Ashley

I'm sorry that you feel misled seekingERPnorthwest. I wasn't involved in any way shape or form with the programme, I only knew about it a week before but I know Paul well, so I feel I can say that I don't believe he or Nadiya would purposely intend to mislead. I truly believe both were honestly involved with good intentions, to help explore anxiety and how people can be helped. I believe the programme did that, which can only be a positive for many people suffering in silence. The fact is, patients can be referred to the Oxford clinic now, so that part is not misleading at all, although I accept the programme did make the route clear, but I don't believe it was a deliberate mislead or fake or sham. But I accept that is your belief and I am sorry you feel that.

Actually I would dispute that part. Many, many people with OCD go to great lengths, including inflicting pain on themselves in order not to inflect OCD on others.

OCD-UK is delighted to announce its success in securing a National Lottery Community Fund grant of almost £113,000 to develop a much needed OCD educational support for parents of children that suffer with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. The project, which we have called 'OCD ‘PEP’ Talk', ultimate objective is to improve the quality of life of children (aged 5-18) suffering with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and their families, through the education, support and empowerment of parents. PEP Talk (Parents Education Project) will create, design and deliver: Freely accessible OCD educational courses for parents of children with OCD across the East Midlands A library of online video resources for parents to address the top 50 frequently asked questions about OCD and treatment Additional online self-help resources for parents Regular webinar's offering practical support and advice for parents Presentations at our annual conference, specifically for parents of children with OCD Read more on the OCD-UK website - https://www.ocduk.org/pep-talk-funding/

SEN is partly right. My understanding is technically (see note below) patient choice only applies to the same level of treatment level you have been referred for. i.e. You are referred to IAPT, your right to choose can only apply to an IAPT service, you can not step yourself up to secondary care. The same with secondary care, if I am referred to secondary care here in Derbyshire, I would implement my right to choose for the secondary care in Nottingham which I know is better. But I can not use right to choose to step myself up from secondary care to Oxford. But, because the CADAT / SLaM clinic have their own IAPT and secondary care teams, that's how I managed to get a patient choice referral to CADAT. However the Oxford clinic is a tertiary care service only, so unless you are referred by a local NHS service to a tertiary care team, you couldn't implement 'right to choose' to Oxford. So for example a simple GP referral to Oxford wouldn't count, unless it could be shown you have exhausted all other local options and mental health staff agreed it was the next option, but at that point, the chances are the CCG would agree and fund it anyway. NOTE: But, not all NHS bodies fully understand 'right to choose' for mental health, so I have seen some people try their luck and ask the GP to implement right to choose even though technically they are not eligible to do so and it's been approved by a local CCG. Always worth a try

There's been quite a few CCG referrals from across the country already apparently, but waiting time is still non existent at the moment. So funded referrals should be seen more or less within couple of weeks.

I have spoken to Paul about this. If I am understanding correctly, initially the BBC approached Prof Salkovskis last year, long before the new Oxford clinic was confirmed and they wanted him to work with Nadiya privately, which of course Paul doesn't do. Paul believed in the project to raise awareness, so agreed to see Nadiya and be filmed in his own time, provided the referral went through a NHS route. I am not sure if the CCG were actually charged as the clinic didn't exist when the filming took part. Paul didn't receive anything for taking part, other than a BBC supplied sandwich for lunch one day! Obviously I agree they should have made it clearer during the programme that the treatment route is not usually that easy or straight forward. However, I don't think that takes away from a very moving journey that Nadiya allowed to be filmed.

As part of my recovery from OCD I deliberately used the loo and didn't wash my hands for a few days, until I no longer had anxiety around the issue. I then had to go a step further and put my hand into toilet water, without washing my hands... this actually helped me achieve the first exercise too. Did I want to do it? No! Did I like doing that? No! But did I need to do it to overcome OCD? Yes! By doing these exercises, and accepting why I needed to do them I can now use a public loo. I still get anxious when using a public loo, but that anxiety lasts all of 30-60 seconds. These days I prefer to wash my hands after using a loo, but if there is no soap it's not the end of the world and I get on with my day.

Just catching up and I thought this post worth replying to clarify the point of the original post. It's literally meant just that. I am not a I don't mean frequency, we know frequency needs to cease, and good therapy will involve not showering for periods of time. But what this question was aimed at asking for people who have not spent years living in one extreme of showring/washing, when you have a shower what do you do.... So for example, do people just stand under water, do they rub soap over chest and arms or just put shampoo on head. So when I was making my breakthrough with OCD I asked that question, and received a range of responses. Those and subsequent responses made me realise there is no such thing as 'normal', but a range of views along a 'normal' spectrum is what the real world is about. Just to emphasise my point in the image above about how people without OCD live in a range of 'normal', I came across an article last week about if people wash their legs with soap when in the bath/shower. Some do, some don't! Of course bathing in bleach should cease, but when someone is plagued with aggressive OCD it's not as simple as saying it must cease immediately. We need to help the person change their belief around needing to clean, let alone with bleach. Over the years I have heard some horribly graphic stories and seen some equally horrific pictures of what people do to themselves because OCD makes them feel they must. Which is why I get so angry when OCD is covered in a documentary and someone claims 'Oh it's just contamination again'. People seem to forget the utter devastation it can cause at extremes. Sadly, to illustrate Orwell's point I recall reading a news story about a decade ago of a guy found dead. He was found with multiple empty bleach and cleaning product bottles open, windows all shut and it was assumed he suffocated himself. I think the point of the post was perhaps missed, and that may be my fault for not writing it more clearly. What I was trying to illustrate is not so much individual therapeutic exercises, but the purpose of going to extremes from OCD extreme to Anti-OCD extreme to be able to live relatively normally again. Every single form of OCD involves an extreme level of thinking/doing, which means there will be an anti-OCD extreme, and regardless of OCD type to get better we have to get to anti-OCD. Whilst taking ourselves to anti-OCD extreme is not easy, but can be built up to gradually, but ultimately it's what we must achieve if we want to live in a normal range of thinking and doing.... and live OCD free.

Taurean is right, statistics mean nothing. Firstly no idea where this stat came from but I would take with a pinch of salt. Plus, always remember what Paul says 'there are black swans out there'! What that means is, even if the odds of recovery are low, that does not mean you can't recover!!!! As for the stats about CBT.... remember there are different types of CBT, as in CBT with OCD expert and CBT with non OCD experts. So stats for CBT don't mean a great deal, yes chances of recovery with a non OCD expert could be lower, that actually doesn't mean that CBT can not help you, it just means you have to keep pushing for more, and maybe trying to access a better therapist. Please don't give up, your next course of treatment could lead you to become a black swan!

How the hell do you know they haven't? How dare you make such a suggestion. Please don't give up efes. Sometimes when people who access the best therapy don't make immediate recovery, myself included we have to go back over old therapy approaches and try again, sometimes using the same approach sometimes working with a different therapist using the same therapy but a slightly different approach. I know you may not want to hear this, but sometimes we do have to keep trying, and I know that is so, so hard at times.

None of which are overly helpful for people whose hoarding is because of obsessive reasons linked to Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder. In fact such shows really tend to focus on the extreme 'results' rather than the 'reasons'.

I am logged into the phones at the moment and will be until 4:30pm for anyone that wants to talk.

It was quite interesting and also highlighting to viewers just how debilitating minor things can be to someone with anxiety disorders. She talked a little about OCD tendencies which I picked up on (although OCD was not mentioned, I don't think it was OCD). Her face when Paul through the train trip on her, 'really?' she repeated, you could see the utter shock and horror in her face and the anxiety rising each time she asked 'really?'! Sweet watching that but also I felt for her at the same time.