Ever since I can remember, my sock drawer was the top right one in my dresser. My shirts were hung before my pants in my closet, and my carpet was vacuumed three days a week, but not on Thursday. I made my lunch the night before school because if I didn’t lay the ham on my sandwich in a rippled effect I had to throw the entire sandwich away and start over, and I couldn’t be late to school because of ham. It didn’t happen too often, because I’m careful. The sheets on my bed are changed every Saturday and I dust that day too. My car is cleaned on Friday and I never go out in the evenings except to work out, which happens at 6:00 every day. I am never late, because if I’m late my whole routine is thrown off. I try to get into bed by 9:00, but that doesn’t always happen if I spend too much time cleaning and planning. I checked the mail, the car has a quarter tank of gas, my writing assignment is done, I fed the cat. I don’t have to vacuum today. I read through my planner and I don’t have an event this Saturday. Every day these words are thought. I change them sometimes, because sometimes I do have to vacuum, but not today, because it’s Thursday. The life of someone with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a stressful life, full of checking, double-checking, and worrying. This disorder is more common than you think. According to Beyondocd, “Current estimates are that approximately one in forty adults in the U.S. (about 23 percent of the population) and one in 100 children have this condition.” Symptoms of OCD start in childhood, or in teen years. Not all people who suffer with this are the same. Some are not as advanced in their compulsions as others, but nonetheless, they worry unreasonably. This worrying and stressing can lead to anxiety, which can lead to depression. This disorder is just an example of something students hide and struggle with every day. “It started at the age of 6,” Jack Grinnell, senior, said. “I know I had a big thing with shoelaces so I would tie my shoes and if the loops weren’t the exact same length I would get really upset and I’d have to redo it and try over until they were the exact same length. Also with papers, if I ever have to write anything down I wanted my letters and numbers to be perfectly straight. My mom started to notice how upset I would get when something wasn’t perfect so she called our doctor, who then wanted me to see a behavior therapist.” Within a year of showing these OCD warning signs, Grinnell was struggling with his schoolwork and his family was getting frustrated. Any small task, like making his bed or doing homework, could take hours, and he always felt worried about doing something wrong. After a couple of years working with a behavioral specialist, Grinnell lives an OCD-free life, and by looking at him, you can’t tell he ever battled with this disorder, but he did. According to NCCP, “Approximately 20 percent of adolescents have a diagnosable mental health disorder and many mental health disorders first present [themselves] during adolescence.” A student can battle with anxiety, distress or uneasiness. A student can suffer from depression, prolonged sadness and withdrawal. A young girl can become anorexic, and can excessively diet because of her distorted view of her body. Rarely, but possibly, a student can struggle with OCD, unreasonable stress and worrying. Dysgraphia can cause a student to be insecure about his or her writing abilities, because he or she just can’t write as fast as her classmates. Dyslexia makes another student nervous to read aloud in class. These daily struggles from hundreds of students, who feel alone and helpless, are seen. “[There are] specific reading, writing and math disabilities, which are learning disabilities,” Aimee Norcross, Special Education department director at Glendale High School said. “Other disabilities would be intellectual… or Other Health Impairments such as Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD) or Attention Deficit Disorder (ADD) which would inhibit their ability to focus, pay attention in class, stay organized, so that [is] common. There are language impairments. Sometimes in speech, where a student may have a speech impediment.” Claire Young, senior, didn’t always feel tense, but her freshman year of high school was stressful, and she would spend hours anxiously worrying. She felt jittery, couldn’t focus, and couldn’t stop moving. “My anxiety is pretty situational, [it collects],” said Young. “Freshman and sophomore year I just had so much going on that I would just freak out and basically what it was is I would just shut down. Sometimes I’d start breathing really heavy and just think ‘I have to get out of here’. [There was] a lot of stress. I wouldn’t have panic attacks in class; I would just not be able to pay attention because I was so stressed out about everything outside of that class. The doctors [recently] figured out I have ADHD. ADHD can cause anxiety because your mind moves so fast so you can get really anxious about things.” Claire’s grades weren’t drastically affected, but there was a negative change. Her stress would collect, build up, and then make her shut down, stressing her out even more. Her family noticed her worrying all the time, and she visited her doctor. “Once a person starts to get anxious, which can lead into an anxiety attack, there’s this thing of ‘oh no I have to make this thing stop’,” said Charles Coller, psychologist at the Mercy Marion Center. “[However] inevitably because it’s yours, you cannot make you go away. So the body gets all charged up… and pretty soon you’re tense, your heart is racing, your mouth is dry and you’re into an anxiety attack.” Today, Claire knows how to deal with her anxiety and how to prioritize her time so she doesn’t have to worry about things she has to do. She has worked with her doctors to create a medication plan that fits her needs. “You just assume that your kids are going to be healthy and normal and everything is going to be fine and to watch [Jack] struggle with this [OCD]…. I mean he was 6,” Jill Grinnell, Jack Grinnell’s mother said. “What is he going to do in high school? How is he going to deal with this in college? How is he going to deal with a real job? I was terrified. The pediatrician knew just what to do, and Jack never had to take any medication for it… [As he got older] he was getting his homework in, he was getting good grades, and he was completing his work. I don’t see him struggling like he used to, and I don’t think it holds him back.”