u/Large_Exit_1060

I just need to vent to people who might understand. I’m 18 now, and I’m looking back realizing that OCD completely robbed me of my teenage years. From the age of 12 all the way until now, my mind was a constant battleground.

While other girls my age were out making friends, dating, and building a social life, I was completely isolated and trapped in my own head. I didn't get to experience any of those normal teenage milestones because my days were consumed by exhausting compulsions and terrifying intrusive thoughts.

I feel like a ghost who skipped an entire chapter of life. I don’t have a friend group or any high school memories. I feel so left behind and lonely because my peers have six years of social growth and relationships that I simply missed out on. I have no one and everything feels pointless.

It feels so painful to grieve a youth you never actually got to live. Has anyone else lost their social life to mental illness? How do you cope with the feeling of being so far behind?

Hey everyone,

Me (18F) I’m looking to hear from real people who have lived through this, because honestly, it feels incredibly isolating.

My sibling has a dual diagnosis of ADHD and ODD (Oppositional Defiant Disorder). If you know anything about this combo, you know they don't just struggle with focus—they literally seem to thrive on triggering, baiting, and deliberately provoking everyone around them, especially me. It feels like their entire day is spent pushing buttons, trying to start arguments, and doing things on purpose just to get a reaction or cause chaos, and then they use the ADHD impulsivity or ODD as an explanation.

It is absolutely exhausting to live with. You’re constantly walking on eggshells, and it feels like the whole household revolves around their moods and outbursts.

I’m posting because I want to hear from other siblings.

• How did you handle the constant, deliberate provocation without losing your mind?
• Did your parents actually manage it well, or did you feel pushed aside?
• For those who are older now, did your sibling ever outgrow the ODD traits, or did it just morph into something else in adulthood?

I just really need to hear from real people who actually get it. Thanks