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Strange? Weird? Crazy? …. No, OCD is a disorder in which someone is consistently hounded by recurrent thoughts and has urges to perform specific rituals. Compulsive behaviour patterns can take hours to perform, causing a great disturbance in everyday life. These rituals are performed in hope of getting rid of negative and distressing thoughts. Unfortunately, performing these tasks only provides temporary relief, while ignoring them brings great anxiety. OCD may become so severe and  time-consuming that rituals take over their lives, making it impossible for them to continue activities outside the home. Sufferers often attempt to hide their disorder rather than seek help. Often they are successful in concealing their symptoms from friends and co-workers. People with OCD usually do not receive professional help until years after the onset of their disease. By that time, they may have learned to work their symptoms around their lives and family members. I spoke to Christopher Brooks from Birmingham about how he copes with his OCD. Brooks tells me that his OCD is a frustration and battle with himself. He finds himself not able to control his urges and is nervous to meet knew people because of what they might think of him. Brook’s OCD is having to put things in order in which he says, “are in the right place.” Although, Brooks says, “ I can’t help it, I have to make sure everything is all the right way before I leave the house.”

He continues to say, “if I don’t think things are in the right place when I’m in a shop or in a friend’s home, I have to reorganize the items.” I asked him how he coped with people looking at him and friends asking what he’s doing while he’s reorganizing the room, he replies with, “Well because I have to have things in such a order when I’m doing it people do look and pass comment, some call me crazy, strange and weird; these things are very hurtful but its only because they don’t understand.”

As I spoke longer with Brooks he told me of times when his OCD has got him into trouble with store managers, security guards and the police. I watched Brooks round a shop for a hour in this time he rearranged boxes, put very can facing the right way and restacked boxes so they where all straight and “right”.

He expresses even though he tries to hide his OCD, he is receiving help for it with a local psychiatrist and learning not to fear others’ judgements.

Brooks then explained to me how he feels about himself and others having this disorder, “ Even though I’m only just getting the confidence to share my OCD. it doesn’t mean it makes me, or anyone else who lives with it, any less capable of success.” 

There are and have been many great people with OCD such as Sir Albert Einstein, Charles Darwin and even Donald Trump. Every 1 in 50 people has OCD in the world today, you probably know someone with OCD but don’t even know it.