Notes for a doctor, prepared by OCD-UK
To a professional who can help:
I think I have obsessive-compulsive disorder:
• It’s hard for me to talk about this.
• Other people don’t seem to understand.
• I’ve become secretive about my habits.
• I spend more than an hour each day feeling trapped by one or more of:
• Obsessive fears about contamination, resulting in compulsive washing.
• Obsessive fears about fire/flood/theft, resulting in compulsive checking.
• Anxiety leading to counting, arranging or aligning.
• Unfounded fears of unwittingly causing harm to or abuse of others.
• Horrible thoughts that I agonize over but can’t get out of my head.
I’m now at the stage at which I need to appeal to you, as a professional, to help me.
OCD is seriously affecting my life. It’s stealing my time and my ability to be happy, and:
• I can feel frequently and deeply depressed.
• Life at home can be difficult.
• It can be hard for me to work, study or travel.
• I can have problems making or keeping friendships and relationships.
• My self-confidence and self-esteem have hit an all-time low.
The charity OCD-UK has made me realize that I’m not alone in feeling the way that I do. It has also taught me that help can be found. Please offer me the help that I need to allow me to get my life back.
Notes on thoughts about harming a child
To my health professional:
I think I have obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD):
• It’s hard for me to talk about this.
• My OCD differs from the more well-known perception of OCD.
• I am scared to talk about it.
• It’s impacting my life and my daily functioning.
• I spend more than an hour a day obsessing and fearing my thoughts.
I am now at the stage where I am visiting you to seek help from you, my health-care provider.
Can I please tell you about some of the thoughts that I am experiencing? They include some, or all of these:
• Distress because I fear I might be attracted to children, despite finding such thoughts abhorrent and against everything I believe in.
• Unwanted thoughts/feelings/urges that cause me immense anxiety that I want to, or may in the future, or might have previously touched a child inappropriately or caused harm to them, even though I don’t want to.
• Constant self-questioning whether or not these are wanted thoughts, and what the thoughts may mean or say about me.
• Avoidance of places where children are or might be.
OCD-UK have helped me understand that I am not alone in feeling the way that I do, and that this is a very commonly held belief by those affected by OCD. They have explained to me that these are all thoughts that both men and women can experience with OCD, and that having these thoughts does not place me at any higher risk of acting on these thoughts, or being a danger to children.
Please offer me the help that I need to change the way I deal with these thoughts. OCD-UK have told me that I need to access a form of treatment called Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), ideally with a therapist that fully understands this aspect of OCD.
Please don’t be alarmed by my unwanted obsessive thoughts, these form part of OCD, which are not indicative of any real desire. If you’re concerned about my thoughts, OCD-UK ask that you consult an OCD specialist before taking any action, and refer to the paper ‘Risk Assessment and Management in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder’ by Veale, Freeston, Krebs, Heyman and Salkovskis.