Taking Life Back From OCD

By the time Ivy turned 14, obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) had taken over her life. She would turn the lights on and off hundreds of times before bed, spend hours doublechecking her homework, and was consumed by superstitions. Daily tasks became unbearable. Her relationships with her parents and sister suffered and so did her social life. Ivy even considered ending her life.

“I didn’t want to live anymore because I felt really out of control,” Ivy recalls. “OCD was interfering with everything, and I was at a breaking point.”

Ivy’s therapist referred her to the Intensive Program for OCD and Related Disorders within the Pediatric Anxiety Research Center (PARC) at Bradley Hospital

Daily exposure therapy, including in-home visits from mobile exposure coaches, and support from the team helped her slowly confront her fears and work through distress. Perhaps most importantly, she realized she was not alone in her struggle with OCD.

“The progress I made in a short amount of time was amazing,” Ivy says. “And they didn’t only help me, they also helped my family understand what was going on in my head.”

Today, OCD no longer runs Ivy’s life. When obsessions or compulsions pop up, she uses the tools she learned at Bradley to manage them—but she’s also learned that things may not go perfectly all the time. “I’ve learned that you can’t control everything, and you just have to accept that,” she says.

When looking back on what her life was like just a few years ago, Ivy is glad she turned to Bradley.

“Everyone who works at Bradley just cares so much,” she says. “They’ll do everything in their power to help you, so you can move forward and live your life. I am so grateful for that.”