The unbelievable hangover caused by Pure-O

[daja]

The unbelievable hangover caused by Pure-O

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/disability-49356870

[Ashley]

Oh my goodness, this is just some unhelpful from an educational point of view.

She's sharing her story, which is amazing and so proud of her, but whoever told her she has purely obsessional OCD is doing her a dis-service, and by perpetuating this we (and the media) are doing others a disservice.  Such contradiction here in the opening paragraph.

Quote

 

I have a condition that some people call Pure-O. It's short for purely obsessional OCD, a kind of OCD that doesn't involve the more traditional OCD traits like needing everything to be symmetrical and my bedroom is the messiest room you'll ever see.

For me, purely obsessional OCD is about reassurance seeking, or basically asking my poor mother over and over whether she is absolutely sure I'm not going to push her in front of a train

 

Reassurance seeking is a compulsion that most people with OCD do (so not Pure O), and all the way through she talks about checking, all physical checks, checking is a traditional OCD trait! 

This is not a criticism of Sarah, she shares her story with eloquence and humour, it was a good read.  But this must stop, we must help people with OCD understand that this is not Pure O, this is Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder with clear obsessions and clear physical compulsions being described.  Because if people don't recognise that fact, they will hinder their recovery.

[Gemma7]

It is strange that people don't see all their 'traditional' OCD compulsions. I really don't think there's much difference between types of OCD when it comes to compulsions. People with checking/contamination issues get false memories too, false memories come from wanting to be sure in yout head, surely people realise that's a ubiquitous trait of OCD?

The article's pretty good though

[Ashley]

Call me cynical, but one reason the term 'Pure O' gathered momentum in recent years I believe, is that a lot of people have a vested interest in the term existing. For example, therapists who claim to be Pure O experts. Channel 4 using it for a comedy programme.

 

[Gemma7]

Don't you think it's just more and more people using it would eventually have it hitting the mainstream. It is particularly likely to happen with mental health issues where people commonly tell their personal account of their problem. 

[Ashley]

1 hour ago, Gemma7 said:

Don't you think it's just more and more people using it would eventually have it hitting the mainstream. 

That's what's happened now, but we got to this point by therapists promoting the term, writing a few online articles and other therapists promoting themselves as experts.

[Ashley]

To be fair to Sarah she's clarified online.

Quote

I know that the term is not used by @OCDUK and in my longer sketch I challenge the term and describe it as 'erroneous'.

 

[Gemma7]

That's good

How did it turn up in the article then? Or was it just out of context? 

[Ashley]

I am not sure, but I have been badly misquoted by journalists in the past, so that's possible, or simply using the term Pure O in the first place was asking for trouble and asking for it to be misunderstood/misquoted. 

I absolutely do not want to damped anybody's enthusiasm for talking openly about OCD, or put words into what people should and should not say, especially if they are talking about their story, but something one of our members mentioned last year was that if we are going to talk about OCD in a public environment we all have a duty to try and ensure we do so appropriately. I think I agree with that person. 

But one problem we have is if somebody is misinformed about Pure O by social media / American doctor articles / own therapists etc and they don't do their own research and end up believing that (why wouldn't you if a Dr tells you Pure O is a thing), then I guess it's not that individuals fault for using that term inaccurately when speaking about OCD.

[Gemma7]

That's true, if people take their information from a reliable source then they will inadvertently make mistakes. That's why it's probably better to complain to institutions that represent OCD wrongly rather than individuals.