One piece in the March issue of TeenInk stood out to me in particular- “Unfriending Lauren” by “Natalie”. It is an excellent article about having something called obsessive compulsion disorder. Over the course of the article, Natalie explains what it means to have OCD while focusing on one scene where she visits her therapist. She starts off the article by giving an example of how having OCD affects her. “I blink twice. I think I blink my right eye slightly harder than my left, so I blink my left eye by itself, which results in a demented wink that leaved me feeling unbalanced.” While the description of her ‘demented wink’ might make the reader smile, the truth behind her problem isn’t funny in the slightest.
Although I can’t claim to understand what it’s like to be in her situation, Natalie’s piece allowed me to see inside her mind and sympathize. “My life is being consumed by an obsession I don’t have a reason for.” She expressed in her article. She even describes how her doctor told her to name her OCD- she named it Lauren. Leaving the article on a happy note, Natalie decides not to let her OCD control her and to “conquer my fear of nothing”, as she put it. Natalie shows both her strength in her decision to take control of her life and her bravery in sharing her story with others. “Unfriending Lauren” was a truly inspiring article which most likely would encourage many people with the same problem to work hard at overcoming it.