My OCD: ferocious lion turned lamb.

I experience OCD intrusive thoughts with violent, religious, and sexual themes. Many people commonly ask me: “Have you always had intrusive thoughts?” The answer is no, I did not.

Although I experienced signs of OCD in high school, I never actually experienced the jarring, intrusive thoughts until midway through college. Before conquering my OCD, I mainly engaged in three types of compulsions – mental checking, avoidance, and reassurance seeking – which caused me to ruminate regularly for 15-16 hours each day. By six months, I was an absolute train wreck, and if it wasn’t for the continual support of my family and friends, I probably wouldn’t be much better today.

I got better, though, and it started as soon as I saw an OCD specialist who taught me ERP [Exposure and Response Prevention]. By early this summer, I was able to conquer the exposure on top of my ERP hierarchy using my app nOCD, and since then, I haven’t experienced any anxiety from OCD. I feel confident that I turned my internal lion into a lamb, and now my mission is to help other people with OCD do the same.

Editor’s note: Stephen is the Founder and CEO of a growing tech start-up dedicated to helping those suffering with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder called “nOCD” (pronounced “No-CD”). To learn more about their work, please visit: www.treatmyocd.com.