The OCD Chronicles

So my friend and your friend Lily Bailey – author of the 2016 OCD memoir Because We Are Bad: OCD and a Girl Lost in Thought and host of Wednesday night community resource, #OCDtalkhour - has got a new book out this week! It's called When I See Blue, it's in shops this Thursday on June 9th, and it's a story aimed at children about a 12-year-old boy with OCD called Ben. I'm sure many of you listening to this podcast will think back to your childhood and remember how lost and confused you felt not understanding what was happening to you and why you were having such difficulty with thought. And so I think it's super inspiring that Lily has written this book. Be the change you want to see and all that. I thought it about time that I got Lily on the podcast – her first time, amazingly - and I'm really grateful that she took the time to speak to me last week to tell me more about the book and what she's got planned next. Enjoy the episode! And buy the book!Want more? Please investigate my new podcast, Shame, today! - https://tinyurl.com/33jv594y

It's been ages and ages has it not! Yeah, I never got around to finishing season 2 did I? Life – unsurprisingly for a dude with OCD – got a bit weird there for a while. I stayed busy working on my Substack – you should check that out, at spoook.substack.com, I write a lot about OCD there – and I kept making two of my other podcasts, The James McMahon Music Podcast and Shame, both available (as they say) wherever you get your podcasts.But my OCD got pretty bad. It was getting pretty bad around the time I stopped publishing episodes. And then I started having a bunch of new therapy… which has been going really well actually. I've had a few wobbles. Quite big wobbles. But for the largest part things have been getting good. I feel like I've learned to manage my OCD better than I did when I was putting out episodes all the time – which means… I think I'm ready to start working on season three.I've got a few ideas of people I want to speak to, but I thought it might be a nice idea to officially end season two here, with a conversation I recently had with Chris Hawkins on BBC 6 Music about my life with OCD. Now, I'm sure I'm not supposed to have taped the interview off the radio and repurposed it here for you, but I'm sure it'll be fine. I'm not worried. I don't worry about normal things. Just whether I've tapped a table enough times or whether I'm going to cut my arm off. OCD it's absolutely bloody bonkers, right?Enjoy this chat, won't you. And season 3 is coming…

On this episode of The OCD Chronicles, I'm talking to Dr. Katie Gordon. Katie is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in cognitive-behavioural therapy, and she's done research work in the field of eating disorders. So far, so relevant to both this podcast and my own personal journey... Katie is also the co-host of the Psychodrama podcast. And yet the main reason why I wanted to talk to Katie for this episode was to learn more about her new book,The Suicidal Thoughts Workbook: CBT Skills to Reduce Emotional Pain, Increase Hope, and Prevent Suicide. There's much real talk contained within, but I wanted to say something before you dive in. If you're thinking of listening to this podcast, chances are you struggle with OCD too. I know the pain you're in. I know how hard it can be. But please know how sincere I am when I say this... I really would like you to stay.A few things I should mention...Want more of this sort of thing? Please investigate my new podcast, Shame, today! - https://tinyurl.com/33jv594yThe podcast I reference in the episode? It's the excellent Sound Affects podcast, by my friend Katy Georgiou. This is the interview with me - https://tinyurl.com/5pju94skThis is my favourite Nirvana song - https://tinyurl.com/37ntahz

According to the International OCD Foundation, studies show that almost all (in 2011 the percentage cited was 92%) of OCD patients also suffer from at least one other disorder. Among the most common are Autism Spectrum Disorders, which is just one reason why I'm delighted to be talking to Dr. Joanne Limburg on this episode, an acclaimed Cambridge based poet, novelist and lecturer at De Montfort University in Leicester.Joanne's OCD and her autism, both of which were diagnosed someway into adulthood, greatly influence her work, and the relationship between the two conditions is something we talk about in some detail on this (later than intended) episode. Joanne's 2015 OCD memoir The Woman Who Thought Too Much comes much recommended by this podcast!A few things I should mention...Want more of this sort of thing? Please investigate my new podcast, Shame, today! - https://tinyurl.com/33jv594yThe essay about the dangers of retroactive diagnosis, by The OCD Chronicles alumni Dr. Jo Edge, can be found here - https://tinyurl.com/app/myurlsI mention my band in this episode. My old band. You're not getting to hear them... but why not check out my new band, Sister Death! - https://tinyurl.com/42r2mtcb

On this episode of The OCD Chronicles, I'm speaking to comedian and author Joe Wells.Joe wrote the OCD memoir Touch and Go Joe when he was just a teenager, which was reissued with new artwork and a few tweaks here and there, just a few months ago. Joe's also one of the UK comedy scene's brightest and boldest comedians. It's a big ask, looking at your OCD – or many aspects of neurodiversity – and trying to laugh at the preposterous of it all. But – I dunno, maybe I'm feeling in a decent place at the moment – but I've increasingly found myself able to. Go on. Give it a go!  It's a wretched illness - but it's a stupid one too!I do hope you enjoy my conversation with Joe!Want more? Please investigate my new podcast, Shame, today! - https://tinyurl.com/33jv594y

I'm over the moon to get my friend and British comics hero Jamie McKelvie on this episode of The OCD Chronicles. It certainly took some tooing and froing - but I do think it was more than worth the wait. As well as being the man responsible for Captain Marvel's current cool as anything suit, and, with his key writing partner Kieron Gillen, a string of brilliant comics series, Jamie was recently diagnosed with ADHD. I've long thought that OCD and ADHD were shitty bedfellows. Very different conditions, very similar consequences for a person's life – especially when diagnosed in adulthood. Here we have a conversation about how we're both trying to adapt, process and live with our respective diagnosis's.Want more? Please investigate my new podcast, Shame, today! - https://tinyurl.com/33jv594y

This week on The OCD Chronicles I'm talking to writer and OCD sufferer Yan Baskets.Yan has some story to tell - you can read his excellent blog at https://ocdetour.wordpress.com - about how, terrified that OCD was going to deny him all of the opportunity, hope and wonder that life can offer, quit his job, sold his stuff, and bought a ticket to travel to the other side of the world. Until COVID hit, he just kept on travelling, seeing, exploring... I've done my fair share of travelling myself. I've forced myself to for the same reasons that Yan has – and I hope – will do again. Because hey, if World War 3 is raging in your brain, you might as well do battle somewhere where there's a beach… right?Want more? Please investigate my new podcast, Shame, today! - https://tinyurl.com/33jv594y

You know what? I think this might be my favourite episode of The OCD Chronicles to date.In this hour plus long episode, I talk to American culture journalist Ilana Kaplan about her experience of living with OCD, depression and anxiety. We get deep into our experiences with mental illness - I shared more than I thought I would going in, but hey, someone might find it useful to hear - and how we manage to maintain both employment and relationships despite our undue suffering. You might call this the 'high functioning' episode! Ilana has written for The New York Times, GQ and Vogue, and is one of the most consistently excellent writers I know. Whether you're an OCD sufferer, you love someone with OCD or are just interested in journalism, you'll find plenty of interest here. Want more? Please investigate my new podcast, Shame, today! - https://tinyurl.com/33jv594y

Jack Pridmore wears a lot of hats. Footballer, author, man on the telly, and an incredible advocate for the societal understanding of OCD. And that's not even the half of it!In this deep dive of an episode, I primarily talk to Jack about how OCD led to him stepping away from football - then a conversation about how I have come to accept the end of my career as a magazine editor ensues. I'd be amazed if Jack didn't end up on a future episode of The OCD Chronicles down the line. I feel our chat barely scratched the surface of all he has to say! In the meantime, I hope you enjoy this episode as much as I enjoyed making it. If you do? Please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

Here's a fact about me. When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was draw cartoons. That's all I wanted to do when I grew up, and then somewhere along the line, I discovered journalism. I still doodle now and then, and so it's been exciting getting to know Jason Adam Katzenstein - an actual professional cartoonist! He draws for The New Yorker! And he's really nice! On this episode of The OCD Chronicles we get deep into the weeds on many matters neurological, and discuss how Jason's not-too-long-released memoir Everything Is Emergency came to be. As ever, if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

TV and films ongoing struggle to depict and represent OCD authentically is a subject that matters to me greatly. I've written about it extensively in the past, most recently for The Guardian. It's a subject I'm sure The OCD Chronicles will return to down the line.But I'm always keen to get creative voices from The OCD Chronicles on this podcast. If we can see ourselves authentically in the media we consume, then we're one step closer to OCD not being so misunderstood. Filmmaker and sufferer Nick Thomson is the latest creative to attempt to capture the condition - his short film For Want of a Nail is available to watch now. We have an enjoyable conversation on this episode.As ever, if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

Hello. My name is James McMahon, I'm a journalist – I host The OCD Chronicles podcast – and wanted to let you know about a new podcast that I'm launching on the Spoook Media network on August 3rd, 2021.It's called Shame, and unsurprisingly it's about that very thing. That negative self-eviscerating emotion that's used to control us, crush us and keep us locked in misery. For reasons I'll get into on the podcast, I've been obsessed with shame all my life, and so I'm on a quest to understand what it is about this wretched emotion that hangs around my head, my heart and soul, and tethers me from joy. I'll be speaking to psychologists, historians – and people who feel shame or have been shamed.If that sounds like something you're interested in, please subscribe to the podcast today – available, as they say, wherever you get your podcasts! Shame is a Spoook Media production. Spoook is also a record label, a promoter, a shop, a Substack - it's many things. Follow us on Instagramand Twitter. And please do Like, Review and Subscribe - it actually really helps people find our podcasts!

I've got loads in common with Chris Westoby. We're both from Yorkshire. We're both musicians. Writers. We've both written books about OCD - though in Chris' case, his has already been published! And, sadly, we both have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. On this far reaching episode, Chris tells me his OCD story and we discuss how OCD has changed us, and how we fight against it taking anything more from us. As ever, if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

Ash Curry is one of the UK OCD communities fiercest - but also kindest - advocates. He speaks truth, and he speaks it loud, mainly because his suffering with OCD has been as wretched as one imagines it's possible to be. But also because his recovery is remarkable. He's been there. He's seen it. He lives to tell the tale. It was both a pleasure, and extremely illuminating, to speak to Ash for this episode. As ever, if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

Welcome to Season Two of The OCD Chronicles, and to kick this run of new episodes off, I speak to Professor Christine Purdon from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada about what's new in OCD research. The further I get into my OCD journey, the more interest I have in research. What is being done to make sufferers lives more tolerable? What do researchers need to achieve that goal? Will it ever be possible to fully understand the puzzle that is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder?As ever, if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

I thought you might like to know that Season Two of The OCD Chronicles is dropping – apparently dropping is a thing that young people say – into your feed on Monday, July 5th! I've spoken to other sufferers for it, but also researchers, advocates, psychologists – all sorts of interesting people. And while I'm sure you're already subscribed to The OCD Chronicles, if you're not, do that now and don't miss an episode. And if you haven't checked out Season One yet, do that! And leave a review on Apple podcasts so more people can discover the show! I don't ask much do I? And if anyone fancies inventing a cure for OCD I'll take that too! See you, bright and busy tailed, on Monday, July 5th!

Yeah, we're still on a wee break, honest! But I wanted to let you know about Season Two of The OCD Chronicles, which is coming on Monday, July 5th! I've spoken to some amazing people for the new series and I can't wait for you to hear it. And so I thought I'd drop this bonus episode as a taster of what's to come. This episode is an interview with journalist Miranda Levy, who writes about mental illness with great verve and guile, and who has just had her second book published, The Insomnia Diaries, a subject I'm sure most people with OCD will either have some or a lot of interest in. Please go get her book now. In all the usual places. It comes much recommended.Monday July 5th. The OCD Chronicles: Season Two. But for now, if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

Every person suffering with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder dreams of recovery from this wretched illness. Sometimes we need to be reminded that recovery is possible. Twelve months ago, 'Jon' - @TheOCDBeard to users of Twitter - was on the brink. After hitting rock bottom and undergoing treatment for OCD at CADAT, he's living life with a variety of tools in which he can ably fend off intrusive thoughts and live a happier life. It's an inspiring story, and so in this episode I speak to 'Jon' and ask, 'what am I doing wrong?'This is the last episode of The OCD Chronicles for a few weeks. We'll be back soon! As ever, if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

It's not just my mental health that's in a state - my physical health needs some attention. Now, as anyone with a mental illness will tell you, exercise isn't a fix for a disorder or condition, and it's insulting to say it is. I need CBT, not cardio. Actually, scratch that... maybe I need both?I keep hearing about Running Punks, and the work of Jimmy Watkins. Former Future Of The Left guitarist (and I really liked that band for a time), former GB athlete, and all round good guy. I'm intrigued and inspired; both by their mission, and Jimmy's story. That's what this bonus episode of The OCD Chronicles is about. If you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

With her innovative OCD blog Taming Olivia, Catherine Benfield has long brought new ideas to the table on how best to manage OCD. This week we get into that - but pertinently, also Catherine's experiences (often rage inducing, in truth) with perinatal and maternal OCD. If you're a parent with OCD, I don't think you can miss this week's episode.For more info on Catherine's many, many projects on the go, do check out her website won't you. Also, if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

Can We Not Knock It? is a podcast about the England Football Team at Euro 2020.It's brought to you by Spoook Mediargh - the people behind The Spoook Podcast and The OCD Chronicles. If you like either of those, maybe you'll like this too?Tell you what... why not subscribe now, and never miss an episode!

As well as being a properly brilliant human, Danni Jackson is an actor, writer and comedian. She's one half of the very funny duo Jackson & Fuller, who are currently working with Comedy Central. Their debut short form sketch series Bad Snappers amassed over 20 million views internationally, securing them two Broadcast Digital Award nominations and 'Best Breakthrough Web Series' at the Funny Women Awards 2018. They were also nominated for the 'Debut Writer' award at the Edinburgh TV Festival New Voice Awards 2019. Now Danni co-writes and stars in Bad Cramps - which I'm a huge fan of. Not that I'm the only one. The show is Comedy Central's most successful online series to date. Danni also has Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and in this longer-than-usual episode of The OCD Chronicles, we talk Relationship OCD, breakdowns, existentialism... but first, true crime.If you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

This week I have a conversation with author Jen Teegarden. She's fascinating company, though I knew this from the moment I first spoke to her for The OCD Chronicles website sometime last year. Jen has written a novel, Don't Say Never, with OCD at its core. Here we get into the big stuff; OCD and grief, magical thinking, OCD and spirituality... It's a really good conversation with a brave and inspiring member of the OCD community.If you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

When student journalist and OCD sufferer Sophie Ward got in touch and asked if I would contribute to a piece she was writing about OCD and journalism, I fully intended to contribute. That was the plan. But my own OCD has been especially fevered this last week. I committed the cardinal sin of journalism - I missed the deadline.Sophie is nice (and forgiving, thankfully) and certainly very talented - you'll be hearing more from her, I have no doubt about that. And so I thought, 'why not get her on the podcast?' What you'll find on this bonus episode of The OCD Chronicles is a candid conversation that can loosely be summerized as 'trying to make sense of OCD'. But it's really just two sufferers, at different points in their respective journeys, chatting about the disorder. Join us! If you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

I've been a professional journalist for almost 20-years, and - for the first time ever, really - I'm ready to admit, to myself more than anyone, how difficult my OCD has made my chosen profession. Writing is such an important part of my life, and I'm sure I'll return to the theme on a future episode of the podcast. But I wanted to connect with my friend Emma Grae - a fantastic writer and journalist (her debut novel is imminent) - to see if her story could help me understand the problems that I've faced in my career. If you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

To mark twelve months of 'The OCD Chronicles' - www.itstheocdchronicles.com - journalist and host James McMahon - that's me! - held an online discussion about the realities of OCD, with site alumni David Adam [author of 'The Man Who Couldn't Stop'], Dr. Jo Edge [co-creator of intersectional mental illness ally group Mad COVID], Sorcha McCaffrey [actor and writer, 'Ladybones'] and Maximilian Hawker [author of 'Rory Hobble and the Voyage to Haligogen', a book for children with OCD, and their parents]. Here is that conversation and the subsequent Q&A. £500 was raised in ticket sales for the upkeep of the London based OCD support group, OCD London. If you've found this video interesting or informative, please do consider a donation to either OCD-UK (https://www.ocduk.org​), OCD Action (https://ocdaction.org.uk) - or if you're flush, both! Oh, and if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

Remember episode two, and the conversation I had with Dr. Sachin Shah from Gaming The Mind about the relationship between videogames and mental health? Well, Dr. Shah turned me on to a brilliant article about OCD, specifically what Resident Evil and Dead Rising 1 and 2 (two of my favourite ever videogames) could teach us about the disorder. It's brilliant and bonkers stuff. You can read the article here - https://tinyurl.com/fjttj8ax The writers name? Dom O'Brien. I had to get him on the podcast to talk about his theories! If you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

If you spend time on Twitter, you might know that @Shiraisinspired is one of the OCD communities bravest and boldest voices. But the blast radius of OCD is wide. Few in the orbit or a sufferer aren''t affected. Supporting Shira throughout her OCD fight is her mum - and writer - Saundra Goldman. This week we explore what it's like to love someone with OCD - a topic we will unquestionably return to - specifically a child. If you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

I love videogames. They dampen my chaotic brain. But are they helping or hindering my recovery? This week I speak to Dr Sachin Shah about 'Gaming The Mind', an organisation made up of UK-based mental health professionals - and huge video game fans! Their stated aim is to promote positive mental health within the gaming community and the games industry. By focusing on the intersection between gaming and mental health, they want to raise awareness of mental health challenges and reduce the stigma surrounding these issues. Learn more about their work here. If you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

On this bonus episode of The OCD Chronicles, a conversation with actor and sufferer - and my friend - Maryam Grace.  We talk primarily about having OCD during a global pandemic, but also the concept (and pitfalls) of 'masking' and being 'high functioning'. It's an excellent conversation. I do hope you find something within it that you enjoy. Maryam is an actress and director, known for The Mummy (2017), The Show Must Go Online (2020) and The Postcard Killings (2020). You can find her on Twitter at @maryamsgrace. If you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!

OCD is a terrible, debilitating disorder. It's also routinely misunderstood. The OCD Chronicles is a podcast about the people who've fought this horrible illness, and, despite their struggles, thrived. They're stories that are inspiring, affirmative, uplifting, emotional and useful. They exist as a record of achievement. To educate. Perhaps even entertain. They're stories about the lives that Obsessive Compulsive Disorder tried to extinguish. Your host is journalist James McMahon. His own journey with OCD is long and arduous - and it's far from over. Join him on a voyage of discovery as he attempts to make sense of what is wrong with his brain. Maybe even to find the peace that's alluded him for most of his life. It promises to be emotional. We begin with a conversation with OCD sufferer and YouTuber Izzy Wanders. Few sufferers stories are as inspiring, affirmative and uplifting as hers. Catch her on YouTube. This is The OCD Chronicles. If you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a huge help!