The War Within: A Personal Journey with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder/Complex Post Traumatic Disorder-The Struggle, the Fight, and Recovery

Abstract

Lucy Faranda

For years, I had suffered from OCD. I have been in and out of many psychiatric facilities both in the United States and in Canada. My experiences are complicated but also very informative for those seeking help with OCD. I have been in many crisis situations and have endured many treatments like CBT, mindfulness, guided meditation, ERP, hospitalization, and withstanding very intense OCD and CPTSD residential treatment programs. In time, with the right medical team, support groups, medication and self-motivation to fight against the debilitating symptoms OCD, I have gone from being on LTD for the inability to function and complete daily tasks like showering and dressing without compulsions, to reclaiming back my life and returning back to teaching. I hope to be able to pay it forward and speak to the great resources and staff available at Sunnybrook Hospital. I hope to share my story of struggle and recovery to help bring resource information and hope for those suffering from any mental illness. I have seen the good, the bad and the ugly. But, I have also seen hope and light. I now am able to know how it feels to be able to function again, as well as acknowledge a strength that I could never have known I had if it was not for the experiences I endured. I have the authority to now say OCD is not a life sentence, OCD can, in fact, be managed. I can be the voice that I so desperately needed years ago, when all I wanted to do was end my life because I had a lack of experience around me of seeing those who made it, those who survived and not just survived, but thrive into productive individuals who are able to manage their OCD and be successful.

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