LIVING WITH ME AND MY OCD

ABOUT the film:  Living With Me and My OCD is the winner of the International OCD Foundation's 2012 "Dare to Believe" Creative Expression Contest, in the video/film category. The filmmaker, Claire Watkinson, will be traveling from her home in England to Boston for the October 13th “A Night to Believe” IOCDF's special event during OCD Awareness Week (Oct 8-14).

WATCH the film (5:10 min) on Vimeo or YouTube.

DISCUSS the film:  After you watch the film, return here to join in the discussion at the bottom of this page.

ARTIST'S STATEMENT:  This a trailer for Living With Me And My OCD, which is a personal documentary about OCD. This documentary aims to raise awareness of OCD. It will feature OCD sufferers from around the country/world, (I already have the UK, Chicago, Hawaii), who will discuss what their OCD is, how it affects them and their life and their opinions on the level of existing awareness regarding OCD. 

The documentary will feature footage from the  Bupa Manchester race my twin sister and I (both sufferers of OCD) ran for OCD UK. I filmed the event, even whilst running. The unique selling point of this documentary is the diary entries with myself that I have been filming since January. So far they contain footage of me talking about my experiences with Cognitive Behaviour Therapy, work life and low points that have occurred throughout the months filming. 

I will challenge stereotypical beliefs regarding OCD, such as the conventional belief that OCD only refers to those who have an obsession with washing their hands, or checking repeatedly. I will show that there is a much darker side to OCD thoughts, whilst not detracting from the anxiety and pain such thoughts stereotypically seen as OCD do cause. 

This is an extremely personal project and has received a lot of feedback and response from UK and the UK charities too, it would be excellent to reach international audiences with this documentary. I am still filming and intend to release start of next year. 

Facebook: facebook.com/LivingWithMeAndMyOcd Twitter: twitter.com/ClaireWatkinso2


DISCUSS the film (in comments section below):

• What support or suggestions do you have for the filmmaker as she sets out on this awareness raising project?
• How does someone with OCD move from adversity to advocacy (see A2A)? 
• How well do the interviews in this trailer convey what we want the public to understand about OCD? What would you like the public to understand about OCD?