OCD Action is raising awareness about the compulsive disorder in the second week of February.
The charity is trying to correct the perception the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is quirky cleaning or ordering personality trait. It hopes to make the public aware of the crippling disorder that affects up to a million people in the UK.
The condition causes people to have repetitive thoughts or behaviour.
Bill Gregory, 47, from Thornton Heath, has been suffering with OCD since he was a child.
He is an ambassador for the charity and is hoping to organise some awareness events in Croydon.
His symptoms manifested after a severe bout of bullying at school when he began to compulsively wash himself.
He was diagnosed when he was 20 and has been battling the condition ever since.
He said: “I had to wash all the time, I think it was a physical reaction to being spat at and bullied.
“The washing has improved, using behavioural techniques, now I avoid touching things rather than washing.”
Mr Gregory said he also suffers from unrequited love OCD where he becomes obsessed with women he encounters.
He said: “Obsessions are quite rare, what happens is every few years, I see a woman’s face and I fixate on it and think I am in love with them.
“It stops me thinking about any romantic attachment that comes my way.”
Mr Gregory said those with OCD are aware their thoughts are irrational but they cannot help their compulsions.
He said: “It is a long struggle to get over it.
“People need to see this as a serious illness as opposed to a type of madness.”
For more information go to www.ocdaction.org.uk
