The Patterns blog

Notes from inside the loop.

I have OCD, and I am building Patterns for everyone else who does. These are personal essays - not clinical advice - about the loop, the work, and why the app is built the way it is. Written by one person in it, for anyone else in it.

6 min read

What I actually wanted from an OCD app

Before I built Patterns, I kept downloading apps and deleting them. This is what I was actually looking for in an OCD app, and why it was so hard to find.

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5 min read

Is Patterns a CBT app? ERP, CBT, and what actually helped me

A question I get a lot: is Patterns a CBT app? The short answer is yes-ish, and the honest answer is more interesting than that.

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6 min read

Why I built Patterns

I have OCD. I built Patterns because I kept looking for the tool I needed and never finding it. This is the honest version of why.

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7 min read

The loop, and how I loosen it

Obsession, distress, compulsion, relief. Then it starts again. Here is how I learned to see the loop instead of living inside it.

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5 min read

Why Patterns stays private (and always will)

The things people with OCD write down are exactly the things they least want anyone to see. So Patterns keeps all of it on your device. Here is why.

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