Mental health and mental health issues aren’t spoken about enough, in my view. The purpose of my article today is to discuss mental health and in particular, a specific mental health issue which people don't seem to talk about much or don't understand - Obsessive Compulsive Disorder or OCD for short. Because of the lack of understanding of this illness, the term 'OCD' can be used in quite flippant ways in general conversation. I suffer from OCD myself so, as well as exploring the facts, I’m going to write about some of my experiences too.

OCD is a condition that affects many people in many, many different ways, particularly the young generation. You may have heard that someone with OCD will want things to be clean and perfect, but the truth is you can want those things and still not have OCD. This condition delves much deeper than that. It is only considered OCD when it is interfering with your life and making you think irrational thoughts.

My experience of OCD: I recently got diagnosed with OCD and I can’t say I was surprised! I think it all started when I was four or five and I was in year 1. I had a fear of someone being sick and was really scared of staying at school for lunch. In reception I always went home for lunch and starting school was a real struggle for me. I’ve had a few phases of OCD over the years (I’m 13 now) and I think this might have been one of the first.

When I was six I was constantly washing my hands and bothered by my hands being dirty. I didn’t want to use my own belongings and so I was reading library books instead of using my own. My hands were completely cracked and sore up to my wrist. OCD died down into the background until secondary school, but I knew it was still there as I was still washing my hands quite a lot and when I said I needed the toilet or wanted to wash my hands people just thought I was being naughty. I was finally feeling OK about school until year 8, when an incident at school triggered my OCD again - a girl vomited near me. This panicked me and made me feel dirty, so I made my mum wash everything I’d been wearing that day, including my bag and shoes and my hair. Lots of things happened after this incident which triggered the OCD again and all these things created a whirlwind in my mind, until I got so fed up I just felt like giving up.

Eventually my parents found a therapist for me and things are so much better. My therapist is kind and amazing and she has helped me through weekly Zoom calls since March. Since then I have made a lot of progress and I have done loads of challenges. I have pet chickens and one of my challenges was to hold them. My challenges involve exposure to the things I am worried about. I feel like I am making progress but occasionally new worries turn up.

I hope me sharing my story will help others to notice symptoms as soon as possible and get the help they need to recover. Read on to find out more about the illness.

What is OCD?

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A person with OCD may have a bigger underlying worry that causes them to perform rituals, or they might not as it is different for each sufferer. Rituals are routines OCD makes the person perform, such as switching lights on and off to neutralise a fear such as a family member will die. OCD gets you into the loop of thinking that if you do something, something else won’t happen and, even though it sounds like nonsense, it is so easy to get stuck in this cycle as it feels so real. This is just one of the aspects of OCD which is known as “Magical Thinking”.

Personally, my fears of OCD are things getting on me and making me feel uncomfortable and distressed. It gets pretty annoying after a while! It also has a huge impact on your family as they can be drawn into giving you reassurance. Eventually you manage to convince yourself it doesn’t matter or nothing even happened in the first place! However, this doesn’t stop the worry from coming back or feeling utterly real and scary.

OCD can trick your senses as well, such as thinking you smell certain things or feel unwell. At the beginning you think, “Why am I worrying about all these irrational things that no one else is worrying about?” It can be a confusing time at the beginning and it does make you feel strange, but once you identify the symptoms you can get help from a professional and there are a few types of treatment.

Treatments for OCD:

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Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT). This is talking therapy and can help for you to think things through with a therapist, and maybe even convince yourself that some of your worries are very irrational.

Exposure Response Therapy (ERP). This is where you are exposed to your fear. For example if you are scared of contamination of germs you have to be exposed to a situation where you fear is worst, usually starting easily and then progressing until you can cope with your anxiety. You are also taught coping mechanisms so you can deal with your fears.

Medication. People with OCD may have lower levels of serotonin (a chemical nerve cells produce, which can be responsible for making you feel happy). This may make them feel more anxious and SSRIs are antidepressant medication that may be used; however there may be a few side effects, like feeling sick or dizzy and shaky. Not everyone takes medication, as some people just stick to CBT and ERP.

Here is a list of some of the main worries that come with or trigger OCD rituals:

• Worries that food or people may be contaminated

• Thinking that bad things might happen if something isn’t lined up in a specific order

• Sexually disturbing thoughts

• Magical thoughts

• Religious beliefs

• Violent thoughts

• Relationship thoughts (worrying your relationship is going to end)

OCD rituals:

Checking things repeatedly (for example turning the light switch on and off)

Counting to a specific number

Doing things in a particular order

Washing or cleaning excessively

Asking for reassurance that something bad hasn’t happened

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If you think you are experiencing any of the above thoughts/ worries and performing some of the listed rituals, please talk to your parents or carers and seek help from your GP, to get referred to a psychologist who can formally diagnose you and advise the type of treatment you may need. You can also get help from from the following charities:

OCD Action https://ocdaction.org.uk/

OCD UK https://www.ocduk.org/

TOP UK https://www.topuk.org/

I really hope this has made you more aware of this condition, and if you have OCD, don’t put yourself down about it as it’s not your fault. You can get better!