Pure OCD: a rude awakening

You mentally undress your friends, Tony Blair, the lollipop lady. Your thoughts are X-rated. You wonder if you're a paedophile – or just losing your mind. A sufferer describes the nightmare – and dark comedy – of living with pure OCDOn a spring night when I was 15 the mental image of a naked child entered my head and the corners of my world folded in. I put down my cutlery. My throat was closing over. Dad sat across from me, 10,000 miles away, and Mum was hunting draughts at the window.Stoned and smiling, my brother sat next to me, resting his elbows on teenage knees too high for the table. He looked sidelong at Mum and Dad to check they weren't watching as he teased the dog with a tiny piece of meat. She patted a furry paw on his leg and let out a little squeak, and he looked at me for my surefire grin of complicity. I knew it was funny. It was definitely funny. But the giggles didn't come, this time.The image flickered again as he popped the lid of the ketchup bottle in and out, before shaking it and pouring a lake on to his plate. I picked some mashed broccoli seeds from the tablecloth as the image flashed brighter and my ribcage tightened – giant insect legs squeezing me for the first time. I rose and said, "Thank you for the meal." The dog danced around my feet as I reached for the kitchen cupboard where we kept the leash.The street was dark and cold, and the dog strained against the collar. Someone was burning bracken and the air was mossy. In the wood I couldn'...
Source: Guardian Unlimited Science - Category: Science Tags: The Guardian Psychology Sexuality Mental health & wellbeing Society Features Obsessive-compulsive disorder Life and style Source Type: news