32 The Professional Counselor | Volume 13, Issue 1 Minimizes OCD Symptoms The first category, minimizes OCD symptoms, describes participants’ portrayals of OCD in a way that either minimized or negated symptom severity, and/or described the disorder in a manner that does not align with the DSM-5 definition of OCD. Twenty-eight videos (56%) from the sample are included in this category. Many TikToks in this category used the term “OCD” as a synonym for being very clean or organized, or to portray an unrelated phenomenon, such as collecting items or creating a spreadsheet. One TikTok of a woman describing her father exemplifies this misuse of the term “OCD”: “This is my dad and he has a problem . . . because he has the OCD. And you might have it too if your 800-count DVD collection is in alphabetical order from ‘8 Mile’ to ‘Young Frankenstein.’” This quote is representative of the trivialization of the OCD diagnosis. Moreover, a TikTok about a mother’s feelings of frustration over her daughter’s messy painting further demonstrates the stigma perpetuated by many TikTok videos, as the mother stated: Do any other moms relate to the extreme anxiety this gives me? I can sit here and watch but I’m dying on the inside. This is very hard for me. But I will sit here . . . and not let my anxiety and OCD get the best of me. Uses OCD as a Synonym for Cleanliness and Organization The subcategory uses OCD as a synonym for cleanliness and organization represents TikTok videos in which women used OCD as a descriptor for a clean person, and includes 10 of the 28 videos in this category. Building upon the first category, minimizes OCD symptoms, this subcategory further demonstrates explanations, examples, and use of the term OCD in ways that do not accurately describe the disorder. A popular audio clip was utilized frequently in our sample and was often paired with visual content of individuals organizing or cleaning various objects and spaces. The woman in the audio stated: When they come into my house and they also think that I am a sociopath, that I take the time to do this once a month. Like, you know what? You say OCD is a disease, I say it’s a blessing. Through equating OCD to “a blessing” and also trivializing the term “sociopath” to simply describe someone who is well-organized, such TikTok videos minimize the OCD diagnosis and the experiences of individuals with OCD, equating the disorder to something it is not—a proclivity for cleanliness and organization. Furthermore, other TikToks with #OCD were solely about cleaning or organizing. A woman in one TikTok described a “bathroom hack for a deep clean” as she displayed bleach and a bowl of hot water. In another TikTok, these words crossed the screen for the viewer to read: “*My bff being messy*” and, subsequently, “*My OCD kicking in*,” while the video displays an unmade bed. Accurately Depicts OCD Symptoms The second category, accurately depicts OCD symptoms, is defined as women portraying information that aligns with the DSM-5 description of OCD symptom constellations and current research on OCD. Twenty videos (40%) comprise this category. Women in the TikToks in this category typically indicated they had an OCD diagnosis, describing their unique experiences with OCD and explaining how their symptoms align with the DSM-5 definition. For example, TikToks in our sample represented the following aspects of the DSM-5 symptoms of OCD (APA, 2013): recurrent intrusive thoughts, performance of a compulsion, and “clinically significant distress or impairment in social, occupational, or other important areas of functioning” (p. 237). For example, one TikTok begins with
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