{"id":2957,"date":"2014-03-11T07:30:06","date_gmt":"2014-03-11T07:30:06","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/cardiffian.jomec.co.uk\/?p=2957"},"modified":"2014-03-11T07:30:06","modified_gmt":"2014-03-11T07:30:06","slug":"living-with-ocd","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/cardiffjournalism.co.uk\/thecardiffian\/2014\/03\/11\/living-with-ocd\/","title":{"rendered":"Living with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder"},"content":{"rendered":"

The birth of a baby is supposed to be one of the happiest days of a mother\u2019s life. When Jo, from Canton, gave birth to her first daughter in 1996, it signified a great decline in her life.<\/strong><\/em>
\n In fact, it nearly cost her her life. Before Jo became pregnant for the first time, she was a successful professional. She had not long graduated from the University of Glamorgan (now University of South Wales) with a degree in Sociology and was as happy as she had ever been for some years. <\/strong><\/em>
\nYet, along came her daughter and, with her, a severe relapse in Jo\u2019s Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD). She exclusively gives The Cardiffian an insight into her personal battle with the mental health condition\u2026 <\/strong><\/em>
\n 
\nI nearly put a stop to it all two years ago. All the pain, all the misery, all the distress had become too much. The only option, I felt, was to end my own life.
\nI also considered it 15 years ago. On both occasions, I thought better of it. And I feel all the better for it now.
\nI am one of 741,500 OCD sufferers in the UK. Like a noose tied tightly around my neck, OCD has played a huge part in my life since I was eight. Coping with such a severe mental health condition is so tough.
\n

\"Not