OCD has had a tricky time in the media. Often misrepresented and referred to as a quirk, OCD is a condition that is vulnerable to manipulation and sensationalism. People with OCD have had to watch their condition described more for entertainment purposes than to represent what is actually an incredibly distressing condition. The great news is that things are changing! Over the past couple of years, a new wave of journalists have come forward, committed to representing OCD in its actuality and ensuring they write about it in a non-stigmatic, factually correct way. We are seeing steps taken ..read more

Hello wonderful people! It's not often that I write an opinion piece but I think it suits this subject. For a while now, I've been seeing some discussions about OCD online that have left me feeling confused, and if I'm feeling confused, the chances are someone new to the world of OCD and recovery is feeling confused. So let's talk about it. I've been an OCD advocate for eight years now and I'm still amazed by some of the discussions I see on social media surrounding OCD and mental health. I mean, I get it, those of us with OCD, myself included, are often prone to a bit of black and white ..read more

I’ve spent the past eight years of my life learning and writing about the hidden condition that is OCD. How little did I know (why didn't I know!!!?????) that another criminally under-discussed condition was creeping up on me. One that despite affecting 50% of the population, I had very little idea about!  That’s right everyone, we’re talking about the perimenopause and the menopause (to save my fingers from now on... the peri/menopause!) Gone are the days where we have to suffer in silence and it’s better for Every. Single. Person. On. The. Planet if we all understand what the peri/meno ..read more

Hey Everyone! Looking for help for OCD can feel like a big step to take - it can be exciting and terrifying all at the same time - but it's worth it. I’ve been advocating for OCD for over eight years now and I've learned a lot about getting support - I’m going to empty my brain into this post. Connected to this blog is a fully updated Taming Olivia Information and Resources section so please check it out. I'm restricted to word count on a blog, but not in the information pages so you'll find loads more helpful information and links on those pages. Or you can visit the individual sections here ..read more

Hey Everyone! Here’s the context to this blog, as always, you can skip straight to the main part of the post here! I moved house recently. It was a move that carried a huge amount of emotion because it involved me leaving a house that had been in my family since 1979. It was the house my sister and I were bought back to after being born, it was the house that I bought Pete back to to meet my family, and it is the house I said goodbye to my mum and dad in. This house had huuuuuge sentimental value. BUT It was time to move. I’d taken over the house and lived in it for seven years. We’d had some ..read more

This was my first trip out to a wonderful beach side cafe. It was just after moving. It was a hard-earned visit which I’d been looking forward to for a long time before we even moved. It had beautiful food, delicious coffee, an incredible view of the sea. It was glorious… and OCD completely annihilated it. There were dogs everywhere in the cafe (I love dogs!) and I became super focussed on contamination. They were coming up to us, my son and husband were stroking them, and it sent me into a frenzy - not that you’d know by looking at me in the reel. All I could think about was poop and contami ..read more

What is uncertainty and how does it affect those of us with OCD? We could talk about this all day but let’s keep it brief! Uncertainty is being unsure of outcomes. It’s about not knowing what will happen as a result of literally anything. Life is one big exposure to uncertainty. Those of us with OCD tend to give more weight to less likely negative outcomes than those without OCD, this is particularly the case if there’s a possibility of harm. Those of us with OCD can go to extreme lengths to try to avoid or control feelings of uncertainty, it’s time consuming and exhausting. Thankfully there a ..read more

OCD can make us feel extremely isolated and finding our community of people who understand what we're going through can be very helpful. At this years OCD Action conference, I hosted a wonderful panel on finding your OCD community. We cover: Who are the OCD community? How to recognise some of the signs that you've found a community that will be healthy for you. How communities often change as we move through recovery. Ways of keeping ourselves safe when reaching out to others. Good pracitse and not-so good practise by comunties. How to know when it's time to move on. What OCD Action provides ..read more

I sat through an hours worth of reels about OCD and mental health recovery on Instagram yesterday. It helped me feel less alone, it validated my experiences and feelings, and some of them were really entertaining so it gave me a mood boost. So that's good... isn't it? Well, those bits are of course, it's always good to feel connected to our community! But, and this is a pretty difficult but..., are we learning helpful strategies? Are we learning skills that will improve our life quality? Are these things providing us with too many opportunities for reassurance and avoidance and therefore maki ..read more

I sat through an hours worth of reels about OCD and mental health recovery on Instagram yesterday. It helped me feel less alone, it validated my experiences and feelings, and some of them were really entertaining so it gave me a mood boost. So that's good... isn't it? Well, those bits are of course, it's always good to feel connected to our community! But, and this is a pretty difficult but..., are we learning helpful strategies? Are we learning skills that will improve our life quality? Are these things providing us with too many opportunities for reassurance and avoidance and therefore maki ..read more