Athlete Stories
Below are Athlete Stories detailing struggles with OCD, anxiety, and other challenges. Read all of these and more in the Anxiety in Athletes Blog.
IOCDF Lead Advocate Tom Smalley wins three gold medals at USAW Competition
IOCDF Lead Advocate Tom Smalley just returned from the USA Weightlifting American Open Finals, where he won three gold medals. The IOCDF caught up with Tom to talk about his victories and the special category in which he competed. Read the full blog here.
My Setback… My Comeback
By Jeremy Golden All I remember seeing is red. I didn’t recognize the person in the mirror. We all have hinge moments in life. This was my hinge moment. My moment when I knew that anxiety and depression had taken its hold on me. The moment that everything I thought I knew about myself and […]
Knock down OCD with Ginny Fuchs
Dr. Elizabeth McIngvale and Ginny Fuchs, Flyweight Boxer of USA and Team Captain of the Women’s Olympic Team share their inspirational stories about fighting for your dreams despite OCD.
OCD Does NOT Improve Athletic Performance
How My Obsessive Compulsive Disorder Tried To Steal My Passion for Endurance Athletics by Katie O’Dunne Worries — that is what my family called the thoughts in my head. In elementary school, I worried that if I didn’t touch objects in a particular order or offer complete honesty, catastrophe would ensue. I confessed the tiniest […]
Brandon Marshall Keynote from Online OCD Conference
Watch former NFL player Brandon Marshall’s keynote address from our first-ever Online OCD Conference! Here, Brandon shares his story and offers up some inspiration for the OCD community.
Cali Werner: You should do this because you love it
This interview was originally posted at iocdf.org/blog on February 28th, 2020, shortly before Cali Werner competed in the U.S. Olympic Marathon Trials. Cali Werner is a marathon runner who will be participating in the 2020 U.S Olympic Marathon Trials in Atlanta this Saturday. She also has OCD and is a licensed family therapist at Houston […]
Tom Smalley: Struggle Is Not Weakness
by Tom Smalley Shame was a consistent feeling I had regarding my mental health disorder growing up. After all, I was diagnosed at age 16 because I hid it from my friends and family for so long. The shame never came from my loved ones. The shame came from the society around me that had […]
