Shannon Purser Shares Her Struggles With OCD & Suicidal Ideation In New Intimate Article

Shannon Purser had the wonderful opportunity to write an article for Teen Vogue. The young actress spoke about her struggles with OCD and suicidal ideation growing up in this new piece. Highlights from her article are below.

On one of her obsessives: “…one obsessive thought I frequently had when reading was that I somehow wasn’t absorbing everything I read. I developed a compulsion to re-read almost every sentence over and over again, until I was completely convinced that I’d absorbed the material. I love books, and I’m normally a pretty fast reader, but at that time, it took me hours to read small amounts, making schoolwork increasingly difficult. My OCD turned something I loved into something tedious and frustrating.”

On seeking out help: “At some point, I stumbled across an article about OCD. As I read, I was blown away by how identical the writer’s description was to what I was experiencing. It was overwhelmingly comforting to finally realize that I wasn’t alone and that nothing was wrong with me. It was a treatable disorder. I talked to my mom about what I’d discovered, and we were fortunate enough to find a wonderful therapist that I still see to this day. I was diagnosed with OCD and depression, and that was a huge relief, because now my struggles had a name and could be reckoned with. With a combination of therapy and medication, I got better. I learned to love life again. My problems didn’t go away, but they became much easier to face”.

You can check out even more from Shannon’s piece here.

Such a wonderful read. Lots of powerful moments throughout that really showcase how amazing Shannon is!