I knew from a young age that something in my brain was not quite right. As a little kid, I had to do things nine times - touch a doorknob, walk up and down a step, or read a sentence. Something in my brain told me that doing various activities nine times was extremely important or else something bad might happen. What that bad thing was, my brain never shared. Best to just do things nine times, it told me.
At the same time, I sensed that this was not normal and did my best to hide it from my family, friends, teachers and sports coaches. For the most part, I did a good job. Over time, the urge to do things nine times faded and was replaced by a deep-seated anxiety to be a hyper-achiever at school, sports, internships and social relationships.
