Hotel OCD misuse and apology

[Guest OCD-UK RSS]

Over the weekend we were asked to intervene after concerns had been raised by our followers about misuse of OCD in a job advert by an hotel and wedding venue in Swansea. The venue were seeking staff with perfectionist traits, but of course confusing perfectionism with OCD which whilst a common error, does trivialise the impact OCD can cause. We did make contact with the hotel management who issued this apology and statement, and have asked us to share it.

We sincerely apologise for any upset we have caused. OCD is such an overused term in public discourse and is too often trivialised. We meant no harm and truly appreciate that in today’s politically correct society we should have been more conscious. In hindsight we did not understand the true meaning of the condition and how it deeply affects those who suffer. A positive from this judgement error is that we’ve raised awareness and hope others will follow suit and not mis-use the term in daily conversation. We have pulled all reference with immediate effect and a new advert will be released.

The advert in question was removed this afternoon, and we welcome the first line of apology from the establishment and will endeavour to work with them and other retailers to educate and ensure the devastating impact of OCD is not trivialised by misuse of the OCD term. For the purposes of full disclosure, the hotel have offered a donation to the charity, which we will accept and put towards printing of materials for this year's OCD Awareness Week (7-13th October).

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OCD in the media

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[Storm]

Seems like a pretty decent apology to be honest, I like the willing to educate themselves on the disorder. Great work from the charity here in getting the message across.

 

if I saw right, Khloe Kardashians Khlo-cd story on instagram has been taken down too. I think she received some backlash for it last week. 

[gingerbreadgirl]

This is a good move and it's nice they've apologised properly and showed some understanding.

Not overly keen on this part though:

2 hours ago, OCD-UK RSS said:

in today’s politically correct society we should have been more conscious.

Maybe just me but this sort of implies "it would have been fine before people started getting all oversensitive about these things". I dunno. I'm so used to seeing "politically correct" being used in a negative, jeering fashion. Maybe I am ironically just being oversensitive

[Gemma7]

I thought that too GBG. Glad they donated though

[Ashley]

Yeah, the reply was a little contradictory in tone. I genuinely feel no malice was intended, and they simply got in a muddle on how best to reply and were seeing lots of complaints on social media they cobbled that together a bit hastily. But removed, apologised, we move on..

[Avo]

I agree with GBG and Gemma I picked up on the politically correct element of the apology. Maybe that was a slight dig from them hidden amongst the otherwise well worded apology?. 

Anyway great work by the charity nice to get a donation too. 

[snowbear]

I didn't see the reference to a politically correct society as as dig (rather surprised so many people are reading that into it tbh).  

To me it read as a heartfelt apology, showing willingness to learn from the mistake.  

But - as with our OCD thoughts - it's the meaning each person applies which determines their feelings and reactions. (Sometimes I sound like a broken record even to my own ears. ) 

 

[Gemma7]

You made it on the BBC Ashley, well done

Great awareness! 

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-west-wales-43463065

[taurean]

Just spotted this myself as an item on the BBC news mobile feed

 

[gingerbreadgirl]

great awareness! and really good article

cue all the cries of "it's PC gone mad..."

[BelAnna]

4 hours ago, gingerbreadgirl said:

This is a good move and it's nice they've apologised properly and showed some understanding.

Not overly keen on this part though:

Maybe just me but this sort of implies "it would have been fine before people started getting all oversensitive about these things". I dunno. I'm so used to seeing "politically correct" being used in a negative, jeering fashion. Maybe I am ironically just being oversensitive

Yep, totally thought this too! I think that it actually undermines the rest of the apology but at least they did withdraw the descriptor from the job post. 

At the root of this is that fact that people do not realise or care that OCD is a debilitating illness that ruins lives... it's 'just OCD'.

Edited March 19, 2018 by BelAnna

[taurean]

But lots of good has come out of this. 

Greater awareness, a feature on the BBC news, a donation to the charity, and some publicity about the charity too. 

Therefore I personally am going to gloss over that part of the apology, though I do wish they hadn't included it. 

[lostinme]

Great awareness Ashley, well done 

[Ashley]

39 minutes ago, gingerbreadgirl said:

great awareness! and really good article

cue all the cries of "it's PC gone mad..."

Already had them on Twitter... and my favourite "I have OCD and I am not offended".  For the record I wasn't offended either, but that's not the point, the point is we have to stand up and challenge trivialisation and misuse of OCD, because every time we let one slide unchallenged, it breeds acceptability. 

[gingerbreadgirl]

Just now, Ashley said:

Already had them on Twitter... and my favourite "I have OCD and I am not offended".  For the record I wasn't offended either, but that's not the point, the point is we have to stand up and challenge trivialisation and misuse of OCD, because every time we let one slide unchallenged, it breeds acceptability. 

i've just seen these too.  and the "everyone's a victim" comments.

sigh...

[PolarBear]

Bird, I understand your frustration but you have to look at the big picture.

Is there an OCD type like yours? Yes. It involves obsessions about order and symmetry. It is well known. It is listed right there on the YBOCS list of OCD types.

What about this theme makes it OCD? There are intrusive thoughts that cause distress, compulsions and doubt. People like you would really rather not have to do your compulsions. You get distressed. You suffer. Your OCD is real.

However, that one type of real OCD has been hijacked by the wider populace. It has become such that people who like things neat and orderly or clean have OCD. It's simply not true.

Neat freaks, if i can call them that, do not have intrusive thoughts. They don't feel distress and they certainly do not suffer. When they've ckeaned out the junk drawer or put up the Christmas decorations, they stand back and feel a sense of accomplishment, they feel happy. OCD sufferers don't. 

Also, neat freaks order and clean and then are done with it. OCD sufferers don't do things once and move on. No, they have to do their compulsions over and over. It's frustrating and it's a real problem.

The vast majority of these people who bastardize the term OCD do not have OCD. They are wrongly using a term that really means suffering.

[PolarBear]

Oh i can imagine.

[Gemma7]

I can see how this is particularly hard for you bird but it's clear what you describe is OCD, never think any of us question that

[Ashley]

2 hours ago, bird said:

So perhaps we shouldn't be too harsh on people who don't understand

I understand that being neat and tidy is an aspect of your OCD, but dare I say that from an OCD perspective that aspect of the condition is more rare than how OCD is perceived in modern culture to be just beat and tidy.  Equally most people see the neat and tidy as a positive, they don't see the fact you're going through emotional anguish, so it is important we challenge such misuse.

I don't think the charity were harsh on this, in fact the hotel thanked me for remaining balanced.  On a personal level I wanted to say more, but I did what I usually do, I contacted them away from the anger of social media and spoke calmly to them. But that said, the hotel and their marketing team messed up big time so they do deserve some harshness. You don't need to be an expert in OCD to understand that OCD is a problem, a medical condition, so to use that in their job advert is really unprofessional (at best).

The news article  also created problems for us, the charity twitter accounts been getting all sorts of trolling all day, all of which I have ignored and blocked. But I stand by calling this hotel out and I would do it again tomorrow, and sadly I will almost certainly have to call another organisation out before the month is out!

[gingerbreadgirl]

I understand why this type of thing would upset you, Bird.  I think the thing with this isn't so much that they say OCD is about neatness (which obviously it can be), but more that it implies that OCD is quirky, useful, pleasant even.  That is my main issue with adverts/jokes like this.  There is also the fact that although OCD can be about neatness and symmetry - there is a broad perception that it is only about this.  I'm pretty sure that most of the people I know have no idea OCD can be anything other than neatness/washing/maybe checking.  This is very damaging to people who suffer from undiagnosed OCD and have no idea why they have the thoughts and compulsions they do.  We desperately need greater awareness of (a) the many forms OCD can take and (b) how severe and distressing it can be.  To which end OCD UK is doing an amazing job.

[Ashley]

12 minutes ago, gingerbreadgirl said:

We desperately need greater awareness of (a) the many forms OCD can take and (b) how severe and distressing it can be.

Just on this note, the charity trustees had a conference call meeting last night and have agreed a potential new approach to how we approach this. 

[Ashley]

36 minutes ago, bird said:

I'm sorry, Ashley. I didn't mean that the charity behaved harshly - I just meant it generally.

That's ok I didn't think you did mean that Bird   Don't worry.

I think some people on social media with OCD did overstep the mark a couple of times, so harsh is a good word.  But equally the hotel were wrong in the first place, so they do also deserve a bumpy ride for the way they have dealt with it all.

[gingerbreadgirl]

I think they've slightly undermined their apology by retweeting people supportive of the advert (suggesting they were not as heartfelt as they appeared) and they've also tweeted Piers Morgan (of all people) asking for him to debate the situation! Find it a bit galling that they've apologised on the one hand but secretly harbouring this feeling that they were right and we've all overreacted. Everyone entitled to an opinion etc. but why the sincere-sounding apology if they didn't mean it at all? They want to have it both ways.

[Avo]

Yes agree with that GBG. Appears they may not have been quite so sorry after all. 

[taurean]

But the saying goes, change what you can, accept what you can't and have the wisdom to know the difference. 

Gradually our message will spread out and each time Ashley is needed to challenge, then some awareness spreading can follow; adversity becomes opportunity