Facing OCD and Anxiety With Humor: Abby Heugel

Welcome Abby Heugel, one of my favorite people to follow on Twitter! While I do like scrolling through Twitter to find tweets relevant to OCD and general mental health, it’s also really refreshing to just giggle now and then. Abby manages to shed some hilarious light on OCD and anxiety—without making people who have OCD the butt of her jokes. Knowing you’re not the only person who gets anxious every Sunday night can be just as important as knowing you’re not the only person who has upsetting intrusive thoughts.

A few years ago I came across My OCD By the Numbers, a post you wrote for The Huffington Post, and I loved it so I shared it on Twitter, Facebook, and my blog. Not long after I also started to follow a Twitter personality known as Abby Has Issues. Yes, I’m a little slow, but it took me several more months before I realized you were the same person. While your tweets definitely touch on anxiety, they’re mostly lighthearted and funny. Did you make a conscious decision to keep your Twitter presence more upbeat?

I try and keep my Facebook and Twitter updates more along the lines of humor, although I do bring depression and anxiety into them from time to time seeing as that’s a huge part of my life. But I also want an escape, and that’s what Twitter and Facebook are for me. I even feel really self-conscious sharing my more personal blog posts on Facebook, even though they’re often met with people who say that they can relate. That said, I never tweet out links to the one or two “serious” blog posts I’ve written over the past year. For me, it’s just not worth it.

You’re one of the funniest people I follow on Twitter, which is exactly why I followed you in the first place. As you noted on your blog, your most popular post is The 10 Commandments of Grocery Shopping. Your tweets were listed among the funniest of the year in 2015 and 2016. You’ve been named a Top 25 Humor Blogger. And you manage to make people laugh and poke fun at anxiety without stigmatizing mental illness or being a jerk. Does humor help you face your fears and cope with anxiety? How do you feel about jokes that do perpetuate stigma?

Yes! I feel like it’s a great escape for me, and I try not to obsess about whether or not anyone anyone is actually reading my stuff, but good luck with that. And the stupid OCD jokes really get to me, which is why I try and share my story and experience. You wouldn’t make tasteless jokes about cancer, so why is mental health fair game?

When did you decide to share your experience with OCD? How did you know you were ready, and what was the response like?

After a while I got tired of hiding it, seeing as it pretty much took over my life. I felt like people should know how hard it really is to even function on a day-to-day basis sometimes, and that each day is really a challenge for me in certain ways. It almost felt like I was living a double life—what I projected online and the issues I dealt with in reality. When I shared a couple blog posts about OCD and depression, there was actually a really great response. People sent me messages saying they could relate, they left comments thanking me for being so open, etc. It was a little scary because people in real life could also read it, but at the same time it was kind of a relief.

As most of us with OCD know, there’s no cure per se. We can learn to manage OCD, anxiety, and depression—and because of that we also fool others into thinking everything is peachy-keen. What do you wish people understood about what it means to have a mental illness and an often typical, productive life?

I think it’s best summed up in this blog post, which I was really, really hesitant to publish simply because OCD, depression, anxiety, eating disorders, etc. are so misunderstood. But that’s also why I wrote it—to hopefully provide a little bit more understanding. 

Whereas normal stresses would be difficult for “average” people, they are compounded ten-fold for people struggling with a mental illness. Even changing the time of plans can send me into a tailspin at times because it interrupts my routine. I’ve been trying to be more flexible and I know it’s not the end of the world, but it’s still a struggle. And when you’re depressed? Lord, some days you just want a high-five for actually washing your hair or making a phone call you’ve been putting off for a week, even though you appear to be a super productive person professionally, for example. People can’t see that just by looking at you. It’s really frustrating.

And speaking of productivity, you’ve done so much! You blog, you’ve written a couple books and contributed essays to others, you tweet regularly. How do you balance it all, and how does having anxiety affect your drive?

Well, I don’t blog that much anymore at all and the books were done more than five years ago, so I really don’t do that much. Ha. But thank you! I recently lost my job, which has thrown me into a really scary place (see above about stresses happening to normal people versus those with OCD/anxiety/depression) so I guess I’ll have more time to tweet! Actually, I’ve been tweeting even less because to be honest, I feel like my medication might be numbing my creativity, which is not good for a writer. I have to choose between being balanced (ish) and less creative or a total mess but full of more creative ideas.

That said, I was extremely obsessive with my last job, much to my own detriment. I felt like I always had to be working (and working out) and couldn’t even relax and watch TV without feeling like I had to be “on” and doing something productive. It wasn’t healthy. So instead of freaking out about this unemployment, which I am trying not to do, I’m trying to frame it as a new chance to do something with a healthier frame of mind. I know I’m damn good at what I do, so now I just have to convince someone else of that so they hire me to work remotely from home again!

You recently spoke to CNN about your exercise addiction. First, congratulations on the major outlet for spreading awareness! Second, what advice do you have for someone who may be struggling with the same issue?

It’s honestly my biggest struggle, as it’s how I deal with my intense anxiety and the OCD/routine keeps me doing just as much day after day after day to the point of a detriment to my health. It’s not about vanity. It’s about routine and anxiety, which people don’t understand. My advice would be to tell someone, to be accountable, to get professional help. I’ve been going to therapy now for a few months, as I mentioned in the article, and while I’m still in a bad spot exercise-wise, I have accountability and we have small, manageable goals. Secrets keep you sick, and there is so much secrecy and often shame associated with mental illness, which can stop you from getting help.

You have to want to get better and know that if you feel stuck and miserable with how things are right now, you really have nothing to lose by trying to change those maladaptive behaviors. If you’re going to be uncomfortable either way, might as well be in a positive direction!

When did you realize you had OCD? How long had you been experiencing symptoms before you were diagnosed?

Looking back now I see that I had OCD symptoms and behaviors even as a little kid. They were dormant for quite awhile, but they reappeared in college following a couple of traumatic events. They always manifested with food and exercise, which is extra tricky seeing as those are often viewed as “healthy” outlets. But anything taken to extremes is unhealthy. It was during my second (short) inpatient stay that they finally realized it wasn’t an eating disorder, it was OCD that manifested itself in these behaviors. That was a huge relief that people finally “got” it. It wasn’t about vanity. I didn’t think I was fat. I just wanted an escape from myself.

Once you did know it was OCD, what were your next steps?

It literally took another decade for me get help again. This happened about a year and a half ago when my physical health got so bad I had to have blood transfusions because I was anemic. My doctor told me either I found a psychiatrist and get help or she would stop seeing me and I would left on my own. I finally found one that would work with my outpatient, and a therapist willing to see me, and that’s where medication came it. It took some trial and error and a lot of frustration, but right now I’m on some meds that are still minimal in terms of dosage (I loathe drugs) but appear to be effective. There’s nothing wrong with needing medication. I know now that I’ll probably need it for the rest of my life, but as long as it keeps me from hitting the lowest of the lows or the manic highest of the highs, I’m okay with that.

If you could share just one piece of advice with others who have OCD, what would it be?

Just to know that you’re not alone. There are so many misconceptions and stereotypes that reaching out can feel kind of fruitless, but you’re not the only one that feels the same way that you do. You’re not a freak. There are things that can help you to deal with it if you’re open to sharing your struggles. Trust me when I say it will be a relief…and isn’t that what all of us want?