About this week's episode...

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

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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!