Will HOCD ever completely stop bothering me?

[WilburCharlette]

Hi.
I am a 14 year old male.  I have had HOCD for the past 6 months or so.  I don't think I have to give a big long story on how it all started or my symptoms because it is the same as everybody elses. I know OCD never completely goes away, but I want to know if my HOCD will stop bothering in the future or if I will have it my whole life? Will it stop when I am done with puberty? What can I do to cope? Please give me advice

[WilburCharlette]

Thanks for the help.  I am glad to say that over the last two weeks or so I have weakened the OCD by a lot.  I am sure it will still be coming back, but at least I have finally found strategies that work.

[JGF25]

I can't really say what will happen down the road but if I were to guess I would say that yes this thought will become nothing to you as long as you don't start analyzing WHY it has become nothing to you.  It will become nothing because you no longer fear it.  Now if something else replaces it, then you will need to think about talking to someone.  From a parent's perspective and having 20 and 18 year old boys...if they were suffering and not telling me I would hate that.  I would want the chance to help them.  

[WilburCharlette]

Well I have learned to cope with it very well and it is not as severe as other peoples so I don't think I need to talk to my parents.  I just sometimes get tired with batling it.  So do you think that in 10 years I will still have this problem or will I be able to weaken the OCD so much it doesn't bother me?

[JGF25]

Hi there.  You are right in that OCD is for life.  When people don't see specialists, they learn some coping strategies but it really is best if you see a psychologist to learn the proper coping strategies.  Do you feel you can talk to your parents about this and ask about seeing a psychologist to learn cognitive behavioral therapy?