Comment on Why OCD should be taken more seriously from pages 12-13

INTENSE thoughts of committing murder, drowning your baby or falsely telling friends and family you have cancer seem too far-fetched for most of us to imagine.

But for the Obsessive Compulsive Disorder sufferers who made the brave step of speaking out about their condition they are – or have been – a shocking reality.

Contrary to popular belief, the condition is far more than a quirk which makes people a little too interested in how straight their sock drawer is.

In fact, the condition is ranked among the World Health Organisation's ten most debilitating illnesses.

And, to make matters worse, it appears people suffering from the condition in West Kent and East Sussex are waiting far too long for treatment.

Ashley Fullwood, the founder of OCD-UK, who has set up support groups in Ticehurst and Tunbridge Wells, told us: "The quality of treatment is of a poor standard.

"In other parts of the country treatment is readily available, is much quicker and is of a better quality.

"Here you have a one or two-year waiting list and during that period OCD can get so much worse."

Thankfully public understanding of mental illness has increased considerably in recent decades.

But it is time perceptions and, more critically, treatment of OCD caught up.