A Doctor with OCD Advocates, Treats, and Thrives; with Dr. Rachel A Davis | RDID Ep. 107
Rachel A. Davis is a doctor with OCD, but she is so, so much more than that. She is a psychiatrist and medical director living in Colorado who once lived a life controlled by obsessive compulsive disorder. Religious-based rituals and compulsions clashed with severe health anxiety to create an extremely anxious child who did everything she could to manage her mental health. Today, she is a highly accomplished professional who helps others living with mental health challenges and she brings a unique understanding and empathy to her daily personal and professional life. Rachel shares the transformative experience of becoming a living organ donor, a milestone that marks her triumph over childhood health anxieties and her unwavering dedication to the medical field.
She entered health care as a very young volunteer with her town’s local, rural rescue squad, encountering all manner of trauma and suffering, and Rachel realized that she could use not only her passion for helping others, but her ability to respond in crisis situations to engage in a life devoted to helping others through medicine. Rachel is not only a helper and a healer of patients, but she is actively involved in helping the next generation of healthcare professionals be healthier and more open about their own mental health struggles. Rachel exemplified this commitment to openness in her own personal essay on Recovery Diaries, published several years ago, and let us know how the comments she received from other medical professionals all around the world affirmed that openness and vulnerability is, indeed, the way to go.
It was such a pleasure to talk to Dr. Davis on Recovery Diaries in Depth. “We want our doctors to be human”, Rachel says towards the end of our time together, and I couldn’t agree more. I’m so glad this human is out there helping others, and I think you’ll enjoy getting to know her a bit on our show. Please like, share, and subscribe and, of course: listen!
–Gabe
Conversations like the ones on this podcast can sometimes be hard, but they’re always necessary. If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider visiting wannatalkaboutit.com. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call, text, or chat 988.
EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / EDITOR: Gabriel Nathan | DESIGN: Leah Alexandra Goldstein | SITE ORIGINATOR: Bud Clayman
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In the 80’s, I was born so I listened to 80’s music, but I don’t like 80’s music. I was born in the late 80’s. I was told that I was in my mom’s stomach when they got in a car wreck, so my parents thought I had something wrong with me when I was little. My dad told me that he had to pull a penny out of my mouth, so he thought it blocked my airways to my brain, so that is why I have a mental illness. It is not my fault that I have a mental illness. My mom gave birth to me around 5:00 p.m. My grandma told me what my dad said about me when I was first born. My daughter has her mom’s eyebrows. After I was born, I cried a lot. My parents found out that they had a colic because I would cry all the time. I was like three years old when I started talking. I think I started walking around three years old too. I was a late bloom doing things when I was a child. When I was like around seven years old, they told my mom that they know, “She has ADHD.” My mom didn’t put me on any medications because she didn’t think I needed medication. I was bullied in school because I was in a resource room. People would tease me because I was slower than the average student in school. One person that did my evaluation said, “You have an intellectual disability.” I know I am slower than other people, but that is okay because God made me different than everybody else. All through school, I got bullied because I was different than everybody else. The one thing I enjoyed was going to church. I enjoy going to church groups. I enjoyed going to church camp. People thought I was different because I can’t always talk right because I get nervous when I talk sometimes. The thing I had to learn is to calm down before I spoke, so I don’t get so nervous. When I tried to be on social media it all went wrong for me. I tried to add people I went to school with, but that was a bad idea because they started bullying me. When I would post a Bible verse online then they would have to make a negative comment about it because they wanted to get arise out of me, but it didn’t work for them. They would tag me in their posts, then I would fight back. Their friends would attack me on the posts. I should have avoided the post all together then I wouldn’t have gotten bullied, but I chose to respond not ignore it, so I paid for the consequences. People bully me on different websites. People would bully me because of what kind of people I was standing up for, but I stood up for them anyways. I didn’t stand up for the people that was liked, but I felt their pain because they were accused of things they didn’t do. Some of these people did what they did, and it was true about them, so I didn’t stick up for them. In 2015, I started going to counseling at Prairie View. They didn’t help me at Prairie View because they would judge the people I knew. I did evaluation there, but I didn’t like the results, so I went to a different therapist. The therapist was judging me. They were saying things about my parents. The Christian therapist was not judgmental at, so I felt comfortable around her. I started going to different therapists, but they didn’t really help me out. We found I had obsessive compulsive disorder, so we started looking for an obsessive-compulsive disorder therapist. They did an evaluation on me then they found out that I had obsessive-compulsive disorder. The struggles I have are a lot different than what other people have. The triggers come first, so that means whatever comes to mind then I will think about the situation by talking about it or visualizing it. I am a very visual person that sees things in my head several times a day. Then I have consequences that come with my thoughts that get me in trouble with other people that are around me. After the consequences I must deal with the compulsions that come with it. The compulsions lead to thinking about all the time. I hate thinking about things. When I think about things then I get lost in my thoughts. The obsessive-compulsive disorder therapist has obsessive compulsive-disorder, so she knows what she is thinking about. She has me color on coloring paper. She has helped me learn new things to keep my mind busy instead of thinking about the situation. I am taking her advice. The other therapists weren’t specialized in obsessive-compulsive disorder, so they didn’t know what I was going through. I am really enjoying seeing her. I have one more therapist I go see, but she is a regular therapist that I go to too. We just talk about things. These people do help me. I have been studying obsessive-compulsive disorder. I know why I act the way I do. Things have been making sense to me since I went to the obsessive-compulsive disorder therapist. In 2023, I thought about killing myself. In 2023, I found Railway Clubhouse. I found Railway Clubhouse when I went to NAMI (National Alliance Mental Illness). I started going to NAMI in June 2023. I started going to Railway Clubhouse in June 2023. After I went to the hospital then I went to the phone store to get a flip phone, so I didn’t have access to a smart phone that has Internet on it. I don’t want to have access to the Internet all the time. My smart phone doesn’t have Internet on it. I can only text on my flip phone. I can only call people on my flip phone. When I got out of the hospital then I went to a program that helps people live their lives after they get out of the hospital. I got done with the program, so I started looking for jobs, but I couldn’t hold down a job anymore because I was acting differently when I was my medication. They put me on tons of medication, so I was tired all the time. I am on my medication. I take my medication at night. I have two therapists that help me with things. Now, I am going to talk about Railway Clubhouse. At Railway Clubhouse they taught me to cook, make a resume, made friends, they helped me with education, they helped me with employment, I spoke about my mental illness at the capital, I go to training with them, and I go to events with them. I am really enjoying my life right now. I am not going to talk about the negative things in my life about the trouble I have had with the authorities. It is time for me to move on with my life. Sometimes, I just like to write about things. I really enjoy typing things out. I hope you enjoy reading what I have written here. Now, I am just at Railway Clubhouse Monday through Friday. Well, I guess that I am going to end my long mental health journey here. I hope you are doing alright. Keep your mental health in check. I hope you are enjoying life as much as I am.
💙 Thank you so much for sharing your story with us. Your openness, honesty, and strength are incredibly powerful. You’ve faced many challenges—misunderstandings, bullying, and difficult experiences with therapists—and yet you continue to advocate for yourself, learn more about your mental health, and demonstrate resilience and compassion. That is no small feat. It’s inspiring to hear how much the Railway Clubhouse and the right kind of support have helped you move forward. Finding professionals who truly understand you, especially when dealing with OCD, can make all the difference. Your growth, the courage to set boundaries on social media, and your desire to focus on the positive aspects of life show just how far you’ve come.
📲 If you’re interested in reading more stories like yours—about strength, healing, and recovery—our weekly email newsletter might be something you’d enjoy: https://recoverydiaries.org/newsletter.
We’re grateful to have you with us. Keep writing. Keep sharing. Keep being you. 🦋☀️
My husband and I had a friend who we think had OCD. He had some behaviors that matched symptoms of OCD. Especially the continuous washing of the hands. I don’t think we understood too much, and probably wasn’t aware of our friends struggles. He didn’t have too many friends and was pretty isolated.
Thanks for commenting!