International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience
Open Access

Abstract

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 a 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.

Biography

Lucy Faranda is 37 years old. In 2012, she was diagnosed with severe OCD and then CPTSD in 2013, Depression and eventually Suicidal Ideation in 2014. She is an educator and when she was diagnosed her world changed and fell apart. Being in and out of psychiatric hospitals, treatment centers and various OCD support groups that she was in for the biggest fight of her life. Fast forward seven years, and she is back to work, her mental illness is manageable so that she can date, see friends, do things in public, and mostly enjoy her life. She had fought hard to get where she was, but not without help from a very supportive psychiatric team at Sunnybrook Hospital. Her story isn't over yet!

E-mail: farandal@hotmail.com