You've Been OCD'd!

Let me just say at the outset that I know that what Mrs Hero is going through is probably 1000 times worse than the mental torture that I endure, so whatever I post here is not trying to demean anyone or trivialise OCD. It is just me trying to make light of situations to try and get through.

I thought it wouldn't be very good reading, if there is anyone reading lol, simply to list all the things that are OCD related that Mrs Hero does. So I thought I would discuss them as and when they push me towards breaking point. That is to say, most things happen everyday, but depending on my mood, they don't always push me to the verge of insanity.

So what annoyed me today?

Has anyone seen the Tango advert, where the guy belts the other guy over the face and then the talkover guy says, "You know when you've been Tango'd!" Well it is a bit like that, except I can imagine the talkover guy saying, "You know when you've been OCD'd!"

No, no, no Mrs Hero doesn't belt me over the head. But we could be walking up the stairs, then all of a sudden, without any warning she will stop, walk back one step, then carry on up the stairs. But it doesn't have to be the stairs, it can be along the pavement, in the supermarket, anywhere.

Once I go crashing into the back of her, the talkover guy shouts out,"You,ve been OCD'd!"

Now I know, to anyone who has no experience of the effects of OCD, they may be thinking, big deal, what is the problem? But believe me, when it happens time and again over a long period of time, it becomes very wearing.

I don't know why this severely annoyed me today. Must have been the side of bed I got out of or something! We were going to the shops, the door to the house was open, all she had to do was walk through the door, down the steps and into the car. I was walking behind her, keys in hand ready to lock the door behind us.

But oh no!

We were walking towards the door, when all of a sudden she stops in the doorway. You think I would be used to it by now, but there is simply no way of predicting when it will happen. I went careering into her almost sending flying down the five or six steps outside the front door.

Not the best start to the shopping trip!

How It All Started

So how did I get myself embroiled in the world of OCD? And why didn't I run a mile!?

Well, my beautiful wife and I started going out ten years ago. At first her OCD wasn't noticeable, or maybe she kept it well hidden! Within six months of getting together, we moved in with each other. Well, why hang around!

As you can appreciate, you can't hide things nearly as well when you are sharing a house with someone, so her OCD began to suface.

I was at a loss as to what to do. How do I approach the subject? Do I just come straight out with it or do I be more underhand and subtly leave some OCD leaflets about the house or something like that?

Eventually, after she couldn't get the bedroom light off one night, I just came out with it. When I say couldn't get the bedroom light off, I mean it was flicked on, off, on, off, on, off etc etc.

I can't remember her putting up much resistance to what I was saying and she even made an appointment with the doctor. When she got refered to a community specialist, I thought we would have the "problem" sorted in no time!

The specialist, I don't know if he was a nurse or what so I'll keep calling him the specialist, came every week for about six weeks. Each time, I would leave them to it and do something else. Except towards the end, when he wanted a chat with me too. During this session, we were reviewing how things were going and my wife (we'll call her Mrs Hero) suggested that she felt she was getting a little better and the sessions were working.

To say i nearly fell off my chair would be an understatement. I was totally shocked because I was seeing no tangible results whatsoever. This was the first sign that things weren't going to go as smooth as I initially thought!

After the six weeks were over, the specialist disappeared, never to been seen in our house again and we were left to get on with things on our own! No planning, no follow up sessions, no program of action - nothing!

Looking back, I don't think Mrs Hero's symptoms (don't know if that is the correct term) were nearly as bad are they now. So the help I needed back then would be even more appreciated now!

Welcome

Hi Everyone!

Thanks for taking the time to visit this blog. The reasons I have set it up are purely personal, but if it can help people along the way, then all the better.

So let me set my stall out straight away. If you had asked me 10 years ago what OCD was, I would have probably said that it was a type of TV or something equally wide off the mark!

Indeed ask me now and I would probably not be able to tell you what the parameters of OCD are or the best way to deal with it etc.

However, I do know the severe impact it has had on my wife and how that has then affected me, over the last 10 years and how I have tried to minimise its impact .

Indeed, this very blog is my latest attempt to relieve the pressure valve and provide a release for my frustations. It may also substitute for the other pressure release mechanism I have been relying on recently - alcohol.

So if you know of someone close to you who has OCD, then hopefully my ramblings will be of comfort to you so you know you are not alone. Indeed if you suffer from OCD yourself, you may find my experiences interesting as someone close to you may be feeling the things I am feeling.

Finally, there may be other OCD websites or blogs out there on the net and I am in no way trying to replace or copy them. Like I said at the top, this is me trying to cope, living with someone who has OCD, whilst not giving myself liver damage!

All the best.

RH