OCDfeat: A Digital Ally in the Fight Against OCD

You may have heard the phrase “I’m a little bit OCD,” said casually when someone refers to his or her desire for cleanliness or preference for how objects are displayed. What these people are referring to is not OCD.

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a debilitating psychiatric disorder affecting 1% to 3% of the global population, characterized by intrusive thoughts, known as obsessions, and repetitive actions, or compulsions. The intensity of this disease caused the World Health Organization to rank it tenth in its list of the leading causes of disabilities. Those who suffer with OCD have significantly increased rates of suicide attempts and other self-harming behaviors in comparison to the general population.

Jason Niosi knows about the destructive nature of OCD firsthand.

When his son was around four years old, he and his wife noticed changes in the boy’s behavior. The child had increased anxiety and developed overwhelming fears that soon ruled his life. It took countless appointments with doctors, teachers, and therapists over the course of five years to learn that the child was struggling with OCD.

The family discovered that the most effective treatment for OCD is Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy, a practice that places the patient into situations that trigger obsessive behavior to develop new coping skills for these fears. The therapy is dependent on patients tracking their exposures and responses. This tracking is largely done using paper and pencil.

It is a problem for patients who may lose or neglect to use the paper tallies, and for the therapists who rely on the recorded information to treat their patients.

“Right now, if therapists don’t use paper, they’re using Google Sheets or Excel. They have 20 patients that are tracking 20 different ways. There’s a lot of inefficiencies there,” Niosi explained.

Niosi felt the problem intimately when he observed his son’s interactions with his therapist during quarantine.

“Ironically, COVID brought awareness, in a good way, to mental health,” Niosi said. “While doing virtual therapy, he would check out. He’s more of an “in-person” kind of guy. He knew he could say what he needed to say, and a therapist would let him go. I asked him, ‘what would keep you more engaged?’”

Niosi discovered his son was looking for a digital, interactive way to manage his therapy.

“I started looking into what tools are available digitally to manage OCD. I found generic CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy) ones, but nothing specific to OCD. That is how OCDfeat was born,” he said.

OCDfeat is a web-based software application that helps people with OCD track and manage the disorder outside of a clinical setting. The company offers subscription pricing for both therapists and the patients they treat. Patients input the data needed to track progress and the therapist can access and analyze the data.

“We need to help raise awareness. That’s why I’m the president of OCD Wisconsin, which is the state chapter for the International OCD Foundation affiliate…we got a grant to put on the first summer camp for kids called Fearless Family Camp,” he said.

The nonprofit plans to expand its reach to provide programming for teens and adults.

Niosi’s experience allowed the OCDfeat team to survey families impacted by OCD and the therapists who treat the disorder to get a comprehensive understanding of what the tool needs to do to be effective for all parties.

“We want to get therapists as much data as possible so they can help get the person with OCD to a more manageable state. It’s not curable. They’ll always have OCD.  We want to get them to the point where they are living their best lives- that’s what we want to accomplish,” he said.

Niosi, along with co-founders Brian Wedderspoon and Eugene Burd, released the software in 2024. It was met with enthusiastic support. The emerging company is currently generating revenue and has plans to scale.

“I’ve worked at five or six different startups; I know the startup world. I worked in Silicon Valley in the early 2000s, so I’ve been around startups. For me, for my career, it’s been about finding something to be passionate about to start a business around,” Niosi said.

The company plans to develop its tracking tool by providing additional functions, like the ability for patients to invite support team members to access the tool, while focusing on increasing its sales and marketing efforts.

“The goal is to expand to other disorders that either coexist with OCD or use ERP as a treatment method, like PTSD (post-traumatic stress disorder), Tourette Syndrome and eating disorders. That’s the goal. Together, with all of the diagnoses, it would be a big market that may be attractive to investors,” Niosi explained.

The bootstrapped company is exploring a variety of fund-raising opportunities.

While OCDfeat continues to expand, its impact is already visible, providing both therapists and patients with a more efficient, data-driven approach to therapy. As the company develops new features and explores broader applications, Niosi’s journey reflects a commitment to transforming how OCD and other disorders are managed, ultimately helping more individuals gain control over their lives.

To learn more about OCDfeat, connect with the company here.