Thanks for taking the time to visit my JustGiving page.

THE CHALLENGE 

My friends & I have decided to embark on the challenge of climbing the 3 highest peaks in Yorkshire to raise awareness & money for OCD & mental health in general. The route is 24 miles long and totals 5,200 ft of accent & we aim to complete it in under 12 hours. This is no easy challenge, especially given our British weather. 

MY OCD 

"Imagine your worst enemy being your own mind" 

I want to do as much as I can to help create awareness for OCD and mental health in general. My personal OCD started around the age of 8-10. I remember as a child just feeling it was normal to be doing these awful rituals but after a while understood I was different to my friends. 

No one really has a true understanding of the disease which is now classed as one of  the top 10 debilitating diseases in the world. 

I started with the classic hand washing, cleanliness, touching the light 3 times etc to today where have intrusive thoughts, all which cause constant anxiety and worry. I have met people who have had it a lot worse than me & have attempted suicide.  

There is so much much much much more to tell & it might sound silly but believe me its an awful disease so please give a little to help raise awareness and money for such a underrated mental health problem. 

Below I have put a very brief description of OCD which further information can be found at http://www.ocduk.org/ocd

The illness affects as many as 12 in every 1000 people (1.2% of the population) from young children to adults, regardless of gender or social or cultural background. In fact, it can be so debilitating and disabling that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has actually ranked OCD in the top ten of the most disabling illnesses of any kind, in terms of lost earnings and diminished quality of life.

Based on current estimates for the UK population, there are potentially around 741,504 people living with OCD at any one time. But it is worth noting that a disproportionately high number, 50% of all these cases, will fall into the severe category, with less than a quarter being classed as mild cases.

OCD presents itself in many guises, and certainly goes far beyond the common perception that OCD is merely hand washing or checking light switches. In general, OCD sufferers experience obsessions which take the form of persistent and uncontrollable thoughts, images, impulses, worries, fears or doubts. They are often intrusive, unwanted, disturbing, significantly interfere with the ability to function on a day-to-day basis as they are incredibly difficult to ignore. People with OCD often realise that their obsessional thoughts are irrational, but they believe the only way to relieve the anxiety caused by them is to perform compulsive behaviours, often to prevent perceived harm happening to themselves or, more often than not, to a loved one.