When Reign Murphy spotted a holiday sweater at Target emblazoned with the phrase “OCD: Obsessive Christmas Disorder,” she froze. As someone who has lived with obsessive-compulsive disorder for years, she immediately felt the sting. The real OCD isn’t about loving Christmas “a little too much.” It’s about relentless anxiety, intrusive thoughts, and exhausting rituals. To see her condition reduced to a holiday pun felt not only tone-deaf—but deeply painful.
She snapped a photo of the display, added a heartfelt caption, and posted it on Twitter. Her message was simple: jokes like this trivialize a serious mental illness.
Within hours, her post had gone viral.
Thousands chimed in—many thanking Reign for speaking out, others sharing their own experiences. They described the overwhelming compulsions, the mental checklists that never stop, the shame and isolation that so often accompany OCD. Mental health advocates pointed out how casually misusing terms like “OCD” reinforces harmful stereotypes and makes it harder for people to recognize the disorder in themselves or others.
Yet not everyone agreed. A handful of commenters defended the sweater as light-hearted holiday humor. “Obsessive Christmas Disorder” is just a play on words, they said—no different from other seasonal puns. Some people with OCD even said they weren’t offended, seeing it as a tongue-in-cheek nod to festive enthusiasm rather than an insult.
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