Each October, amid football games, falling leaves and Halloween preparation, OCD Awareness Week is held.

For a disorder that is continually misunderstood by individuals, families and sometimes even clinicians, spreading awareness is life-changing and life-saving.

Approximately 8.2 million adults in the U.S. live with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD). This experience can be incredibly debilitating and isolating, and people often suffer in silence, at war with their own thoughts.

I have exhibited symptoms and signs of OCD since childhood, but am unsure of when I first received the diagnosis. Research indicates that it can take an average of up to 17 years from the onset of symptoms until accurate diagnosis of the disorder.

This delay hurts people's chances of accessing the treatment they need.

Though previously clinically classified under anxiety disorders, OCD is no longer considered such. Accordingly, treatment for OCD must be specialized and may differ from remedies used for generalized anxiety disorder. Some therapies used to treat prevalent mental health disorders may even worsen a person's OCD, making interdisciplinary knowledge in mental health care essential.

Outside of clinical spaces, general society also lacks understanding of OCD. I value being open about my experience but am careful about disclosing my OCD diagnosis because of ill-informed reactions I have received.

Among these are assumptions that OCD must help me perform well at work and stay organized, or that it exclusively manifests as a fear of germs.

In reality, OCD concocts different obsessive content for different people, often targeting things they value at their core, such as health or family. Plus, I cannot attribute any of my successes to my OCD-quite the opposite. It has hindered me and held me back in so many areas of my life.

I have likened it to a ball and chain that is constantly there, weighing me down. Yet, at times, it felt like this weight was keeping me from being swept away by the wind, as my obedience to my OCD came from a place of seeking security and protection.

OCD can show up at different levels of severity for each individual. These levels are measured based on the frequency and distress of obsessions, the intrusive thoughts, and compulsions, the behaviors that temporarily relieve the distress. Compulsions are certainly not limited to the commonly represented media tropes of handwashing and checking. The impact of obsessions and compulsions on the person's basic functioning is also assessed.

I also think it is key to note the word "distress." As I mentioned, obsessions often attack a person's core values. "You might hurt your child." "You might be sick and not know it." "You might be a danger to your family." These are all real thoughts I have heard from peers with OCD from many walks of life.

I hope it is clear that these are distressing possibilities for your brain to come up with. People with OCD are not crazy for reacting to our thoughts; we are scared.

Over the past year, my OCD reached clinically severe to extreme levels, inhibiting my daily functioning as a human, worker and student. I knew I could not go on without it, so I got help at an intensive level. I am incredibly grateful to the professionals and peers who have been a part of my recovery. Support saved me.

Support cannot happen, though, without awareness. Support is nonexistent amongst stigma. Support is knowledge and compassion. We all have the capacity to inform ourselves and broaden our understanding of our own and others' experiences.

When I was at my lowest, I wondered if I would have a success story. I have realized that this notion implies an end, an achievement. OCD is chronic, though treatable, and my journey will be in progress for the rest of my life.

Through the ups and downs, I am not alone. Community has sustained me a lot recently, and there is so much power in uniting in shared experiences that many will never fully understand firsthand, such as living with OCD.

When caught up in your head, it is easy to feel alone. The connections I have made with people living with OCD of various ages from different parts of the country are so valuable to me. I hope to not only continue finding community but to create it in spaces where it is needed.

At the basis of all of this is the simple concept of awareness, something the International OCD Foundation (IOCDF) aims to cultivate every year with its educational OCD Awareness Week campaigns.

Though just one of 52 weeks of the year, I am looking forward to October 12-18, a chance to celebrate resilience, strength and empowerment.

For more information and personal accounts, the IOCDF website and social media are great resources. In the event of a mental health crisis, call or text 988 or a local emergency resource.