quite a lot. However, with my therapy, I have been able to improve my condition instead of using medication. This is because one of the side effects of taking the medication for OCD is gaining weight. That is something which would make me feel more depressed instead of curing my OCD and depression!

I'd just like to say, if you ever feel as though you have any symptoms of some mental illness, you should always ask a doctor about it. It's also great to research any conditions you have also, as the internet has really helped me cope with OCD and depression by giving me amazing tips.