OCD Article in the Sun

[Ashley]

This article was published in the Sun today (thanks to Legend for pointing it out).

OCD makes me clean spokes of my baby’s pram with toothbrush
Obsessive compulsive disorder on the rise

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/woman/health/health/4840606/OCD-makes-me-clean-spokes-of-my-babys-pram-with-toothbrush.html

The pictures are the usual trivialising farce of posed pictures.

Now compare the article with the original media requests that came through (not to us, but to an agency). I believe these people all work together writing for the Sun.

I'm urgently after an expert to comment on why OCD is becoming more common now - hopefully quoting any stats, some science linking into modern lifestyles etc

I replied with the following

Dear Matt,

OCD is not more common, in fact research in recent years actually went from suggesting 2-3% of people will suffer with OCD to 1.2%. What is increasing is awareness about OCD, allowing people to be more open in talking about it and more people claiming to be a 'bit OCD' when in fact they don't have OCD.

I have yet to see any stats which suggest OCD is becoming more common.

Regards,
Ashley Fulwood
OCD-UK

And then also the following request was sent via an agency

I'm looking for women who have suffered from OCD after giving birth to speak about how it affected them.

It comes as research has revealed one in ten women now suffer from OCD after giving birth, new research suggests.

Experts believe the mental disorder is as common in new mums as postnatal depression. Scientists at Northwestern University, in Illinois, said the symptoms are often focused on the baby and can include worries about accidental injury.

I'd like to speak to women who have presented these symptoms to speak openly about them. They will need to provide pictures of themselves with their baby and be happy to be photographed (with professional hair and make-up if desired). I can also pay £200 to anyone used.

I had spoken someone else involved in the same Sun piece, but I did reply to the email with:

But does the study actually show if those people already had OCD? Please be sure to get this story right so not to cause a panic.

The actual study clearly states the mothers responding only said they had traits, were not clinically assessed for OCD. Not sure the Sun makes that clear.

[Guest legend]

what really disappointed me further was there was no mention of cbt , but a free advert for a method that you have to pay for, which i believe

isnt a reccomended treatment for ocd , and those that think it is, will pay for something that isnt going to work.

Poor press article. very .

[Biccy]

I'm disappointed that they haven't mentioned CBT seeing something like the Lindon method that charges and people don't have that kind of cash and may not realise the help you can get on NHS which is free.

[Guest Elle Belle]

All the inaccurate press OCD is receiving makes me seriously regret disclosing it in the past to friends/people at work. I'd rather nobody knew I had it than thought any of the utter rubbish related to me.

[Northern Star]

Unfortunately the Sun lives up to its reputation of being a rag looking for sensationalist headlines, complete with pictures of course. I haven't even read the article but from the quotations above I don't need to. Disgraceful "journalists" looking for a cheap headline.

Makes me sad. And angry.

Tomorrow I am meeting with ITV; from the communications I've had so far they will be a world away from OC Cleaners and the like. Here's hoping

[Ashley]

Unfortunately the Sun lives up to its reputation of being a rag looking for sensationalist headlines, complete with pictures of course. I haven't even read the article but from the quotations above I don't need to. Disgraceful "journalists" looking for a cheap headline.

It's a shame, and it's actually quite strange, because the Sun Health pages normally do a pretty good look at OCD surprisingly, this time they got it badly wrong. I think with this, they had an 'agenda' for what they wanted to write, and so made the article fit with their 'agenda'.

[Lawrie]

How ridiculous are those photographs. I know what I would tell the person to do with their feather duster if they asked me to pose in such a way. The celeb comments really irritate.

[Guest sarah1984]

Aagh, those celeb quotations are particularly infuriating. I notice that Charles Linden himself has commented on the article:

The link to my website is actually thelindenmethod.co.uk and not to a psychologist in California! Wes Hosey was recovered in a couple of weeks, not years as the piece above suggests. OCD like all anxiety conditions, is quickly curable. Our Retreats and Home Learning program have been developed over 15 years helping over 150,000 people from around the world to recover... This isn't exposure therapy, this is what reaches the core of the issue in the subconscious mind!

The core of the issue in the subconscious mind? Does this guy know anything about OCD? Complete recovery from OCD in a couple of weeks - give me a break! I've read about his retreats in a newspaper supplement - he charges several thousand pounds for one weekend. It makes me very angry that a professed former anxiety disorder sufferer has made himself a millionaire by exploiting vulnerable people.

[Guest orange socks]

never mind the ocd article ....watch the ed sheeran link where he falls flat on his face on stage - bless him

like his music

i havent read the article - but i have done a few stories for the sun in the past - have to be honest .

interestingly a few years ago i was offered free treatment by the linden method guys following them seeing me on a tv show - they offered me the complete course free but i declined for various reasons ...but then i refused maudsley intensive treatment too for the same reasons

anyway forgive my waffeling post .......watch the ed sheeran video

Edited March 15, 2013 by orange socks

[jennielouises]

All the inaccurate press OCD is receiving makes me seriously regret disclosing it in the past to friends/people at work. I'd rather nobody knew I had it than thought any of the utter rubbish related to me.

This sort of press is exactly the reason why I feel I can't tell me friends and work colleagues about it. Many of my friends from childhood know and my extended family know but I just pretend they don't. My newer friends and the people I work with don't because articles like this and programmes like Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners make people think that they are 'a little bit ocd' because they like to keep their desk tidy!! One of my friends/colleagues has twice made a 'joke' to me that I must have OCD because I wouldn't touch the door handle of the toilet door in the pub and I wouldn't pick up a nasty greasy bag (though I never said I wouldn't, she just announced to another colleague that I wouldn't pick it up because I have ocd!). These sorts of things make people think OCD is something to joke about. If she caught me running to the bathroom after every meal do you think she would joke that I was anorexic? I think not. Why should OCD be any different when it is just as bad!

[Guest orange socks]

This sort of press is exactly the reason why I feel I can't tell me friends and work colleagues about it. Many of my friends from childhood know and my extended family know but I just pretend they don't. My newer friends and the people I work with don't because articles like this and programmes like Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners make people think that they are 'a little bit ocd' because they like to keep their desk tidy!! One of my friends/colleagues has twice made a 'joke' to me that I must have OCD because I wouldn't touch the door handle of the toilet door in the pub and I wouldn't pick up a nasty greasy bag (though I never said I wouldn't, she just announced to another colleague that I wouldn't pick it up because I have ocd!). These sorts of things make people think OCD is something to joke about. If she caught me running to the bathroom after every meal do you think she would joke that I was anorexic? I think not. Why should OCD be any different when it is just as bad!

i just dont understand posts like this .....and forgive me jennielouises i really dont mean to be rude, but hunny if you do want to share with your friends and family just tell them that your ocd so MUCH MUCH more severe and serious and that the article is an inacurate portrayal of how severe ocd can be and what ocd really is

simples - or am i missing something ?

hunny i dont mean to be rude - i know its hard to share - but if you tell them the article is a lot of trash and tell them what its really like - then .....you've educated them - the article can only do harm and damage if you allow it to - over ride it - tell your folks , work colleagues what its really like - its that simple

i wish you well love x

Edited March 17, 2013 by orange socks

[Guest orange socks]

just have to add - everyone knows i have ocd - no one has EVER EVER laughed at me , called me an idiot, thought i was weak, thought i was stupid, thought i was making it up. not taken me seriously - so what is everyone so afraid of with not sharing if they want to share ?

if people do laugh behind my back thats says more about them than it ever says about me

people have a right to keep their ocd to themselves - but IF they do want to share , i urge people to not be so afriad cause you just might get a positive response back

dont lets allow media articles etc make us afriad of sharing whats going on for us - dont lets us use it as an excuse to be afraid .

every single person i have EVER shared with about my ocd knows someone else with it or has it themselves - or at least tries to understand it - stand up guys - dont be scared - together we can change our little part of the world if we're brave enough

how else will the truth about this crappy illness get out there ?

if we dont share - who will

[Guest legend]

The truth of the matter, is that articles like this and programmes like plopcleaners are simply giving the impression that ocd is a quirk/happy/etc.

So perhaps you know its trash hayley. and others do, but for those that dont know, will and still continue to see ocd as light hearted illness

The SOONER it stops the better.

[Guest orange socks]

to be honest i havent read the articles or seen the programmes - but i'm sad that they have upset you guys

personally i am in the very tiny minority that still thinks that even negative publicity can serve as a springboard to something positive (ie correct media representation) ...... so it still has a positive side to it

i said in my other post re the cleaning programme that i got 2 media interviews as a direct result off the back of the cleaning programme , so whilst that may have been a bad programme??? at least a couple of interviews were given on what ocd really is , that wouldnt have happened otherwise.

maybe i'm just a positive thinker

i realise my thinking is different to everyone elses on these subjects

so i'll duck out of the thread to stop us going round in circles again and again and again

back to london marathon training - hope to see ocduk on the bridge again this year

[Guest legend]

its good that you see positives from negatives hayley. but sadly , and yes i do think like you, this type of negativity can have huge damaging effects

If we want to be taken seriously then the press and tv have to get it right, everytime.

Awareness is great, thats if its implemented correctlty.

you wouldnt expect any paper or tv production to miscontrue any other disabilty would we.

xlegendx

[Guest regainyourself]

OCD ISN'T JUST ABOUT CLEANING. WHEN WILL PEOPLE REALISE ALL THAT IS ATTACHED TO THE DISORDER!?

gah, it's so frustrating.

i guess that's The Sun for you...

[Ashley]

OCD ISN'T JUST ABOUT CLEANING. WHEN WILL PEOPLE REALISE ALL THAT IS ATTACHED TO THE DISORDER!?

It isn't, but the OCD community must also accept that contamination OCD is part of OCD and devastating and equally can be soul destroying too, so there must also be stories on this aspect of OCD, in addition to stories about other aspects of OCD.

My biggest argument is that stories about OCD, any form, must be more accurately reported. For example the failure in this article is the pictures, they don't show anxiety or distress that we know OCD brings, it trivialises any serious comments in the actual text (not that there was much). Contamination stories usually show a pair of lovely beautiful hands being washed, rather than the red, chapped and sometimes bloody hands that people with contamination OCD have. So we need more accurate reporting that covers all forms of OCD, including contamination OCD.

[Lawrie]

With all due respect Hayley, you need to look beyond your world and your own experiences.

Negative publicity is never and will never be an acceptable route to education. Yes, so you've had media interviews out of it. Great. But that doesn't compensate for the one person it has stopped from seeking treatment, the one person who now doesn't feel able to speak to their loved ones about it or the one person that took their own life for fear of being judged. It is never acceptable to misrepresent any illness be it physical or mental. It is simply discrimination.

[jennielouises]

Orange soaks just because people have accepted yours doesn't mean it is the same for all. I have had people laugh at me because of OCD, people have changed their opinions of me and stopped talking to me, I have lost a boyfriend thru it, I had an employer watch me everytime I went to the toilet ad count how many times I went and how long I spent it there, it has held me back at work, had them treating me differently and questioning why I am washing my hands after touching something that would make a non OCD person want to wash their hands. I have lost friends because of it, lost boyfriends, had rumours go around my college about me and I got asked if I had ADHD! People tell me 'oh I have that too' or ' I was like that. You will grow out of it' or 'things will change when you have children'. I have never once had a good experience of telling someone I have OCD so that is why press like this has a negative effect on me. If it explained more about what OCD really was and didn't make it out like we are in a Victorian freak show then I could tell people.

[Guest orange socks]

With all due respect Hayley, you need to look beyond your world and your own experiences.

Negative publicity is never and will never be an acceptable route to education. Yes, so you've had media interviews out of it. Great. But that doesn't compensate for the one person it has stopped from seeking treatment, the one person who now doesn't feel able to speak to their loved ones about it or the one person that took their own life for fear of being judged. It is never acceptable to misrepresent any illness be it physical or mental. It is simply discrimination.

its always good for all of us to look beyond our own experiences

i totally agree with you hun - absolutely

i didnt make the negative publicity happen - it upsets me that peoples lives are made harder because of it ........

i was just trying to think positive - but at no point did i mean to indicate that it was good that it happened - i was just trying to pull some good out of a bad situation

sorry if i came across all wrong - blooming internet - if i had of said my post face to face instead of typed it my true meaning would have hopefully come across compassionately

[Guest orange socks]

Orange soaks just because people have accepted yours doesn't mean it is the same for all. I have had people laugh at me because of OCD, people have changed their opinions of me and stopped talking to me, I have lost a boyfriend thru it, I had an employer watch me everytime I went to the toilet ad count how many times I went and how long I spent it there, it has held me back at work, had them treating me differently and questioning why I am washing my hands after touching something that would make a non OCD person want to wash their hands. I have lost friends because of it, lost boyfriends, had rumours go around my college about me and I got asked if I had ADHD! People tell me 'oh I have that too' or ' I was like that. You will grow out of it' or 'things will change when you have children'. I have never once had a good experience of telling someone I have OCD so that is why press like this has a negative effect on me. If it explained more about what OCD really was and didn't make it out like we are in a Victorian freak show then I could tell people.

i'm really sorry hun

it makes me sad to hear of your experiences - really really sad

- for what its worth i have paid a heavy price for my ocd - i now have only half of my heart working as i had a massive heart attack as a direct result of ocd - i have been told that the damage is so bad that i could die at any time and the heart will never repair

- i have also lost jobs through ocd and not worked for 12 years

- i have not many friends left to loose because the ocd has isolated me so much that i can go weeks without seeing another living person to touch except for 2 family members

i am waiting for an operation to rule out uterus cancer but its so risky putting me under anaestetic due to my heart that they just dont know what to do with me

so i know the price we pay for ocd - and the price is too high

its so sad that we all have to carry this ****

i said before in my post though, hunny if people laugh at us that says more about them than it ever says about us ...... we dont need people like that in our lives - the people worth it will stay and try their best to understand

i am sorry that you feel the pressures mmate of living with this - and if i could bear the burden for you i would

i wish you well love xx

[Ashley]

The Sun article is what I consider one awful example of journalism about OCD. On Saturday my local newspaper back home, the Derby Evening Telegraph published one of the better OCD features I have read in many a long time, although this is partly through the bravery of Sarah and the reporter Wendy who dealt with it carefully. Sarah took a long time to ponder if opening up was right for her, and even Saturday she was unsure, but the supportive messages she has received since have really helped her feel comfortable with her decision.

http://www.thisisderbyshire.co.uk/OCD-tidy-mental-illness-makes-think-suicide-way/story-18433737-detail/story.html#axzz2NeYsvFVK

I think another article is being written for another publication which I think should be good too, or at least the person writing it understands OCD.

[whitebeam]

Well done, Sarah :original: - it's a good article and will hopefully help dispel myths and so on.

[Ashley]

I too liked it Penny, I have been given permission to add it to our website.

http://www.ocduk.org/sarah-harrington-derby-evening-telegraph

[Mel1971]

Fantastic article, well done

i am a non sufferer but i am sick to death of the way some of the media portrays ocd. I look at my daughter who didnt ask for ocd, didnt want ocd, and although doing really well is still prone to over worrying/anxious times, and i think how dare the media add to the misconceptions that others have (and cause more upset for sufferers), by feeding them utter nonsense!

Hayley,, i am so glad youve had a positive reaction to telling people about your ocd, unfortunately ive had problems telling some people, my family refuse to talk about it - even though my mum (who adores her granddaughter) used to drive lorna and me to cbt in another town every week for over a year, she never asked how it went or what happened. We have had some friends distance themselves but thats no loss theyre not worth it!

Ash - I also agree that even though sufferers get annoyed because contamination is usually the ocd featured, contamination ocd is still really badly percieved by people and that does needs addressing.

Edited March 20, 2013 by Mel1971