All Illnesses Are Not Created Equal

This week being OCD Awareness Week, I've been paying more attention than usual (if that's even possible) to how people view and talk about OCD and other mental health disorders. But what I discovered was a wider problem - a mentality that governs so many people that very few actually see it as an issue. And not everyone will think it is, but it's definitely important enough to raise.

The issue is this: the term "serious illness" has become synonymous in our society with "cancer". So great is the number of campaigns for awareness of cancer, funding for cancer research, new evidence showing that such and such a food, drink or pastime causes cancer and so on, that cancer has somehow become the only "real" illness in the eyes of the majority of people, all of whom would fervently deny holding such as view, simply because they don't realise that it's true.

That's not to say that cancer isn't a horrible illness; it tears families apart, causes months and even years of suffering to those affected, and the only available treatments kill just as many people as they save. I lost my grandad when I was eight to a brain haemhorrage caused by chemotherapy treatment for leukaemia, so I know just how much it sucks, and I think that it's a cause which absolutely deserves the funding and awareness that it gets. The problem is that other illnesses don't get the same. There are hundreds of illnesses out there that affect just as many people as cancer does, kill more people, last longer than cancer and have far fewer treatment options, but get a fraction of the attention because cancer gets it all. People diagnosed with debilitating illnesses like lupus, multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue syndrome are told to be relieved because "at least it's not cancer". There are several types of cancer that make a person a lot less ill than a person with one of these illnesses, but apparently the fact that it's cancer makes it inherently more devastating. If a person dies young, everyone will assume that they had cancer until told otherwise. Compare box office ratings from The Fault in our Stars to One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest and you know which film will come out on top.

What I suppose I'm trying to say is that, although I do want a cure for cancer to be found as soon as possible, I don't want the rest of the world to have to be put on hold until that happens.

Yet Another Example of Terrible Media

I don't think there's a single person in the country who hasn't heard about the tragic death of the actor Robin Williams - and the exposure of this story is highlighting some key issues in the way the media handles the reporting of suicide.

While there have been some reporters - the BBC, for example - who have reported the story responsibly, there have been others (which I will not name in order to avoid directing traffic to them) whose coverage has been frankly shocking. Several headlines this morning gave bold and graphic details about the methods that Williams used to take his life, as well as speculating on the reasons that drove him to do it, in both instances completely ignoring guidelines set out by charities such as The Samaritans and Mind (both of whom have addressed these issues and promised to contact the companies responsible for these sensationalist reports). This kind of journalism is incredibly inappropriate, and there are two main reasons why:

Firstly, it's very disrespectful to the Williams family for the media to be intruding so much into their private lives, particularly at what is undoubtedly a very difficult time for them. Not only have they lost someone that they love, but they have to now face countless newspapers and online journals telling the world exactly what he did, and why they think he did it. How can you even begin to guess the thoughts of someone you never even knew?

And secondly, giving intricate details about a suicide - particularly that of a celebrity - is very dangerous. These tabloids and websites may think that they were pleasing their readers by providing exclusive details about the story, what they have effectively done is told every single person who reads the report how they can successfully end their lives, and these journalists have absolutely no idea who will use this information. The Samaritans have already identified that the risk of copycat suicides is very high, so printing it on the front page of a newspaper in big, bold lettering is like handing someone a loaded gun. Even people who don't read that particular paper are going to see it, and once one company has published the details, others go on to do the same. And these newspapers have gone into ridiculous amounts of detail about Williams' death, from the exact materials he used right down to the position he was in when he was found. If journalists think that's a responsible way to handle an already sensitive story, then I'd hate to see an article that they find unacceptable!

You can find The Samaritans' website by clicking here, and Mind's by clicking here.

Happy New Year - Let's Make A Change

Usually I find that New Year is one of the hardest times of the year for me - everything around me seems to be changing, a new school term looms and it always feels like the past year has gone more quickly than the last. So this year I decided that I was going to try and make new year a positive experience, perhaps by learning a new skill, or actually doing the homework that I had forced out of my mind for the last two weeks. But, after completing a biology task on the alleged benefits of sports drinks and learning both the alphabet and the numbers 1-100 in British Sign Language, I still didn't feel any better, so I decided to do something I had been considering for a while: I set up a petition urging Channel 4 to finally do something about their awful series Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners, which I also complained posted about during OCD Awareness Week way back in October. Well, actually, two things, because I also bought a clarinet.

If you've read my OCD Awareness Week posts, you will most likely know why I dislike Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners, but it may surprise you to know that my petition does not call for the show to be removed from our TVs entirely - all I'm asking them to do is change the name and the comments made during the episodes so that it no longer has any association with OCD. I think you'll agree that if they can't bring themselves to do that, they are very low people.

To find (and preferably sign) my petition, simply click on the button below:

Minds Like Ours and the 24 Hour Sponsored Talk

I'm sure I've posted before Minds Like Ours - a non-profit organisation dedicated to ending the stigma that surrounds mental health disorders (that I also do volunteer stuff for). Well, in order to really get people talking about mental health, they have decided to do just that, for a whole 24 hours! The talk starts tomorrow at 6pm and is the first event of its kind in the world. There's still time to donate to the sponsorship fund and check out the schedule for the event to find the bits you want to listen to, both of which can be done by clicking here. And don't worry, Doctor Who fans, the talk finishes at 6pm on Saturday, leaving plenty of time to watch The Day of the Doctor if you so desire.

The Philippines and Typhoon Haiyan

The recent super typhoon in the Leyte province of the Philippines has been all over the news recently, and hundreds of fundraising initiatives have started up and down this country and many others to try and raise money to help those affected.

One of the reasons I have been following news of this typhoon so closely is because my aunt and two of my cousins - one of whom hasn't even been born yet - live in the Philippines (my uncle is currently working away in Malaysia), and although they're alright, they could so easily not have been. With over 10,000 people feared dead in the immediate aftermath of the storm and many more left homeless or injured, it's not hard to see why my relatives are so lucky. A friend of mine is currently worrying for members of her own family, who she hasn't heard from since the disaster, and no one knows what the outcome will be.

I was also shocked at just how much damage the typhoon caused. It wasn't simply a few trees falling down and a lack of electricity for a few days - entire villages were flattened, and many people were left begging foreign aid workers to give them food and shelter that they just didn't have. What they need is money; more specifically, those providing aid to these people need money so that they can bring everything that is needed over there as quickly as possible. There are hundreds of ways to donate, so please at least consider it. Thank you.

OCD Awareness Week Day 5 - OCD and The Media

The media coverage for this year's OCD Awareness Week has been great (links to most of the best bits can be found via OCD-UK's website or twitter page), and the BBC documentary Extreme OCD Camp, which aired earlier this year, was absolutely amazing, but there have been some examples of OCD related media coverage that have not been so beneficial.

An obvious example of this is Channel 4's extremely damaging series Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners, which involves sending people who in most cases probably don't even know what OCD stands for into messy houses to clean them up. Not only is this a drastic misrepresentation of OCD, it is encouraging people to laugh at it and to believe that it really is just about people who enjoy being in a tidy environment.

Luckily, there are other people out there who agree with me, such as Claire Watkinson, who made this fantastic video response to the show:

As she mentioned, Claire is currently making her own film about OCD (you can find out more using the links at the end of the video), which I hope will contribute to the positive side of OCD awareness and help show people what OCD really is, as opposed to what horrendous shows like Obsessive Compulsive Cleaners tell you it is.

Of course, the media isn't all about what goes on in TV, so before I move on to my next post, I thought I'd share an awesome song that I found, which is Everything is Alright by Motion City Soundtrack:

I don't own either of the videos in this post, so no copyright infringement intended and all that.

OCD Awareness Week Day 3 - Myths and Facts About OCD

Having created a list of topics to cover over the course of this week, I have decided that my discussion point for day three of OCD Awareness Week will be myths and facts about OCD. And there are loads! So many, in fact, that I decided to make a Bob and Steve episode addressing some of them, which you can see below:

So besides those, what other myths exist about OCD? Well, these were the ones that I came up with; let me know if you think of any more:

Myth #1 ~ OCD is Attention Seeking.
This is definitely one of my top three most hated myths about OCD. I can almost tolerate people comparing themselves to those with the disorder (I actually can't, but that's beside the point. I just have to smile and politely correct them.), and I can even put up with people laughing at my compulsions (although I really shouldn't have to, just saying), but attention seeking!?  Do you honestly think I do all of this for attention!?!? On the contrary, the thoughts and behaviours that dominate my life so much because of my OCD are pretty much the sole reason why I dread social situations, gravitate to the back of every crowd and spend many hours each day alone in my bedroom. If anything, attention is what I want to avoid, not generate. So yeah, on to the next myth:

Myth #2 ~ Having OCD Means Acting Like Monica From Friends.
On the whole, I think that TV programmes are responsible for a large number of these myths, and Friends is no exception, despite being one of my favourite shows (although it can't top Downton Abbey). While it never actually says that Monica has OCD, or even any mental disorder, her overly perfectionistic behaviour seems to be the image that most people think of when they hear the term. A far better example from the same programme would be the guy from the museum whose one line in the entire series was "I have to turn the light switch on and off seventeen times before I leave a room or my family will die!", although I was very annoyed at the fact they played the laughter track immediately afterwards. Okay, so I'll admit that some of Monica's behaviours are consistent with certain elements of OCD, but the key thing that sets her apart from an OCD sufferer is the enjoyment that she gets from activities such as cleaning. Let me make it clear now that compulsions that are part of OCD are never enjoyable. In fact, if you found your compulsive rituals fun then you wouldn't even qualify for a diagnosis of OCD in the first place. So there.

Myth #3 ~ There is Only One Type of OCD.
Contrary to popular belief - or, perhaps, popular ignorance - there are in fact several different categories of OCD, although many people fall into more than one category, and you are unlikely to ever find a professional who classifies these groupings as separate disorders. So why have a classification system in the first place? Well, it has been noticed by mental health professionals over the years (or so I assume) that the obsessive thoughts experienced by OCD sufferers usually come under a specific category, and that obsessions rarely stray outside these specific guidelines (although I'm not sure that's the right word to use). However, as I said, many people with OCD fall into several categories, and their obsessions can gradually change over time. My own OCD fits mainly into two different areas, although  there are some milder symptoms that come under others.

Funny, perhaps, but not OCD.
Photo courtesy of Google Images (in other words, don't blame me for the font).

Myth #4 ~ You Could Have OCD If You Only Spend 5 Minutes On Compulsions.
One thing that I find surprises people when I talk to them about OCD is that, in order to qualify for a diagnosis, obsessions and compulsions must take up at least one hour a day of a sufferer's time. However, this does not mean to say that everyone diagnosed with OCD spends this amount of time on rituals every day. For example, a person may have the obsession that they might poison their family if they buy the wrong type of food at the supermarket. They may only do two grocery shops every week, but have to spend four hours on each one, which adds up to the equivalent of more than an hour every day. Add that to the time they undoubtedly spend avoiding supermarkets and grocery shops, and you find a pretty severe case of OCD, despite the fact that they may be able to go days at a time with no symptoms at all.

World Mental Health Day 2013 *Possible Trigger Warning*

So, as you probably figure out from the title, today is World Mental Health Day, and, as a person who lives with a mental health disorder, I thought it would be a good idea to post about it.

World Mental Health Day is undoubtedly the biggest campaigning day of the year for many mental health organisations and charities, who take advantage of the special occasion to launch new initiatives to break down the mental health stigma (which could arguably be capitalised). I know I spent many hours creating an
awareness video for Minds Like Ours (although this will probably not be uploaded until tomorrow due to technical difficulties) in the form of a song that I wrote with my cousin Mary.

And since it is World Mental Health Day and we are aiming to share our stories free of judgement, I suppose I should admit that I really haven't had a good day today. If you've read my first post, you'll know that I suffer from obsessive-compulsive disorder, and let me tell you, when you have this particular illness, the price for forgetting a specific ritual is pretty horrendous. This time, the realisation that I had forgotten a complex routine the day before triggered an even more complex set of intrusive thoughts that literally compelled me to tear at my skin with my fingernails constantly for six hours straight. So now you see why this post has a trigger warning. By the time I got home from school I was more tired than I have ever been in my life, and I still have several pieces of homework, many of them due tomorrow, that I haven't even started yet. Which means that I should probably go and do that...

The "Plus Size" Phenomenon - What Is The World Coming To?

The recent "plus size" movement came to my attention a little while ago when I saw an advert for the clothing company Simply Be - which describes itself as being "exclusively sizes 14 - 32" - and found myself getting very angry. The problem was not that they were making clothes in bigger sizes, but that they quite clearly thought that they were promoting equality and acceptance by segregating the people who wear these larger clothes. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure that many women are grateful that these sizes are not being ignored, but I can also be sure that there are many more - especially young girls - who will see the advert and immediately assume that they must be "fat" because there are companies that have to make clothes specifically for their size. I find it to be very similar to the times when the American government thought they were doing the right thing by setting up schools exclusively for black children, or allowing them to take the seats right at the back of the buses.

I also find the idea of "plus size models" to be absolutely abhorrent, particularly when many of these women would not be considered even remotely plus size in another profession. Why can't all models just be models regardless of their size? In fact, why can't all people just be people regardless of their size, shape, colour, personality, intelligence, gender, background, class, social status, abilities or lack thereof? I'm not saying that services for the disabled should be disbanded or that extra help shouldn't be given to those who need it, I'm simply stating that you're not doing people any favours by disguising discrimination as acceptance.

One of the media's so called "plus size" models.