Help Emmett through a crisis!

I’ve been diagnosed with obsessive compulsive disorder since 2011. My obsession is myself or my loved ones getting contaminated or ill with a virus, specifically norovirus and other stomach diseases. My compulsions include washing my hands between about 30 and 150 times a day, depending on what’s happening around me, often making my hands crack and bleed; covering my hands, arms, face, and hair in hospital-grade hand sanitizer; overmedicating with anti-nausea medication if I have the slightest feeling of being nauseous; not going to social events, running errands, or doing anything in a public place or at someone else’s house if I perceive a risk of illness, which is most of the time; and disordered eating, including controlling what and how I eat to ensure that there is no risk of possible contamination.

These compulsions are anxiety-fueled, and like many folks with anxiety disorders, I fall victim to self-destructive thoughts and actions when my anxiety flares too high.

Managing this disorder takes up the bulk of my energy every day. I’ve worked extremely hard over the years to be able to have some kind of work and social life, despite this literally never-ending fight. Usually, it’s exhausting, but something I’m well-practiced in managing.

Over the past year or so, my OCD has gotten progressively worse. This culminated in me having an episode at my day job where I realized I am no longer fit to work and function normally without the immediate intervention of a psychologist. I’m now on six weeks of unpaid leave from my job so I can put myself through a mental health bootcamp and return to my normal level of functioning in the world.

And, after I already took time away from work, I was forced to navigate out of a dangerous living situation with my ex, and am now in expensive temporary housing while I look for a permanent place. I had to abandon utility bills and other money (like moving expenses from our original move together) that I had fronted my ex in good faith in my emergency escape from living with them. Moving-associated costs, higher rent, and a looming security deposit are really eating away at my financial ability to survive.

The amount of money I’m hoping to raise with this gofundme breaks down as follows:
- $60 for two weekly sessions of outpatient therapy, times six for six weeks
- $700 for a month of rent
- $300 for credit card, electricity, and internet bills that are overdue
- $300 for a security deposit cushion on a new apartment
- $200 for increased rent costs for my current temporary housing

All of my other expenses, like food and transportation costs, I’m confident I’ll be able to provide for myself.

I’m embarrassed to be asking for help like this, but many folks in my community of peers who I look up to very much ask for help when they need it, so I am too. Every single dollar helps me on this journey.

Thank you so very much!