The Hidden Self: A Memoir

This is a book I have thought about writing for quite a while. Never one to really put much trust in self-help books, having only read a few and thinking the whole genre misses the point that each of us experience, struggle with and live life differently, I put it off thinking - probably correctly - that it would be nothing more than a vain and futile project. Furthermore, after my own struggles with OCD reached their peak in 2016, the trauma, even after recovery, made it hard for me to even think about this kind of stuff. It still is not my favourite subject.

But finally, after coming across one too many examples on social media of people not taking the disorder - or, rather, its sufferers - seriously, I decided I ought to do this after all. I want to try and dispel the myths and misunderstandings people without OCD unwittingly promulgate, thinking OCD is just a lovably eccentric quirk - a fetish for symmetry, a stickler for orderliness - downplaying the true hardship it causes those who really have it.

Finally, if anyone does ever read this who also thinks they suffer it, I hope this might in some way provide them with some perspective in living with ODC, in learning that however much it sucks at times, it never should be what defines our lives. In short, that you cannot, unfortunately, just kick OCD and be done with it. Rather, it is like an annoying companion that you can listen to, tolerate or ignore as you see fit.