MY UNHEALTHY OBSESSION WITH BEING REASONABLE

As a mentally ill person, I do a lot of bonkers things throughout the day. I don’t close the shower curtain in the locker room when I rinse off after swimming because it contains bacteria I don’t want on my hands. I require my husband to reassure me that our dogs won’t die each time we leave the home. I constantly track what has touched what so I can quickly alleviate my contamination OCD with a Clorox wipe, which are strategically placed throughout my entire home. And I struggle to tolerate any breaks in my routine without feeling massive amounts of discomfort/guilt.

Yet, none of these behaviors cause me shame because I associate them with a mental health disorder. I typically feel perfectly fine committing compulsions in broad day light because I have OCD. What I am far less comfortable with, though, is being perceived as emotionally unreasonable.