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Logan’s OCD Story

“After completing the IOP program, I am in complete remission and have never felt more in control of my life”.

I’ve suffered under the control of my OCD since I was a child. I had tried countless medications and therapies, and they worked for a while, but my OCD always came back. Each time it did, it became more and more difficult to overcome. I was able to live a relatively normal life all through high school and into my first year of college. For the past three years my OCD had been the worst it had ever been. I tried even more medications and therapies but none of them helped. My OCD was so bad that I could not hug my family or friends. My OCD told me that I had to dress in layers to protect my skin from the outside world. It told me I couldn’t be touched by anyone or anything. My OCD also told me that if I did somehow become contaminated, the only way to become clean again was to scrub myself raw with a loofah and use scalding hot water. I used obscene amounts of soap and had wounds all over my body from the daily scrubbing and burning. My showers on average could last anywhere from an hour and a half on a good day to over three hours on a bad day.

I can’t count how many times I told my mom through tears that I didn’t want to do this anymore. I was so hopeless and tired of the constant fighting in my head that I was contemplating taking my own life to free myself from my OCD’s control. The Gateway Institute was truly my last hope. The wait to get in was long and painful but so worth it. Within minutes of my first session with Ricky Scoggan, my therapist, I knew that I had finally found what I had been looking for my entire life. A place full of therapists who specialize in and really understand OCD.

After completing the IOP program, I am in complete remission and have never felt more in control of my life. I am finally able to hug my family and friends, I can wear what I want, and most importantly, my showers are less than ten minutes with no scrubbing or scalding hot water! There is no more arguing in my head anymore and for the first time in my life I feel an overwhelming sense of peace. With the continued support of The Gateway Institute, I am confident that my OCD will never take control again. I am forever grateful for the tools The Gateway Institute has given me to fight my OCD.