Is It OCD, Anxiety, or Disordered Eating? The Overlap, the Misdiagnosis, and Why It Matters for Recovery with Dana Colthart, LCSW

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Abbie sits down with Dana Colthart, LCSW, a therapist specializing in OCD and eating disorders, to explore one of the most under-diagnosed and misunderstood overlaps in mental health. From intrusive thoughts to diet culture to why you can’t logic your way into recovery, this conversation explores what's truly driving our fears, our coping strategies, and the compulsions holding us back.

The first part of this episode is free for everyone. Paid subscribers can hear the entire conversation. You can upgrade here: https://abbieattwoodwellness.substack.com/subscribe

In this episode:

* Why OCD is so much more than hand-washing and organization — and what it actually looks like

* The key difference between OCD and generalized anxiety disorder, and why misdiagnosis is so common

* How the OCD cycle works: the obsession, the compulsion, the temporary relief, and why that relief is the trap

* What reassurance-seeking is, why it counts as a compulsion, and how it shows up in relationships with food and body image

* Pure-O OCD — when the compulsions are entirely mental, and why this goes undiagnosed so often

* Taboo and shameful intrusive thoughts: why the people most disturbed by a thought are almost never the ones who’d act on it

* What ego-dystonic versus ego-syntonic means, and why that distinction matters in disentangling OCD from eating disorders

* How diet culture functions like a mass OCD delivery system — rules, rituals, fear, and relief that never quite arrives