OCD Awareness Week 2019
October 15, 2019 at 10:31 pm
It is a common misconception that Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) means being neat, tidy, clean and organised. For those living with OCD, there’s far more too it than that. OCD is a debilitating disorder which leads the sufferer living with intrusive thoughts rendering day-to-day life a living nightmare.
OCD Awareness Week runs annually during the second full week of October. That’s this week! The aim of the Week is to educate the public about the realities of living with OCD and the challenge of having to face up to the realities of the condition on the path to recovery. Misunderstanding and stigma that can be caused by misrepresentation of OCD, particularly in the media, can be hugely damaging. OCD Awareness Week sets out to tackle this.
This Year’s Campaign
The October campaign was originally started by the International OCD Foundation (a US-based charity) in 2009, and is supported by a number of OCD charities.
- OCD Action are tying into the Week by running #3forOCD; where they ask people in the community to share their top 3 things that they wish people understood about OCD, using the hashtag #3forOCD. They are also supporting the Picture Your OCD project.
- OCD UK are publishing a series of handouts designed specifically to educate the public on the reality of OCD as a mental health condition, designed to bust myths and misconceptions
- the International OCD Foundation are inviting all members of the OCD and related disorders community to participate in #FaceYourFear, a social media campaign to educate the public about the realities of living with OCD and the challenge of having to face your fears on the path to recovery. Read more about the campaign and hashtag here.
BIMHN’s Work Around OCD
The Bristol Independent Mental Health Network (BIMHN) are working to support those living with OCD, and break down mental health stigma surrounding both the condition and mental health generally. Tracy, one of the trustees of the Independent Mental Health Network, our parent charity, is working to set up a local OCD Social Support Group. Following on from Lifting the Myth of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD), a very successful open discussion event that took place earlier this year, Tracy is looking to hold further meet-ups.
If you are interested in Tracy’s work, or would like to attend the next OCD Support Group meeting (provisionally set for November), please feel free to email Tracy directly at tracy_tainton[@]yahoo.co.uk (taking out the brackets from the email address).
October 15, 2019 at 10:31 pm | Blog | No comment