Tips for Writing a Character with OCD (from someone who has it)
I’m here to share some tips for writing a character with obsessive-compulsive disorder without relying on stereotypes. But before we get started, there are a few things I want to mention:
While I’ve had obsessive-compulsive disorder since childhood, I can’t speak for everyone with OCD.
I’m not a mental health professional, so everything I’m sharing is based on my own personal experience with OCD.
To learn more about obsessive-compulsive disorder, I highly recommend checking out the International OCD Foundation’s website.
Don’t worry about getting things perfect in your first draft — or ever! It’s not possible to represent everyone’s experience with OCD in one character. What you can do is make sure your character’s OCD is portrayed as accurately as possible.
Once you’ve finished your first draft, you can always hire a sensitivity reader, run it by experts in the field, or utilize beta readers for feedback.
But for now, let’s dive into some tips that will help you write a convincing and complete character who has OCD without relying on stereotypes.
Your Character is Not Their OCD
You want your character to have personality traits outside of their OCD. Sure, having OCD may be a large part of someone’s life, and it impacts how they show up in the world, but they’re still a person outside of their disorder.
What are their likes?
What are their dislikes?
What are their hobbies?
What is their dream job?
Develop aspects of their personality that have nothing to do with their OCD.
👎 Bad example: Everything your character dislikes or likes is tied back to an obsession, like their fear of heights being related to the worry they’ll accidentally push someone off of something tall. Or their love of music being related to their desire for neatness, and they like how the music is timed and organized into bars and lines.
👍 Good example: Your character hates roller coasters because they don’t like heights, and they love listening to music because it’s just who they are as a person. Their likes and dislikes are simply a part of their personality, not based on obsessional content related to their OCD.
Don’t Infantilize Your Character
It can be difficult to strike a balance between treating your character like a fully functioning adult, teenager, or child, while also acknowledging that sometimes they feel or are powerless against their OCD.
To portray these struggles without infantilizing them, you can show them struggling with their OCD symptoms while also being strong and capable in many areas of their life.
👎 Bad example: Your character can’t do anything by themselves, from grocery shopping to going to work to spending time with friends. They need to be coddled in every aspect of their life in order to function.
👍 Good example: Your character has obsessions and compulsions related to rearranging items and they struggle in places like grocery stores, but they’re great at their job and can function well in many areas of their life.
Show Realistic Treatment Outcomes
One session of therapy will probably not bring great relief to your character. They may feel some relief, whether that comes from finally feeling understood or feeling hopeful about the future, but it’s not an instant “fix”.
The same goes for medication. If you’ve seen the show Monk, you may remember when Adrian Monk goes on medication. Not only are his symptoms gone, his personality has completely changed. Your character may have great improvement with medication, but it won’t be an instant cure that changes who they are as a person.
👎 Bad example: Your character goes to therapy for a month and resolves all symptoms within that time.
👍 Good example: Your character goes to therapy, and after a month starts to see some small improvements, and the therapy remains a part of their life for a longer period of time.
It’s Not Always About Hand Washing
Hand washing is a compulsion for many people with OCD, but it’s not a universal symptom. Obsessions and compulsions can be related to many topics, from contamination to the fear of hurting others to religious scrupulosity. People can also move from one obsession to another.
Additionally, the compulsion (the hand washing, the checking, etc.) is not the entire disorder. The person with OCD doesn’t wash their hands just to wash their hands. They often have a deeper fear of contamination, and the hand washing relieves that fear and anxiety — but not for long, because the cycle continues, hence the repeated handwashing.
👎 Bad example: Your character washes their hands frequently, and feels better until they randomly get the urge to wash them again.
👍 Good example: Your character is overly worried about getting sick, and the urge to wash their hands is strong. They’re in distress over it, and ultimately wash their hands to gain a sense of control over the situation. This repeats over and over again.
Their Compulsion Might Not Be Visible
Someone may never wash their hands, order things a certain way, or check that the stove is off. Instead, they may have mental compulsions, such as counting or mentally reviewing a scenario. Or they may do something that doesn’t appear to be a compulsion from the outside, but is, such as repeatedly researching something online.
👎 Bad example: Giving your character a physical compulsion that doesn’t really make sense, just so they have one. This could be them checking the stove when they’re worried about their pet getting sick.
👍 Good example: If your character’s obsession is around their pet getting sick, a more likely compulsion would be things like frequent Googling of symptoms or always checking marks on the pet’s body.
Your Character Probably Knows What They’re Doing Doesn’t Make Logical Sense
Most people with OCD know that the stove is off and the house probably won’t burn down, or that frequently Googling something won’t change the outcome. However, we do it because the anxiety surrounding the obsession builds to the point that the compulsion (Googling, checking, etc.) relieves it in the short term, and we feel better (even if just for two seconds).
OCD relies on, “What if?”, so even the smallest chance that the oven could be on can be incredibly anxiety-inducing.
👎 Bad example: Your character thinks that stepping on a sidewalk crack will bring harm to their family. They’re fully convinced that will happen, and they can’t see how it’s illogical.
👍 Good example: Your character has a superstitious obsession around stepping on a crack, because their brain gave them a “What if that were to happen?” Then, the thoughts of harm coming to their family after they stepped on a sidewalk crack played in their mind, and it was just easier to avoid stepping on the cracks.
The cycle continues, with your character thinking, “I know that’s silly, but isn’t it just easier to avoid stepping on cracks than potentially causing harm to my family?” They can see that it’s illogical, but the “what if” factor makes it easier to just engage in the compulsion, rather than feel the anxiety.
I hope this helps you to write your character with OCD. If you have any questions, or just want to run an idea by me, don’t hesitate to reach out to hello@marinreadsalot.com — I’m happy to help!
