Aly Raisman Reveals How OCD Can Lead to “Catastrophic Thinking” in Vulnerable Interview
In a recent podcast interview with Olympic gymnast Aly Raisman, Armchair Expert host Dax Shepard revealed that he has obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). When he did, Raisman was so relieved, because she also experiences symptoms.
"I struggle with it, too," she told the actor and his co-host Monica Padman, thanking him for sharing. "It makes me feel like I'm less alone," she said, because "people don't really talk about it a lot in public." In that moment, Raisman was inspired to dig deeper.
"I always thought OCD was 'I have to touch this X amount of times, or I have to do this X amount of times before I leave the room,'" she explained. "But I've also learned that OCD is classified with like ruminating thoughts or obsessive thoughts or catastrophic thinking. I have that." The gold medalist is actively open about her ongoing journey in therapy to become more self-aware, and said that her OCD manifests in a struggle to discern "what's made up and what's real."
"[It's] that fight or flight response where it could be something so small, and my body is reacting as if like, a tiger is trying to eat me,'" she explained.
It could also be an overwhelming reaction to losing her good luck charm before a competition. "If I had this good luck thing, and I was traveling internationally, and I forgot it, or something happened, and it broke, I was just like, 'Oh my gosh, what do I do now?'" Raisman recalled. "So, it's just different moments in my career where I was obsessive about it." She believes that obsession fueled her perfectionism, and ultimately, her success in gymnastics.
"Our minds sometimes go to the worst-case scenario," she said, adding that the condition is difficult to explain to people who don't experience it. "They're like, 'Just don't think about it.' I'm like, 'It does not work like that!'" she said. "It's so hard because I've been trying to really educate myself on the way that our minds work just so I can help myself, but also just so I can better talk about it and better understand it on a personal level."
She hopes that learning how to talk about OCD and sharing more will help others like her. "I think it's more common than we realize," Raisman said. "It, in my opinion, relates to like, trauma and PTSD … unless you're getting to the root of the problem of why you are not feeling safe or out of control, you're going to keep having OCD, and it's going to manifest into other ways of your life." In the past, she has opened up about her experience with PTSD as a survivor of abuse.
A post shared by Alexandra Raisman (@alyraisman) on Oct 1, 2020 at 1:56pm PDT
After the interview released, Raisman shared it on Instagram calling it "the most vulnerable and honest" one she's done, adding that she's never discussed her OCD publicly before. "If you can relate to some things I struggle with, I hope it helps you in some way," she wrote. "I hope you remember you're not alone."
Fans showed an outpouring of support, thanking the athlete for being so candid and sharing their stories in solidarity. "Your words on anxiety and obsessive thoughts made me feel less alone. Thank you for being so lovely and vulnerable!" one follower wrote. "Absolutely loved this. I could totally relate to the feeling of being exhausted because of all of the anxious thoughts running through your head," another added. "There are no words to say how much I could resonate with you about it all," another wrote. "THANK YOU."
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