My mother has OCD , How can I help her?
Thank you for your inquiry.
I want to firstly reassure you that there are many different types of ways to support someone who has OCD. To start off, it is very important to make your mother feel supported and make sure she does not feel isolated. You can do this by being understanding of what they are going through and what they might feel, being non-judgemental and patient. Talking openly about OCD can help your mother as it removes the embarassment and ultimately the stigma around mental health and OCD.
Encouraging activities and living life as normal as possible instead of accommodating the fear will be helpful as avoidance can result the person isolating themselves. Helping your mother with her self esteem can also be helpful. This is done by pointing out things that she is good at. It is easy to automatically focus on things that OCD can make difficult and that she struggles with so pointing out their strengths in areas they do well can have a positive result.
Lastly, it is important to remember to take care of yourself when supporting someone else as you cannot pour from an empty cup.
You can also visit our page to read more about helping someone with OCD.
