Leaving the house to go on a longer trip and checking if all the windows are closed repeated times is sometimes not an unusual thing. Once arrived at the car ready to begin said trip but still returning to the house to check the same windows again and again a few times is however not so normal. For people suffering from OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder), it is something they have to deal with day by day. This kind of behaviour of these individuals describes however only a very mild form of this disorder and what the general public usually associates with people suffering from OCD.

Today I will present you with a case in which the patient expresses severe symptoms of Obsessive Compulsive Disorder affecting her life dramatically.

Wendy Muller (62 years old) developed severe OCD almost overnight right after her first child was born in 1987. Her behaviour ranged from not being able to sleep due to a necessity to check if the stove was turned off, the front door was closed and if her newborn baby was all right. This however was not what affected her life the most. Wendy said she stopped grocery shopping completely to avoid the urge of having to straighten the cans in the aisles. If this was not enough already, she did not use the stove either to prevent herself from endless checking whether the stove was indeed turned off. When her OCD started, Wendy was aware that something was wrong with her, however was unable to identify what caused her to do certain things a fixed number of times so it would “feel right”. Though she sought medical help, the disease was not detected. Wendy did not want to risk being admitted to a psychiatric hospital and as a result only told the doctor about having depressions. She never mentioned her obsessions.

Finally, after a year of ignorance, she managed to identify her problem when she was reading an article about OCD in the Newsweek magazine. Subsequently in 1990 when she got her first home computer, she signed up for the Prodigy Computer Network and found online groups talking about depression, anxiety and bipolar disorder. As there was no group which was talking about OCD, she created a new topic heading termed Obsessive Compulsive Disorder describing her symptoms. Soon other patients found her group and they started exchanging information regarding treatment options. The group started to gain attention and in October 1993 the Foundation held its first annual conference in which Wendy attended. In early 1995, she tried liquid Prozac combined with learning exposure and response prevention leading her to experience significant improvements for the first time.

Today she is leading a near-normal life and helps other individuals control their OCD. She also has been attending the last annual OCD conferences as in 1993 with the difference that now she is the one giving advice to people suffering from OCD rather than being the one seeking help.

I was overwhelmed by the fact that her OCD started overnight in combination that this happened right after her first child was born. It is commonly known that hormonal changes contribute to the emergence of OCD during pregnancy, though symptoms associated with the disorder would present themselves not right away as it was the case for Wendy.

If you wish to learn more about this case, click on the links below. Also feel free to share or like this post if you enjoyed reading!

Next time we will be looking at a case where a woman literally feels someone’s pain.

See you next time.

Patrick

Homepage of Wendy Muller

OCD Foundation

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