OCD Explained by Fairy Tales Villians....

Having OCD is much like living in a fairy tale. Not the newer more happy ending , inspiring, the good guy always wins kind of fairy tale we tell our children today. No, OCD is more of the original kinds of fairy tales when they were more dark, morbid and twisted. The Old English original fairy tales that were so disturbing no loving parent today would even consider telling them as a bed time story to their children.....ever. Not unless they truly wanted to terrify the living daylights out them.

OCD is the evil feudal king of the land. He doesn't rule every part of your life but just enough to devastate whenever he feels fit to do so. Just like any evil feudal king that is good at holding his position of power, he never gets his hands dirty. He prefers to have his uniquely selected and qualified evil henchmen to do his dirty work for him.

Intrusive Thoughts: One of King OCD's most favored and proficient henchman. He is the Big Bad Wolf of the fairy tales. He excels at popping up out of nowhere and threatening to huff and puff and blow your house down at anytime. Knowing that if he catches you unprepared he not only can and will blow down your house but he also will eat you whole before you get a chance to run away. 

Anxiety: This henchman is more neurotic than the rest. He is well used and another of King OCD's favorites. He is the Captain Hook of fairy tales. He is unforgiving, insolent, and quite cocky until he is not. Then he is a complete terrified, paranoid, fruitcake of a villain that flips out at any sign of a ticking clock. Which makes sense since he is, in essence, a ticking time bomb. You never know when he is going to strike, but when he does, it is too late and you are already having a panic attack.

Doubt: Another great henchmen that is a master of disguise is Doubt. He is the Evil Queen/step mother of Snow White. He can disguise himself as a nice old lady handing you a shiny red apple. You are unaware that he is not what he seems. You distrust gifts from strangers but you are absolutely famished. You eat the apple. Nothing happens. Maybe the apple tasted funny. Maybe it was poisoned. Still nothing happens. Maybe the apple was poisoned but it takes longer to go through your blood stream and is going to make all of your arms and legs fall off first before it kills you. Maybe the apple wasn't poisoned but instead coated in Ebola. Maybe the apple wasn't truly an apple at all. Maybe you ate an orange instead. Maybe it was a banana. Maybe this was all a dream and you never even met a random nice old lady in the forest. Maybe it was just a happy little gopher hopping along the path and you imagined the whole thing. Who knows?

Compulsions: He is the Rumpelstiltskin of Fairy Tales. Forcing you to weave straw into gold while giving up your first born son. He demands and demands and demands. He has absolutely no remorse for the way he treats you as long as you do exactly what he says at all times. He has literally no redeeming qualities. He is annoying, ugly, controlling, and just down right a pain in the hind end. He likes to watch you as you struggle to keep up with his ridiculous demands and he delights as your hands crack and bleed and your body becomes exhausted. He really sucks.

Obsessions: He is the evil cousin to Intrusive Thoughts. As a henchman, he is very good at keeping you busy while making you work but also making sure you dwell on every little thing going on in your life. He is The Witch From Hansel and Gretel. Never resting never ceasing. He first lures you in with the promise of a tasty candy house and then BAM you are his captive. He enjoys fattening you up and then poking you with a stick to see if you are ready to be cooked and devoured. He only lets you out to stoke the fire and to put more wood in the oven. Then it is back to the cage to gorge yourself sick.

and finally we have

 Guilt and Shame: These two of the evil King OCD's henchmen work together. They are the Ugly Stepsisters of Cinderella. Anastasia and Drizella are not just ugly, they are down right mean. They treat you as a slave. Make fun of you. Torment you at every turn. They make you bring them breakfast and then complain about it's contents. They tell you lies. They tear up the dress you and your tiny adorable animal friends have been working on for months because they are jealous you actually had the nerve to have plans. They tag team you with insults and bad feelings. It is your fault you can't go to the ball. You are ugly and unworthy. You stole my sash....ect. They are relentless and they are needy. They want to bring you down and stomp on what little self confidence you may be clinging to. They are a wrecking ball of bad feelings and undeserved chastising. They make you feel horrid.

The good thing about seeing these henchmen for what they are, is that in doing so you become aware of how to fight them. How to expect their next move and block it. Knowing the enemy within gives you an ability to fight back and win. It gives you a chance to really see them for what they are, a symptom of an illness. They can only hurt you if you let them and we have ways to make the power they wield over us much less. We have the power in our lives and it's high time we show that to evil King OCD. We can do it. We are strong. We are the heroes in this story and we will prevail. We know what they are up to and how they work. We can finally make sure they lose henchmen status and fade into the night like background noise. Maybe not every single day but it is possible that we will have marvelous wondrous days when the "the henchmen" have no power over us. I look forward to those days. Some days I lose but most days I fight and some days I even win. Those are not bad odds and I accept them.

Neurotic Nelly