Drs say No but I know what I have
I have been on this site off and on for a few years now. After reading a lot of different material and speaking to various people I know I suffer from OCD, sometimes I can cope quite well and it ceases for a while and then when I get stressed or something happens in my life it will rear its ugly head once again.
When i went to the Dr about this, she was about as much use as a chocolate teapot. She was very bad actually and it still makes me quite mad to think about. It took an awful lot for me to go to her, this was about February/March 2010. I told her of my intrusive thoughts and about some of my compulsions, albeit they are mostly mental compulsions and she said to me because I wasn't getting up at 5am in the morning and cleaning the house or that I wasn't washing my hands 100 times then I did not have OCD. Now at the time and for a while after I was in such a mess, mostly because what I was going through but also because I thought if its not OCD then maybe its real?! She totally overlooked all the things I had said and based her prognosis on a stereotype.
I am sorry to ramble on but the main point to my thread is that Drs do not know everything - especially mine. Plus it may be a sweeping statement but its my opinion that not enough is know about OCD in the UK. I got the impression by some people that its just something America has made up, its not real and it doesn't happen to us. Well it does and it has. I am learning to cope with it more and more but some days or just some hours are a lot harder than others and it takes strength to get through it. So for those who think you are weak and cannot handle it - don't think so because you can and you do handle it everyday! It gets better with time, I have suffered from this for 7 years now. And I am more equipped to deal with it. There is a podcast free on itunes called Living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. Its helped me alot! Check it out.
Take care and Keep Fighting xxx
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When I stand before God at the end of my life, I would hope that I would not have a single bit of talent left, and could say, "I used everything you gave me." ~Erma Bombeck