My story. Need advise, please.

[Wanderer]

Hi everyone. 

Hope everyone's doing well. 

A couple of years ago, I was a regular poster on here. Many of this forum helped me through some really rough times. PolarBear, Taurean and some others really helped me pull through.

Unfortunately, I was forced to stop posting as I believed someone close to me was reading my posts and, frankly, misinterpreting what I was saying. It strained our relationship.

OCD, as I'm sure you know, can lead us down some dark paths. Our obsessions can revolve around some sensitive and sometimes disturbing themes. I've had struggled with most of the big ones. 

Around 5/6 years ago - my OCD really kicked in about 11 years ago - I was really struggling with thoughts around children. I was questioning whether I was attracted to them. It led me down a weird path. One where I tried to accept that I was the person I fear I was. 

Anyway, I went to see a mental health practitioner. I told them that I was struggling with these thoughts and feelings and I also had tremendous guilt about some things.

Cutting a long story short, the next thing I knew, I was being summoned by the mental health team. They said they'd notified a safeguarding team and that  they needed to assess if I was a risk. I freaked out. In the end, they assessed I wasn't a risk, but they didn't see it as OCD. They suggested I had a split personality! Their parting message was, your laptop isn't going to be seized, but if you feel as though you might do something, notify them. I genuinely felt like they thought I was a risk. 

Soon after, I was over this obsession and my thoughts centred around consciousness and free will. It drove me to think brink of suicide. 

I went to see the mental health team who opened with, "I've read your file, and I must warn you, whatever you disclose I shall have to forward on to relevant authorities if I think you're a risk to children". 

By that time, I'd forgotten all about it all. 

Since, I've been diagnosed officially with OCD. 

Anyway, I work with 16+ year old kids. I'm obviously not a risk. It was OCD. I'm past it all. 

I'm doing great with my OCD. Learnt a lot. Still not perfect, but a world apart from where I was. 

Worrying tonight, though, because I'm starting a new job. And they require an advanced DBS check. Which apparently searches non-conviction records of local authorities. 

What if they find their write up of when I saw the mental health team? They really got the wrong end of the stick. I never had any contact with the police or anything, they just said they'd informed safeguarding. 

Appreciate this is an odd first post. It's just hard to talk to people about OCD who don't understand it. 

Planning on sticking around on the forum and trying to help others. I come in peace as a lonely and experienced long-term sufferer. I empathise with everyone who has to deal with this horrific illness and if I can help anyone, I will. 

Thank you and God bless. 

 

 

[MarieJo]

33 minutes ago, Wanderer said:

Hi everyone. 

Hope everyone's doing well. 

A couple of years ago, I was a regular poster on here. Many of this forum helped me through some really rough times. PolarBear, Taurean and some others really helped me pull through.

Unfortunately, I was forced to stop posting as I believed someone close to me was reading my posts and, frankly, misinterpreting what I was saying. It strained our relationship.

OCD, as I'm sure you know, can lead us down some dark paths. Our obsessions can revolve around some sensitive and sometimes disturbing themes. I've had struggled with most of the big ones. 

Around 5/6 years ago - my OCD really kicked in about 11 years ago - I was really struggling with thoughts around children. I was questioning whether I was attracted to them. It led me down a weird path. One where I tried to accept that I was the person I fear I was. 

Anyway, I went to see a mental health practitioner. I told them that I was struggling with these thoughts and feelings and I also had tremendous guilt about some things.

Cutting a long story short, the next thing I knew, I was being summoned by the mental health team. They said they'd notified a safeguarding team and that  they needed to assess if I was a risk. I freaked out. In the end, they assessed I wasn't a risk, but they didn't see it as OCD. They suggested I had a split personality! Their parting message was, your laptop isn't going to be seized, but if you feel as though you might do something, notify them. I genuinely felt like they thought I was a risk. 

Soon after, I was over this obsession and my thoughts centred around consciousness and free will. It drove me to think brink of suicide. 

I went to see the mental health team who opened with, "I've read your file, and I must warn you, whatever you disclose I shall have to forward on to relevant authorities if I think you're a risk to children". 

By that time, I'd forgotten all about it all. 

Since, I've been diagnosed officially with OCD. 

Anyway, I work with 16+ year old kids. I'm obviously not a risk. It was OCD. I'm past it all. 

I'm doing great with my OCD. Learnt a lot. Still not perfect, but a world apart from where I was. 

Worrying tonight, though, because I'm starting a new job. And they require an advanced DBS check. Which apparently searches non-conviction records of local authorities. 

What if they find their write up of when I saw the mental health team? They really got the wrong end of the stick. I never had any contact with the police or anything, they just said they'd informed safeguarding. 

Appreciate this is an odd first post. It's just hard to talk to people about OCD who don't understand it. 

Planning on sticking around on the forum and trying to help others. I come in peace as a lonely and experienced long-term sufferer. I empathise with everyone who has to deal with this horrific illness and if I can help anyone, I will. 

Thank you and God bless. 

 

 

Hiya.

So sorry that when you went to seek help you were completely misunderstood. It must have made your situation much worse at the time. Hopefully there is more understanding now around OCD.

As for your question about your DBS check. I am 99.9% certain that nothing will be on your record. You were never accused of a crime, never arrested or investigated for any crime. Police were never involved. Your chats with a mental health team will not be on any DBS checks I am pretty certain.

Good luck  

[PolarBear]

Boy, I'd like to have a chat with that mental health team. Twits.

[Ray]

1 hour ago, Wanderer said:

Hi everyone. 

Hope everyone's doing well. 

A couple of years ago, I was a regular poster on here. Many of this forum helped me through some really rough times. PolarBear, Taurean and some others really helped me pull through.

Unfortunately, I was forced to stop posting as I believed someone close to me was reading my posts and, frankly, misinterpreting what I was saying. It strained our relationship.

OCD, as I'm sure you know, can lead us down some dark paths. Our obsessions can revolve around some sensitive and sometimes disturbing themes. I've had struggled with most of the big ones. 

Around 5/6 years ago - my OCD really kicked in about 11 years ago - I was really struggling with thoughts around children. I was questioning whether I was attracted to them. It led me down a weird path. One where I tried to accept that I was the person I fear I was. 

Anyway, I went to see a mental health practitioner. I told them that I was struggling with these thoughts and feelings and I also had tremendous guilt about some things.

Cutting a long story short, the next thing I knew, I was being summoned by the mental health team. They said they'd notified a safeguarding team and that  they needed to assess if I was a risk. I freaked out. In the end, they assessed I wasn't a risk, but they didn't see it as OCD. They suggested I had a split personality! Their parting message was, your laptop isn't going to be seized, but if you feel as though you might do something, notify them. I genuinely felt like they thought I was a risk. 

Soon after, I was over this obsession and my thoughts centred around consciousness and free will. It drove me to think brink of suicide. 

I went to see the mental health team who opened with, "I've read your file, and I must warn you, whatever you disclose I shall have to forward on to relevant authorities if I think you're a risk to children". 

By that time, I'd forgotten all about it all. 

Since, I've been diagnosed officially with OCD. 

Anyway, I work with 16+ year old kids. I'm obviously not a risk. It was OCD. I'm past it all. 

I'm doing great with my OCD. Learnt a lot. Still not perfect, but a world apart from where I was. 

Worrying tonight, though, because I'm starting a new job. And they require an advanced DBS check. Which apparently searches non-conviction records of local authorities. 

What if they find their write up of when I saw the mental health team? They really got the wrong end of the stick. I never had any contact with the police or anything, they just said they'd informed safeguarding. 

Appreciate this is an odd first post. It's just hard to talk to people about OCD who don't understand it. 

Planning on sticking around on the forum and trying to help others. I come in peace as a lonely and experienced long-term sufferer. I empathise with everyone who has to deal with this horrific illness and if I can help anyone, I will. 

Thank you and God bless. 

 

 

That's shockingly ignorant even compared to what I've experienced. I have similar issues - well how you were - to you and had a DBS check just over two years ago before doing some voluntary work. No problems at all. 

[Benny]

What a horrendous experience!!!! There used to be so much ignorance about OCD !!!

Enhanced DBS disclosures would not contain any of that information- DBS is about crime not mental health. 

[Wanderer]

It really wasn't a nice experience at all. They just didn't get what I was saying. I'd done some weird stuff to try and accept who I thought I was. And then I felt terrible. Oddly, it helped me stop obsessing about it and now it's not an issue. 

 

It's just with them saying they'd spoken to safeguarding teams etc. The enhanced check apparently looks at non conviction stuff held by local authorities. So quite anxious actually that this might come up. 

Got to go hand my documents in today and I feel physically sick.

[Summer9173]

12 hours ago, Wanderer said:

They said they'd notified a safeguarding team and that  they needed to assess if I was a risk. I freaked out. In the end, they assessed I wasn't a risk, but they didn't see it as OCD. They suggested I had a split personality!

The mental health team makes me so angry!! I used to work as admin for the crisis/CMHT as my first job and I couldn’t even handle working behind the scenes there as patients really seemed to be neglected. One man walked in extremely distressed (I was covering reception because funnily enough nobody wanted that role!) and he said he’d had no contact from his care-coordinator for weeks can he speak to her. She came down to meet him shrugging at him when he was talking and rolling her eyes!!!! Now I’m on the other side I’m extremely anxious myself as they don’t seem the best at all - even from other peoples experiences like yourself  I’m so sorry you went through that however. It’s a shame they clearly wasn’t educated on what OCD and intrusive thoughts are…. If I was you I’d laugh at them now as that’s what they call your professionals when they clearly got it far from right. 
 

I would try and see if I Could sue the team if I was you, or even report them? I did that with the hospital I worked at and now there’s an investigation going on, just so they don’t end up doing that to somebody else  I’m so so sorry you went through that and I know how angry it can make you feel, I hope your okay after that now  

[Wanderer]

42 minutes ago, Summer9173 said:

The mental health team makes me so angry!! I used to work as admin for the crisis/CMHT as my first job and I couldn’t even handle working behind the scenes there as patients really seemed to be neglected. One man walked in extremely distressed (I was covering reception because funnily enough nobody wanted that role!) and he said he’d had no contact from his care-coordinator for weeks can he speak to her. She came down to meet him shrugging at him when he was talking and rolling her eyes!!!! Now I’m on the other side I’m extremely anxious myself as they don’t seem the best at all - even from other peoples experiences like yourself  I’m so sorry you went through that however. It’s a shame they clearly wasn’t educated on what OCD and intrusive thoughts are…. If I was you I’d laugh at them now as that’s what they call your professionals when they clearly got it far from right. 
 

I would try and see if I Could sue the team if I was you, or even report them? I did that with the hospital I worked at and now there’s an investigation going on, just so they don’t end up doing that to somebody else  I’m so so sorry you went through that and I know how angry it can make you feel, I hope your okay after that now  

 

That sounds terrible. But I think it's common across the board, unfortunately. 

Really worried at the moment. I don't know who they contacted or what or if they were bluffing. 

I've worked with kids the majority of my adult life. It's my livelihood. 

[Angst]

Mind have an informative 19 page leaflet entitled DBS Checks and Your Mental Health. It is downloadable with a search. Hope it helps.

[Wanderer]

35 minutes ago, Angst said:

Mind have an informative 19 page leaflet entitled DBS Checks and Your Mental Health. It is downloadable with a search. Hope it helps.

Thanks for that. After taking a look, it states that it'll only include information of my mental health if the police have been involved. I.e if I'd been removed to a safe place by the police because of my mental health. 

So it just hinges on whether they contacted the police and whether they have any records of it. They just said they'd contacted safeguarding. I never had any contact with the police or anything. They knew at the time i worked with kids and my employer was never informed. 

It's a horrid position to be in. I really thought that part of my life was over with.