Greatest Mental Health Journey – 20 Years of Struggle (Chapter 8)

We all know that the phrase "Every heart has a story to tell" signifies that people possess a unique and personal narrative filled with their own experiences, joys, and struggles. Not only that, but the quote also highlights the idea that each individual's life, emotions, and journey contribute to a distinct and meaningful story. Owing to this, listening to stories on podcasts offers several great benefits, such as firstly; it provides entertainment which can be a great way to learn and engage with new topics and secondly; it can be a form of relaxation and stress relief. Whatever it is, such an audio storytelling can enhance memory retention and create emotional connections which may last for a lifetime.

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DRIVEN MINDS PODCAST

By my recollections, the main reason and the sole purpose of why this podcast is established is to promote both the significance as well as the essence of mental health awareness like addressing why it is imperative to look after the current state or the underlying condition of a person’s mental health, why people should not be afraid of stigma when it comes to openly discussing their mental health disorders, why such psychological issues should not be perceived as something taboo, and so forth.

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Well, there has been a plenty of exceptional guests who have by far been invited and featured in this podcast for your information, including the notable Malaysian-born actor and the world’s female martial arts icon "Michelle Yeoh" who successfully took home her Oscar for the Best Actress at the 95^th Academy Awards for her outstanding performance in the year of 2022 in her American absurdist comedy-drama film called "Everything Everywhere All at Once". Thus, allow me to begin introducing you the mastermind and the lovely woman behind the program so-called Driven Minds Podcast.

(Link: https://linktr.ee/drivenmindspodcast)

HOST OF DRIVEN MINDS PODCAST: GILLIAN SAGANSKY

If you type her name on the global search engines (be it Google, Bing, Yandex), you will absolutely discover at least a few details of information pertaining to her track record of professionalism ranging from her previous written publications on the US magazines, musical DJ activities, to social media platforms. Similar to any other social media influencers out there, she has actively been navigating both her website and other social media networks, such as LinkedIn, Twitter, and Instagram as a result of her career path in the realm of entertainment aside from her keen enthusiasm of being a mental health advocate.

Initially, I was not really into any showbiz vibes (the kind of industry she had been involving in). Neither was I interested in the luxurious fashion industry alike nor being fairly knowledgeable about psychological issues and stuff in the first place. Fast forward, I accidentally discovered her Instagram account in the midst of Russia’s on-going military invasion of Ukraine in 2022, precisely the time when she decided to take part in helping thousands of Ukrainian refugees by joining one of the humanitarian efforts which was organised by the Global Empowerment Mission somewhere in April 2022.

(Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdbem7tN_NS/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)

Anyway, to kick start with a preliminary introduction, Gillian Sagansky or popularly known by her nickname "Gigi" is a published writer, DJ, and host of the Driven Minds Podcast. If you come across visiting her website www.gilliansagansky.com, you will certainly read some pieces of descriptions relating to her past and current work activities. Inspired by her own "arduous" (extremely tough + incredibly exhausting) mental health journey which spanned nearly two decades, she ultimately launched her mental health podcast the so-called Driven Minds in December 2020 partnering with Porsche Type 7.

Perhaps, you may be wondering what exactly the particular type of mental health disorder that she had once been grappling with for almost twenty years. Believe it or not, it was none other than Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which will soon be outlined in the next following paragraphs.

GILLIAN SAGANSKY: 20 YEARS OF STRUGGLE WITH OCD

Basically, it all started when she was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 10 by a child psychiatrist, and was subsequently recommended to consume several pills. Unfortunately, the unprecedented side effect of those pills she consumed led her to suffer not only from insomnia, but also severe OCD. As a consequence, she was struck with the compulsions to touch objects at a certain amount of time – counting everything incessantly to the point where she could not deal with anything related to the number 9 (if she saw a pair of shoes costs $9.49, for instance, there was no way she would have the courage to purchase it).

Then, following her preliminary diagnosis with OCD, she was later prescribed to undergo countless medications by a doctor. Sadly, this rendered her being ended up to be admitted to a hospital when there was a major incident occurred with the way she consumed her drug prescriptions given by the said doctor. At this stage, she was dead ashamed to share with anyone around her social circle that she totally suffered both from ADHD and OCD.

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Furthermore, after having graduated from the New York University in Modern Art and Philosophy course, she managed to secure her very first occupation as a writer and a DJ at nightclub. One day, when she went to her first ever therapy sessions in years as she claimed in the episode, her female therapist confessed that she never had anyone in her office with such a chronic OCD before.

Subsequently, right until she made up her mind to check in to a psychiatric hospital called McLean, she went straight quickly to the hospital’s counsellor whom she began to consult with and disclose the fact that she had been constantly misdiagnosed. Following with her private consultation with the McLean hospital’s counsellor, she then appealed eventually that she just needed to stay there only for a week.

(Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVDiy3aNG6V/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)

Long story short, her decision to turn to her chosen McLean hospital for immediate request at the time was a plot twist. Within three months approximately, she ultimately cured herself from OCD and she no longer had to fear confronting anything associated with the number 9. Above all, you may go and check out the whole episode of her OCD story through the given link that I have attached below.

(Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3oVzyCBXtbJSiH6aVdJp2E?si=_mSQuTO-RGetFngIab2VpA)

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Life-Changing Therapy Tools for a Better Mental Health

The so-called "online therapy services" have become undoubtedly popular due to the fact that they allow you to be treated by any licensed therapists in your state, even if they are hundreds of miles away from where you reside. Consequently, this has enormously bridged the mental health care gap in helping those who have struggled to access care, including disabled folks or people living in rural areas.

Virtual therapy, in addition, appears to be highly effective and offers other benefits, such as connecting non–native English speakers to licensed therapists who speak their language; making it easier to locate culturally, LGBTQ + affirming care, specialties, and different therapy types or modalities like somatic therapy. Of course, there are numerous online therapy service providers which you can look upon across the search engines. However, one particular entity that stands out among its competitors for many years is the "Online-Therapy.com" (I will soon be outlining the brief details of why you really should consider this platform if you wish to overcome your mental health struggles).

Historically, Online-Therapy.com was founded in 2009 with the goal of rendering cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) which is a highly effective therapeutic approach that concentrates on altering negative patterns of thoughts and behaviors in order to stabilize your mood more virtually accessible, including anyone living with depression or anxiety. To this present, Online-Therapy.com remains committed to its mission in providing virtual CBT therapy to both individuals and couples by offering live therapy sessions on a virtual basis, as well as self-paced CBT courses with interactive resources, such as worksheets and guided meditation videos.

Moreover, when it comes to questioning whether the platform is worthy of money or not, Online-Therapy.com applies a monthly subscription model for both individual and couples therapy. In this case, the individual therapy subscriptions are tiered based on how many live sessions you need in your plan, even though all plans have unlimited asynchronous messaging with guaranteed responses within 24 hours from Monday to Friday where you can also gain an access to the self-paced CBT therapy program.

Below here are the prices of subscription plan which you may consider prior to firmly deciding which plan will suit you best at the end:

1. The Basic plan costs $200 per month ($50 per week) and includes no live therapy sessions.

2. The Standard plan costs $320 per month ($80 per week) and includes one 45-minute live session per week by live chat, audio, or video call.

3. The Premium plan is $440 per month ($110 per week) and includes two 45-minute live sessions per week via live chat, audio, or video call.

Link sign up: https://onlinetherapy.go2cloud.org/SHg6

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THE CASE OF A JUNIOR MEDICAL DOCTOR WHO COMMITTED SUICIDE

While I was scrolling down and trying to keep abreast of the latest newsfeed on social media, I accidentally came across reading one intriguing article which literally piqued my interest and it sort of evoked my instant recollections of the two prominent musicians (Chris Cornell of Audioslave & Chester Bennington of Linkin Park) who had a prolonged history of struggling with chronic depression throughout their lives. It was about the ongoing case of a junior medical doctor who worked at the Queen Elizabeth Hospital in Birmingham (England) named "Dr. Vaishnavi Kumar" where she was reported to have committed suicide in June 2022 due to the severe effect of toxicity at her workplace, and her father has been relentlessly demanding an utter justice for her daughter’s untimely death since then.

To certain people out there, addressing the so-called "Mental Health Disorder" may still appear to be something taboo and inconvenient to be discussed openly, yet, many of us often times possess a tendency to underestimate or even dismiss the crucial impact of the role that mental health plays in our lives, especially from the aspects of dealing with our day-to-day routines. Besides, one of the most contributing factors which tend to escalate such a high degree of employee turnover in any industries is associated with the amount of conduciveness inflicted by a work environment. In other words, the more toxic the cultivation of corporate culture manifested in an organization, the more frequent the replacement of hiring new recruits will take place in a matter of days.

To begin with, the aforementioned case of a young medical doctor’s sudden death and its aftermath was among a series of solemn issues subject to the six-week rapid review led by Professor Mike Bewick following a perpetual sequence of damning allegations which was aired on BBC Newsnight in June 2022. According to one particular source of information retrieved, it was stated that the female Indian doctor decided to take her own life after feeling "belittled" at her workplace, which was perceived as the type of bullying case for us to be concerned with since it could trigger a never-ending episode of mental health struggles to the point where the victim would end up committing suicide.

In reference to the additional details of her impromptu demise, it was further revealed that when she felt overwhelmingly distressed by the unpleasant work ambiance at a hospital she worked, a lethal cocktail of medication was identified to be the primary cause which was something she consumed and eventually, a group of ambulance team failed to rescue her as she took her last breath at City Hospital on June 22^nd 2022.

Obviously, the above incident pertaining to a mental health problem could immediately prompt our eye brows to start questioning how such an impact of toxic workplace in the most extreme case can inflict a profound severity on a person’s mental health condition; resulting in an innocent soul to be in a dire state of suffering from suicidal thoughts.

Nevertheless, following the audacity of decision to end her life in June 2022, the junior medical doctor was also found to have left pieces of final words on a note she wrote, in which she went saying that "she was sorry to her dearest beloved mother, and she could blame the whole thing on the Queen Elizabeth Hospital, Birmingham" (an exact location where her dead body was discovered following her drug prescriptions with an excessive amount of alcohol consumed as the ultimate consequence of her mental health struggle, which stemmed from the adverse effect of her workplace toxicity).

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GENERAL OVERVIEW OF OCD (CHAPTER 1)

EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY 1: "Tom worried about being responsible for bad things that could happen. He worried about leaving the stove on which could cause a fire, or hitting someone with his car. He spent all day repeatedly checking every action he did just to ensure that he hadn‘t done something wrong or harmful. Besides, he would circle back in his car to check if he had hit someone and rechecked his locks over and over again at home to make him feel a sense of reassurance that the doors were locked. Eventually, he decided to avoid using his oven fearing that he might forget to turn it off".

EXAMPLE OF CASE STUDY 2: "Gigi had an obsession of causing harm to others through some unintentional act. She worried that she might end up hurting someone with her sloppy or offensive words and would cause the person (him or her) to feel solemnly upset. Or, she was anxious that she might have forgotten to put off a cigarette that would burn her entire house which could wipe out the whole of her neighbourhood. As a result, this had caused her to check things more than once before she left her house and most likely would return to her house again to make sure everything was fine".

Okay, you have seen those two different case studies illustrated. So, what do you think it is? I mean what exactly the kind of mental health issue that those two people had in common? In case if you have never heard of this mental health issue so-called "OCD", this is something that those two individuals possessed in common. Yes, it is the type of intrusive thoughts and repetitive behaviours which relentlessly loomed over their mind; causing them to feel an extreme degree of anxiety to redo the actions over and over.

To kick start with the above subject, "OCD – Obsessive Compulsive Disorder" is an anxiety disorder characterized by repeated unwanted thoughts (obsessions) and repetitive behaviours (compulsions), which are difficult to control. As you probably notice, there are two key words contained in the sickness name – Obsessive and Compulsive. So, the key features lies within OCD are obsessions (being obsessive) and compulsions (being compulsive). Perhaps, most people can have both, yet, for some others — it may not be the case as in they probably have only one or the other.

Obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) is a common anxiety disorder where up to 750 000 people (12 out of every 1000) in the UK are impacted regardless of age, gender, or cultural background. What’s more, it is believed that up to 25% of cases remain undiagnosed by the age of 30. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a severe and debilitating mental illness which affects roughly around two per cent of population.

As this mental illness does exist across the world and it even affects women at a slightly higher rate than men in adulthood, its symptoms normally begin in a gradual state and about a quarter of people with OCD start to develop the disorder in their early adolescence.

Furthermore, OCD is not a personality quirk or character trait. The fact that everyone has their own intrusive thoughts, some studies have shown that there is no difference between OCD sufferers and other people in the types of random thoughts they possess, nor is there any difference in the frequency for which these random intrusions tend to occur in the first place. However, there is a fundamental difference in the way that OCD sufferers respond to their thinking and misinterpret their intrusions, and it is exactly this pattern of misunderstanding that inevitably leads to the thoughts of becoming stuck and very disturbing.

Obsessions are thoughts, images, or urges. They can feel intrusive, repetitive, and distressing while Compulsions on the other hand are "repetitive behaviours" which a person does to relieve the distress they feel because of the obsessions. When a person is preoccupied with these thoughts and is unable to control the thoughts, get rid of them or even ignore them, they may be regarded as obsessions.

For the record, obsessions are usually unrealistic and do not make any sense. As they often do not fit with one’s personality, they can be unacceptable or can be felt disgusted to the person who has them.

Last but not least, obsessions in general cause distress, and they are usually in the form of anxiety. People with obsessive thoughts, in some cases, will often try to reduce the amount of their distress by acting out certain behaviours, known as "rituals" or the so-called compulsions. While most people have preferred ways of doing certain things (e.g. a morning coffee routine, arranging items on a desk), people with OCD feel the sense of urgency that they "must" perform their compulsions (behaviours) and find it nearly impossible to cease.

Sometimes, people with OCD are fully aware of the fact that their compulsion is senseless. However, he or she feels helpless to stop doing it and may need to repeat the compulsion over and over again which is why it is described as a ritual.

Some common examples of the so-called rituals (compulsions) include excessive washing and checking things, or counting, repeating certain words, praying, etc. While compulsions often help relieve distress in the short-term, however, they do not seem to be handful in the long- term. As a person with OCD gets used to doing the same thing over and over, the rituals become less helpful at reducing his or her anxiety. And, in order to make them more effective, the person may perform the rituals more frequently or even for a longer period of time.

Hence, this is the reason why people with OCD can appear to be "stuck" doing the same thing excessively. In any case, those who struggle with OCD may find themselves feeling isolated and misunderstood as if they are trapped somewhere in a sand dune.

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TRIGGERING FACTORS AND COMMON SYMPTOMS OF OCD (CHAPTER 2)

Before delving into discussing what are the common symptoms and triggering factors of OCD, let’s have a look at the diagram below in order to better identify how OCD can persistently manifest in people who suffer from it.

As you can see from the above diagram, obsessions often take the repetitive form, persistent ideas, thoughts, images, or impulses that are experienced as distressing. Generally, people attempt to resist thinking of the obsession and get rid of the thoughts. However, as people strive to resist, the intrusion persists. Compulsions, on the other hand, are repeated patterns of behaviours or actions used to reduce anxiety and prevent an outcome following a strong urge or pressure to do so (they are sometimes known as neutralising). This is because people with OCD, in general, often feel deceived into believing that compulsive behaviours can affect or "fix" the issues. Although they are rarely related to outcomes and have no impact, however, the risk of merely not performing them is too great. In short, OCD is a mental health adversity in which intrusive thoughts are misrepresented as warning signals and such misrepresentation can cause anxiety to a person who may try to avoid or neutralise them by engaging themselves in their obsessive behaviours.

TRIGGERING FACTORS OF OCD

Obviously, there are a number of different ideas which may all have some contribution to make in understanding the problems of OCD. Despite considerable research into the possible causes of OCD, however, no clear answer has emerged. As with most psychiatric conditions, different factors may be involved. Whatever it is, the most we can say at present is that OCD appears to be caused by a combination of psychological and biological factors.

1. Genetic Factors

Sadly, OCD often seems to run in families. In fact, almost half of all cases show a familial pattern. Research studies on families of people with OCD, as well as data from national health registries indicate that first-, second-, and third-degree relatives of people with OCD possess a greater chance of developing the illness compared to someone with no family history of the disorder. Additionally, when a medical disorder runs in families, it can be due either to genes that are passed on (hereditary) or to shared environment (taught by one family member to another). In the case of people with OCD, for instance, it is believed that genetic factors play a key role in the tendency to cultivate obsessions and compulsions. The evidence for this belief derives from twin studies, which show that if one twin has OCD, the other twin is far more likely to develop the disorder if they are 100% identical twins than if they are fraternal twins who share about 50 per cent of genetics.

2. Behavioural Theory

The behavioural theory suggests that people with OCD associate themselves certain objects or situations with fear, and learn to avoid the things that they are afraid of to perform rituals which may help reduce the fear. This pattern of fear and avoidance or ritual, in fact, may begin when people are under periods of high emotional stress, such as starting a new job or ending a relationship. At such times, we are more vulnerable to fear and anxiety.

Often, when things are regarded as "neutral", people may begin to bring on their feelings of fear. For example, a person who has always been able to use public toilets may, when they are under stress, make a connection between the toilet seat and a fear of catching an illness. Needless to say, once a connection between an object and the feeling of fear becomes established, people with OCD avoid the things they fear, rather than confronting or tolerating the fear.

So, that is one example to illustrate the behavioural theory. Another example could be of a person who fears catching an illness from public toilets will avoid using them. When forced to use a public toilet, he or she will perform elaborate cleaning rituals, such as cleaning the toilet seat, cleaning the door handles or following a detailed washing procedure. Because these actions temporarily reduce the level of fear, something that the person is afraid of will never be challenged and dealt with, and the behaviour is ultimately reinforced. In any case, the association of their so-called "fear" may spread to other objects, such as public sinks and showers.

3. Biochemical Factors

In the biochemical factors, the theories assume that there is some chemical imbalance or other irregularity in the brain of OCD sufferers that is associated with their disorder. Research in this area is relatively new and still has a long way to go before anything certain can be concluded. However, there is a more consistent body of evidence which has identified a particular brain chemical called Serotonin, which may be related to OCD problems.

There is also evidence which argues that there could be an abnormality in the transmission of information via some serotonin neuronal pathways. The precise nature of this problem is unclear. However, some patients with OCD respond to medication that increases the Serotonin available within the brain. There are many people with obsessional problems identify a relationship between their mood and their obsessions. Feeling stressed, low or exhausted can often be associated with a worsening of symptoms. For example, women often find their OCD problems are worse just before menstruation and they may report an increased difficulty at resisting their compulsive behaviours.

Meanwhile, some research proposes that there is a direct association between swings in mood and the development of obsessions. This theory suggests that whenever our mood changes dramatically, we become more susceptible to developing obsessional problems. Perhaps, a good example of this is the behaviour of some students at examination time. The usual response to exams is a change in mood towards becoming more anxious. This is similar to the situation in which we can develop unusual behaviours, such as becoming more particular about our routines or the things that we eat, or we desire to have a lucky charm with us during the examination, etc. Although these behaviours in most of us do not amount to clinical problems, however, they do suggest that mood may have an essential part to play in developing and maintaining OCD which is closely linked to the brain functioning.

4. Cognitive Theory

The cognitive theory focuses on how people with ocd misinterpret their thoughts. Most people have intrusive or uninvited thoughts similar to those reported by people with OCD. For example, parents under stress from caring for an infant may have an intrusive thought of harming the infant. While most people would be able to shrug off such a disturbing thought, individuals who are prone to developing OCD might exaggerate the importance of their thoughts and respond as if they represent an actual threat.

Moreover, people who come to fear their own thoughts usually attempt to neutralize feelings that arise from their thoughts. One way they do this is by avoiding situations that might spark such thoughts. In the cognitive theory, it is suggested that as long as people interpret intrusive thoughts as catastrophic, and as long as they continue to believe that such thinking holds the truth, they will continue to feel distressed and practice avoidance or ritual behaviours. What’s more, people who attach exaggerated danger to their thoughts are very much inclined to do so because of the false beliefs learned earlier in their life. At this point, researchers perceive the following beliefs may appear to be important in the development and maintenance of such obsessions as "exaggerated responsibility" or the belief that one is responsible for preventing misfortune or harm to others.

COMMON SYMPTOMS OF OCD

People with OCD often experience feelings of intense shame about their need to carry out these compulsions. These feelings of shame, in fact, can exacerbate the problem further. Shame and the consequent secrecy associated with OCD, often times, lead to a delay in diagnosis and treatment. Besides, it can also result in social disability (e.g. children failing to attend school or adults becoming housebound). That being said, a person may have OCD if he or she:

1. Has recurrent, persistent and unwanted thoughts, impulses or images (obsessions) that cause distress, as these are not just excessive worries about daily life.

2. Performs repetitive, often seemingly purposeful, ritualistic behaviours (compulsions) in order to reduce distress or neutralise the thoughts.

Additionally, obsessions whether they are thoughts, ideas or images and compulsions share the following features:

a. Repetitive and unpleasant with at least one obsession or compulsion recognised as excessive or unreasonable.

b. Persisting symptoms for at least one hour a day or significantly interfering with normal functioning.

c. Although the person tries to resist them, however, at least one obsession or compulsion is not resisted.

d. The obsessions or compulsions cause distress or interfere with the person’s day-to-day functioning (e.g. work, social life, school, and so forth).

e. The person considers that the obsessions and compulsions do not occur exclusively within an episode of depression.

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OCD AND CLINICAL DEPRESSION (CHAPTER 3)

The fact that most people go through periods of distress at certain times is inevitable. For example, when you are depressed, you feel persistently upset for weeks or even months rather than just for a couple of days. Perhaps, some people tend to view depression as something trivial and not a genuine health condition that they take for granted. This is actually wrong because first of all, it is a real illness with real symptoms which is clearly not a sign of weakness or something you can snap out by pulling yourself together.

Second of all, depression affects people in many different ways and can cause a wide variety of symptoms. What’s more, there can be physical symptoms too such as feeling constantly tired, bad sleeping pattern, having no appetite or desire, and various ache and pain. The symptoms of depression range from mild to severe. At its mildest, you may feel relentlessly demotivated or less energetic. While at its severe condition (clinical depression), it can make you feel overwhelmingly devastated and cause you to have suicidal thoughts perceiving or thinking that life is no longer worth living.

To begin with, most people experience feelings of stress, anxiety, or low mood during difficult times. Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is not merely one of the most common psychological disorders, but it is also among the most personally distressing and debilitating. OCD, in addition, can be devastating to interpersonal relationships, leisure activities, school or work life, and to self-satisfaction. And not surprisingly, OCD is commonly associated with depression. Bottom line, OCD is a depressing problem and it might be easy to understand how one could develop clinical depression when your daily life consists of intrusive thoughts and urges to engage in senseless and excessive pattern of behaviours (rituals).

Next, people often have OCD and depression at the same time. Both OCD and major depressive disorder including clinical depression are classified as common mental health disorders which affect millions of Americans each year. For example, people who have OCD are more likely to develop other forms of mental illness and depression is no exception. According to International OCD Foundation (IOCDF), it is estimated that around 25% to 50% of people with OCD in United States meet the diagnostic criteria for a major depressive episode.

Most people experience the symptoms of OCD first. However, for a small percentage, the two conditions may begin at the same time. OCD is not necessarily part of depression since it is rare for depression symptoms to precede OCD. Because depression often begins after OCD symptoms develop, many researchers conclude that the difficulties of living with OCD can lead to depression symptoms. For this reason, the very nature of repetitive, unwanted, and upsetting thoughts is more than sufficient to inflict the amount of shock, fear, and eventually depression.

Meanwhile, people with depression often ruminate about past mistakes and perceived failures. In 2018 studies, for example, ruminating (thinking the same worrisome, depressing, or negative thoughts over and over) is the key contributor to depression and OCD. Similarly, in a 2017 study, researchers found that having anxious and depressing thoughts was common in people with these two disorders.

OCD and depression can adversely impact your ability to function in a healthy manner. For instance, obsessions affect your state of mind while compulsions can interfere with your schedules. When your relationships, social life, and job performance in school or workplace are affected, you may begin to experience symptoms of depression which can be undoubtedly overwhelming and difficult to manage. After all, the more severe obsessions and compulsions are, the more they impact your daily functioning significantly which can deteriorate the level of your productivity and worsen your depression symptoms.

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SURROUNDING MYTHS OF OCD (CHAPTER 4)

In theory, Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is the name given to a recognised condition that causes someone to become stuck in a cycle of distressing obsessions and compulsions. It is a very debilitating and often misunderstood condition, so much so that many people with OCD hide it for years or decades. Although it is estimated roughly around 1 or 2% of the population suffer from the illness, however, the good news is that OCD is a treatable condition both with therapy and medication available, which can ultimately help people who suffer from the disease through a series of recovery process.

FACTS VS MYTHS

#1 – LIFE TRAGEDY

a. Myth: Poor parenting or difficult childhood experiences such as a divorce or bullying cause OCD/anxiety.

b. Fact: People with OCD, their families and their loved ones do no cause OCD. Although a specific event or set of circumstances might have contributed to how and when the OCD symptoms started, however, they are not bound to the fact that they did. In fact, the most important thing loved ones can do is not to worry about whether they are the reasons to blame, but rather than to support the person with where they are in their journey to better understanding and recovery.

#2 – CHILDREN ARE NOT PRONE TO THE ILLNESS

a. Myth: OCD is rare in children and therefore are not required to be diagnosed.

b. Fact: OCD can affect all groups of ages. According to the NICE guidelines, it is reported that at least half of adults who receive help for OCD having it since they were little. In most of these cases, they did not have the courage to tell anyone because they were ashamed of it, or they already asked for help but did not receive it.

#3 – A SENSE OF INDULGEMENT

a. Myth: People with OCD enjoy their own rules and compulsions.

b. Fact: Obsessions revolve around intrusive thoughts which go against their values, desires, and beliefs. And the psychological terminology for this is "ego-dystonic". As we know, the OCD cycle is driven by anxieties and doubts, and could not work as they do even if intrusive thoughts were looming over one’s mind.

#4 – OCD IS A TRIVIAL MENTAL DISORDER

a. Myth: For many people, OCD is perceived as something insignificant and is not a big deal to worry about it too much.

b. Fact: Having OCD is not simply an overreaction to the stresses of life. While stressful situations can make things worse, they do not cause OCD. Often, people with OCD confront their severe and debilitating anxiety over any number of things, called "obsessions". As a result, this level of extreme worry and fear can be so overwhelming that it gets in the way of their ability to function. In order to try to overcome the amount of severe anxiety, people with OCD use "compulsions" or rituals, which are specific repetitive actions or behaviours. Bottom line, OCD is not a disease which can be sorted by using logic. It is about an extreme degree of anxiety and trying to get relief for that amount of anxiety.

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