OCD in Fyne Times magazine

[Tez]

Dear All

This is a fantastic idea for a new addition to the OCD-UK forums. I have a letter I have drafted which I would like to share. (Yes, I have been sad enough to be doing some "OCD Activism" on Christmas Day!). It is to the usually excellent lesbian and gay community magazine Fyne Times, which covers the South of England and which published a New Years article confusing desk tidiness in the office with clinical OCD.

"Dear Jill and Staff at Fyne Times

Once again, congratulations on another campaigning and informative issue. Your feature on office tidiness for the New Year was amusing, but the description of people with tidy desks as having OCD was slightly misleading! Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is a distressing mental illness which can at its most extreme be very debilitating. However, there is good news for sufferers from our communities. An LGB (lesbian, gay and bisexual) OCD group has been created in collaboration between the charity OCD Action and the lesbian, gay, bisexual well-being centre Kairos in Soho. Details are available by emailing gay_ocd@yahoo.co.uk.

All the major OCD charities in the UK are fully committed to equality and diversity. Further information on their work with people living with OCD as well as general information on the illness is online at their respective homepages - www.ocduk.org - www.ocdaction.org.

With very best wishes for a trule "fyne" 2008...."

That's my bit of media work for now. I am confident that the magazine will publish it as Fyne Times is a very ethical publisher and well into charity and grass roots work.

I would also like to offer to Ashley and the OCD-UK administrative staff the opportunity to get some free promotion. A close friend of mine presents a regular programme on BCFM, which is the only legal community radio station currently broadcasting in Bristol (transmitting at 93.2 FM in the city and online) He is hoping to do a few guest shows for 2008 with my assistance, with guest people involved in all sorts of projects. For example, he is hoping to do an interview with a former engineer from the famous pop pirate radio ship Radio Caroline, and a review of the year with guests from the St Paul's African-Caribbean Community Carnival and Terrence Higgins Trust. If any people from OCD-UK are interested in having a chat about their work and playing some records, then do message me, and I can put you in touch.

Best wishes

Tez