I need help with my OCD...

[xHelpMe]

I have OCD. I don't have normal OCD with the cleanliness issues, mine is the compulsion to cough after other people cough. If I don't do this, I feel like I'm going to explode and get headaches.

Somehow, I've gotten this under control at school and I don't do it anymore there. However, I still do it at home after my mother. I hate annoying her like that but I can't stop it and she doesn't know it's OCD. I don't want to tell her but I feel like I have to. How should I do this?

Secondly, I've had this for a few years now and I only just recently got it under control at school. Now, everyone hates me and I have no friends even though I've stopped it. I fear I am getting depressed. How do I get my friends and my life back?

Thank-you.

[byee]

Only a doctor can diagnose OCD. Eventhough you might feel you have the symptoms, what's actually causing it can be very different. Think of it this way, a sneeze can be caused by a cold, an allergy, or cancer. Same symptom, different cause. The only way to tell is to have a thorough exam by an MD.

I'd suggest you tell your mom that you're having a problem with this and have her take you to at least the pediatrician for an exam, see wht's going on. If he or she feels there's a need for a referral to a therapist, that will happen. If not, you might just try to control the urge to cough yourself and see what happens.

[Sapphire]

If this is the only OCD symptom you exhibit then you don't have OCD.
Get checked out by a doc and find out once and for all.