FRIENDS OF BRECON AND DISTRICT MIND
OCD, OCD, OCD:
A talk by Dr Lucy Jessica Deacon about how Obsessive Compulsive Disorder has affected her life and how challenging it has aided her on-going recovery.
Wednesday 28 November 2018, The Muse, Glamorgan Street, Brecon, 7pm
£5 (Friends / Members £2)
'Hi! My name is Lucy. I am a children’s doctor working in south Wales and I live near Brecon with my Springer spaniel Tinka. I have lived in the area for seven years and am heavily involved with coaching and playing rugby at local clubs.'
'I wilI be talking on 28th November about Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). While my day job is as a medic I am not speaking in my capacity as a doctor but as someone with lived experience of this mental health diagnosis. OCD is often misunderstood because people don't know what it really is and television programmes such as 'Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners' hasn’t helped this. It is true that OCD can manifest in someone being seemingly obsessed with cleanliness but, in fact, the obsession is more often with anxious thoughts. It is clear that this drives the behaviour. For me it was a fear of ‘bad things’ happening to people I loved and cared about. The thought drives the belief that it is necessary to complete certain rituals in order to ensure that nothing bad happens. It is all consuming. It affects all aspects of life and, as the anxiety grows, so does the need to complete the behaviours. I say ‘need’ because that is how it feels. It is too dangerous not to complete the task.'
'It was severe anxiety and depression that lead me to be hospitalised, struggling with self-harm and suicidal thoughts, in 2011. After quite a few months in hospital, with my behaviour being observed, it was mentioned to me that I might have OCD. I didn’t believe it. I knew what OCD was and had learnt about it at Medical school. The things I had to do were necessary - such was the strength of my belief. It was not until my care team started challenging my compulsive behaviours that I recognised I had been battling to live with this illness for all my adult life and probably also as a teenager.'
'It was truly terrifying challenging my behaviours. It felt like life and death. It was an intense emotional roller-coaster and it has taken seven years to get to a place where I feel I am able to live with my obsessional thinking and behaviours and still manage to live a life that feels worth living.'
'I will talk in much more detail on the evening about the condition itself and my journey back to being able to sit on a sofa and relax, go for a dog walk in the rain, play with my nephews and go back to the job I love to do.'
The Friends support the work of Brecon and District Mind and raise awareness of mental health issues in and around Brecon, Crickhowell, Talgarth and Hay-on-Wye. They are open to everyone and holds talks, walks, social activities and fund-raising events.
Brecon and District Mind, Ty Croeso, St David’s House, 48 Free Street, Brecon, Powys, LD3 7BP / 01874 611529 / info@breconmind.org.uk / www.breconmind.org.uk
Friends of Brecon and District Mind: friends@breconmind.org.uk
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