10-14-22 ocd awareness week

This week is OCD Awareness Week with a goal of raising awareness of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and related disorders and treatment.  Chrissy Ewerdt says her son Cole was diagnosed with OCD when he was ten.  Cole says it’s been a difficult journey because his behavior can be easily misunderstood. “As awkward as I may look, you may see the outside, but no one really sees the inside,”  Cole told AM 1170s Between the Lines program.  “I’m unable to show those emotions.  I kind of restrict them because of my OCD.  I just wish I was understood a lot more.”   Cole says it’s been hard at times emotionally and difficult to develop relationships with other kids.  Last year was particularly difficult when Cole was physically bullied by another student at school.   “I got assaulted twice,”  Cole said.  Chrissy Ewerdt says her son was picked on by another kid at school.  “…who was bigger, more popular.  The kid approached him and made him (Cole) feel like he was including him in an activity but instead ended up victimizing him.”   Today Cole is a senior at Lomira High School and says he is looking forward to graduating next spring.