OCD in the public eye

(I realise a lot of what I'm posting is related to BBC Three at the minute, but go figure, they're doing an amazing season of programs all about mental healthy stuff, what's a girl to do)
Watching the twitter trend #ExtremeOCDcamp - all about 6 young sufferers going away to America for an intensive therapy in helping battle their OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) - has been a heartwarming and encouraging experience tonight.
It seems that OCD, however well known the term may be, has long been incredibly misunderstood.
Think of how many times you've heard people saying they're 'a bit OCD' about something, and how often it's trivialised and you can see why awareness of such a disorder needs to be raised. Many people seemingly had the misconception that OCD was just liking things to be clean and tidy, when in reality the severity of the condition completely dominates the lives of those with it. From this perspective, OCD is probably one of the most commonly misunderstood mental health illnesses. Knowing people who suffer from OCD, I can say it's exhausting to constantly be performing rituals and obeying the compulsions that drive every aspect of your behaviour and utterly control your life.
Watching the guys featured on the show face their demons and slowly overcome their rituals and patterns was difficult, their frustrations and fears were so clear to see. I'm astounded by the bravery of all six of them for confronting something that is overwhelming for them, it got me quite emotional, perhaps because I can see stark similarities with the therapy I've had for my eating disorder and anxiety disorder to the treatment methods used on the programme to control compulsions, rituals and negative thoughts.
I thought that BBC Three did a brilliant job in highlighting how much OCD affects the lives of sufferers and portrayed the condition incredibly accurately and sensitively, there can be no doubt about the reality of OCD for anyone who watched this. I'm really looking forward to next week's episode. Big hugs to all those involved.
Another stigma-fighting tv programme to add to the list. Seeing the effects of awareness being raised before my eyes is always a good end to a day. Hopefully we'll get there in the end.

For more information on OCD clicky here please