Just breathe in: Therapy helps freshman cope with disorder
Photo Credit: Illustration by Daniel Shaffer
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April 17, 2010 • Madeline Hill, Staff writer
Filed under Student Life
Freshman Quinn Ouellette-Kray rips her croissant into small shreds as she clinks her coffee mug against the ceramic plate. She loves to draw, and wants to be an artist one day. But art isn’t something she does for fun. It’s a coping mechanism. She has obsessive compulsive disorder.
“When I say that I have OCD people think ‘Oh, you wash your hands like every five minutes,’” Ouellette-Kray said. “I am like, ‘No, there are many different types of OCD.’”
She has counting OCD. In some cases people count window panes, stairs and even the hairs on their head. Ouellette-Kray knew that she had OCD but wasn’t diagnosed by a medical professional until recently.
“I’ve had OCD tendencies my whole life, but I’ve had this, what I have right now, since the beginning of 8th grade,” Ouellette-Kray said. “It’s so complicated and it develops every month, but right now I’ve counted the syllables of things that I hear, like the sentences that people say. I count [the syllables] in a pattern and I tap my feet with it so it’s kind of like a balance. If it’s not balanced then I have to fix it.”
Before her middle school teachers knew she had OCD it was hard for them to understand why she had outbursts in class.
“Before they knew that I had this disability it was harder in 8th grade,” Ouellette-Kray said. “I got in trouble a lot. I would kind of lash out.”
Although Ouellette-Kray admits she is shy, she is open to talking about her challenges with OCD and social anxiety. “I have had social anxiety my whole life,” Ouellette-Kray said. “People are embarrassed by [social anxiety] but it’s just a disorder that you have to deal with.”
Sometimes her panic attacks get the best of her in school.
“I’d really just feel uncomfortable and want to go home and not want to be in the moment,” Ouellette-Kray said. “Sometimes I’ve had them where … I couldn’t get enough air in my lungs… So I would have to meditate to help it. My parents are kind of Buddhists so that has helped a lot.”
Along with meditation, Ouellette-Kray attends a group therapy session every week that helps her by using Cognitive Behavioral Therapy. This type of therapy works with the mind to deal with problems such as anxiety and OCD.
This class not only deals with her OCD, but life in general. Ouellette-Kray has learned many different ways to cope with her OCD.
“I use [different] methods to mix it up. I draw my OCD sometimes,” Ouellette- Kray said.
The medication helps her calm down. Ouellette-Kray also uses breathing methods to relax.
“Breathing practices [help] me stay present in the moment in my mind and not get frustrated and go into the past and [back to the] present,” Ouellette-Kray said. “It’s just focusing on my breath.”
Along with the medication and therapy, her teachers and friends have been very supportive with the transition from middle to high school.
“Going into high school is hard because you are so anxious about meeting new people but … my friends have helped so much,” Ouellette-Kray said.
Ouellette-Kray said that her teachers have helped a lot. She is allowed to take tests in other rooms and has more time for testing. If she feels discouraged with herself teachers allow her to leave class to talk to her counselor.
“I can be like ‘Can I go see Mr. Jackson?’ and they write me a pass and I go and say, ‘I am really frustrated. Can I sit in the library for 10 minutes and calm down?’ and they let me do that. So that helps,” Ouellette-Kray said. “They have all been really accommodating to me.”
After leaving high school Ouellette-Kray says that she can handle the switch to the real world.
“I have been able to live with [OCD] for the past few years,” Ouellette-Kray said. “I see it getting better. It is definitely improving. I think I will be okay by then.”
Ouellette-Kray said a positive attitude is a key component to end her struggle with OCD.
“If you really are consistent with working on it and doing therapy and doing medication, you can definitely work through it,” Ouellette-Kray said.
Ouellette-Kray knows that she shouldn’t let OCD become an obstacle in life. “[OCD] will end,” Ouellette-Kray said. “In the moment you feel like it’s never going to end, like you are going to feel like this forever, but you just have to breathe and deal with it.”
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