After 20 years of suffering in silence with undiagnosed OCD, Aaron Harvey turned to the internet for help. In his search for answers, he noticed a lack of relatable online resources for people struggling with their mental health. What he found instead, were articles, videos and messages from people in the OCD community — sufferers just like himself who were seeking information and support. It was these contributions that saved his life and got him on the proper path to treatment.
In return for the help he found online, Aaron set out to humanize OCD and provide a more relatable and informative platform from which others could reach recovery.
Ready Set Rocket launched IntrusiveThoughts.org as an educational hub for the OCD community. Leveraging relatable design and tone of voice, editorial and video content, digital advocacy, educational resources and technology, the platform empowers sufferers at all stages of their OCD journey to learn about their condition and seek help.
Editorial from the community and professionals alike helps demystify the OCD experience and provide invaluable treatment information that cannot be found anywhere else online. Our OCD3 video series with experts in the space offers one-on-one advice for tackling the condition. Educational tools like Pax — the first ever OCD chatbot — offer a more interactive, youth-focused approach to learning about anxiety. And our social channels provide real time empowerment and relevant cultural/political updates on the mental health movement at large.
Since launching, the platform has scaled rapidly, leading to the launch of an online support group, phase 2 redesign, SXSW presentation, and coverage from top news outlets including The Guardian, Vice, Esquire, Cosmopolitan, CNBC, Fox News Health, Refinery29, SELF Magazine and notable others. It's garnered over 814,000 sessions, 2.6 million page views and 600,000 users, and numbers continue to climb.
