The OCD Chronicles

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The OCD Chronicles

James McMahon

32 episodes

6 months ago

So my friend and your friend Lily Bailey – author of the 2016 OCD memoir Because We Are Bad: OCD and a Girl Lost in Thought and host of Wednesday night community resource, #OCDtalkhour - has got a new book out this week! It’s called When I See Blue, it’s in shops this Thursday on June 9th, and it’s a story aimed at children about a 12-year-old boy with OCD called Ben. I’m sure many of you listening to this podcast will think back to your childhood and remember how lost and confused you felt...

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Society & Culture,

Health & Fitness,

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So my friend and your friend Lily Bailey – author of the 2016 OCD memoir Because We Are Bad: OCD and a Girl Lost in Thought and host of Wednesday night community resource, #OCDtalkhour - has got a new book out this week! It’s called When I See Blue, it’s in shops this Thursday on June 9th, and it’s a story aimed at children about a 12-year-old boy with OCD called Ben. I’m sure many of you listening to this podcast will think back to your childhood and remember how lost and confused you felt...

Show more...

Society & Culture,

Health & Fitness,

Episodes (20/32)

The OCD Chronicles

BONUS EPISODE! A conversation with author and advocate, Lily Bailey

So my friend and your friend Lily Bailey – author of the 2016 OCD memoir Because We Are Bad: OCD and a Girl Lost in Thought and host of Wednesday night community resource, #OCDtalkhour - has got a new book out this week! It’s called When I See Blue, it’s in shops this Thursday on June 9th, and it’s a story aimed at children about a 12-year-old boy with OCD called Ben. I’m sure many of you listening to this podcast will think back to your childhood and remember how lost and confused you felt...

3 years ago

22 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

Finally, an end to season two!

It’s been ages and ages has it not! Yeah, I never got around to finishing season 2 did I? Life – unsurprisingly for a dude with OCD – got a bit weird there for a while. I stayed busy working on my Substack – you should check that out, at spoook.substack.com, I write a lot about OCD there – and I kept making two of my other podcasts, The James McMahon Music Podcast and Shame, both available (as they say) wherever you get your podcasts. But my OCD got pretty bad. It was getting pretty bad arou...

3 years ago

13 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

A difficult but important conversation about suicide, with Dr. Katie Gordon

On this episode of The OCD Chronicles, I’m talking to Dr. Katie Gordon. Katie is a licensed clinical psychologist who specializes in cognitive-behavioural therapy, and she’s done research work in the field of eating disorders. So far, so relevant to both this podcast and my own personal journey... Katie is also the co-host of the Psychodrama podcast. And yet the main reason why I wanted to talk to Katie for this episode was to learn more about her new book,The Suicidal Thoughts Workbook: CB...

4 years ago

52 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

When OCD and autism collide, with poet, author and lecturer, Dr. Joanne Limburg

According to the International OCD Foundation, studies show that almost all (in 2011 the percentage cited was 92%) of OCD patients also suffer from at least one other disorder. Among the most common are Autism Spectrum Disorders, which is just one reason why I'm delighted to be talking to Dr. Joanne Limburg on this episode, an acclaimed Cambridge based poet, novelist and lecturer at De Montfort University in Leicester. Joanne's OCD and her autism, both of which were diagnosed someway into ad...

4 years ago

35 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

About this week's episode...

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4 years ago

1 minute

The OCD Chronicles

Is it possible to laugh at our OCD? A conversation with comedian and author Joe Wells

On this episode of The OCD Chronicles, I’m speaking to comedian and author Joe Wells. Joe wrote the OCD memoir Touch and Go Joe when he was just a teenager, which was reissued with new artwork and a few tweaks here and there, just a few months ago. Joe’s also one of the UK comedy scene's brightest and boldest comedians. It’s a big ask, looking at your OCD – or many aspects of neurodiversity – and trying to laugh at the preposterous of it all. But – I dunno, maybe I’m feeling in a decent plac...

4 years ago

30 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

A conversation about ADHD with British comics hero Jamie McKelvie (Phonogram/Young Avengers/The Wicked + The Divine/Captain Marvel)

I’m over the moon to get my friend and British comics hero Jamie McKelvie on this episode of The OCD Chronicles. It certainly took some tooing and froing - but I do think it was more than worth the wait. As well as being the man responsible for Captain Marvel's current cool as anything suit, and, with his key writing partner Kieron Gillen, a string of brilliant comics series, Jamie was recently diagnosed with ADHD. I’ve long thought that OCD and ADHD were shitty bedfellows. Very different c...

4 years ago

59 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

"I'm great at wearing a mask. I think anyone who has a mental illness is..." - a conversation with Yan Baskets

This week on The OCD Chronicles I’m talking to writer and OCD sufferer Yan Baskets. Yan has some story to tell - you can read his excellent blog at https://ocdetour.wordpress.com - about how, terrified that OCD was going to deny him all of the opportunity, hope and wonder that life can offer, quit his job, sold his stuff, and bought a ticket to travel to the other side of the world. Until COVID hit, he just kept on travelling, seeing, exploring... I’ve done my fair share of travelling myself...

4 years ago

36 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

A conversation about family, children, relationships, medication, journalism and more with Ilana Kaplan

You know what? I think this might be my favourite episode of The OCD Chronicles to date. In this hour plus long episode, I talk to American culture journalist Ilana Kaplan about her experience of living with OCD, depression and anxiety. We get deep into our experiences with mental illness - I shared more than I thought I would going in, but hey, someone might find it useful to hear - and how we manage to maintain both employment and relationships despite our undue suffering. You might call t...

4 years ago

1 hour 6 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

When is stepping away avoidance? When is it self preservation? A conversation with Jack Pridmore

Jack Pridmore wears a lot of hats. Footballer, author, man on the telly, and an incredible advocate for the societal understanding of OCD. And that's not even the half of it! In this deep dive of an episode, I primarily talk to Jack about how OCD led to him stepping away from football - then a conversation about how I have come to accept the end of my career as a magazine editor ensues. I'd be amazed if Jack didn't end up on a future episode of The OCD Chronicles down the line. I feel our ch...

4 years ago

43 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

Art and OCD - a conversation with cartoonist and author Jason Adam Katzenstein

Here's a fact about me. When I was a kid, all I wanted to do was draw cartoons. That's all I wanted to do when I grew up, and then somewhere along the line, I discovered journalism. I still doodle now and then, and so it's been exciting getting to know Jason Adam Katzenstein - an actual professional cartoonist! He draws for The New Yorker! And he's really nice! On this episode of The OCD Chronicles we get deep into the weeds on many matters neurological, and discuss how Jason's not-too-long...

4 years ago

42 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

A conversation with Nick Thomson, the creative force behind OCD short film, 'For Want of a Nail'

TV and films ongoing struggle to depict and represent OCD authentically is a subject that matters to me greatly. I've written about it extensively in the past, most recently for The Guardian. It's a subject I'm sure The OCD Chronicles will return to down the line. But I'm always keen to get creative voices from The OCD Chronicles on this podcast. If we can see ourselves authentically in the media we consume, then we're one step closer to OCD not being so misunderstood. Filmmaker and sufferer...

4 years ago

30 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

COMING SOON! 'Shame'. A podcast about... shame!

Hello. My name is James McMahon, I’m a journalist – I host The OCD Chronicles podcast – and wanted to let you know about a new podcast that I’m launching on the Spoook Media network on August 3rd, 2021. It’s called Shame, and unsurprisingly it’s about that very thing. That negative self-eviscerating emotion that’s used to control us, crush us and keep us locked in misery. For reasons I’ll get into on the podcast, I’ve been obsessed with shame all my life, and so I’m on a quest to unders...

4 years ago

The OCD Chronicles

How OCD shapes us. And how we can reclaim what it's taken - a conversation with author Chris Westoby

I've got loads in common with Chris Westoby. We're both from Yorkshire. We're both musicians. Writers. We've both written books about OCD - though in Chris' case, his has already been published! And, sadly, we both have Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. On this far reaching episode, Chris tells me his OCD story and we discuss how OCD has changed us, and how we fight against it taking anything more from us. As ever, if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It...

4 years ago

45 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

OCD, Tourettes, marriage, children, recovery and me - a conversation with advocate Ash Curry

Ash Curry is one of the UK OCD communities fiercest - but also kindest - advocates. He speaks truth, and he speaks it loud, mainly because his suffering with OCD has been as wretched as one imagines it's possible to be. But also because his recovery is remarkable. He's been there. He's seen it. He lives to tell the tale. It was both a pleasure, and extremely illuminating, to speak to Ash for this episode. As ever, if you enjoy this episode, please do Rate, Review and Subscribe. It's a ...

4 years ago

32 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

Professor Christine Purdon on what's new in OCD research

Welcome to Season Two of The OCD Chronicles, and to kick this run of new episodes off, I speak to Professor Christine Purdon from the University of Waterloo in Waterloo, Ontario, Canada about what's new in OCD research. The further I get into my OCD journey, the more interest I have in research. What is being done to make sufferers lives more tolerable? What do researchers need to achieve that goal? Will it ever be possible to fully understand the puzzle that is Obsessive Compulsive Di...

4 years ago

47 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

Here's an update about 'The OCD Chronicles' forthcoming second season!

I thought you might like to know that Season Two of The OCD Chronicles is dropping – apparently dropping is a thing that young people say – into your feed on Monday, July 5th! I’ve spoken to other sufferers for it, but also researchers, advocates, psychologists – all sorts of interesting people. And while I’m sure you’re already subscribed to The OCD Chronicles, if you’re not, do that now and don’t miss an episode. And if you haven’t checked out Season One yet, do that! And leave a review on ...

4 years ago

1 minute

The OCD Chronicles

BONUS EPISODE! A conversation with 'The Insomnia Diaries' author Miranda Levy

Yeah, we're still on a wee break, honest! But I wanted to let you know about Season Two of The OCD Chronicles, which is coming on Monday, July 5th! I've spoken to some amazing people for the new series and I can't wait for you to hear it. And so I thought I'd drop this bonus episode as a taster of what's to come. This episode is an interview with journalist Miranda Levy, who writes about mental illness with great verve and guile, and who has just had her second book published, The Insomnia ...

4 years ago

41 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

Is recovery from OCD even possible? A conversation with @TheOCDBeard

Every person suffering with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder dreams of recovery from this wretched illness. Sometimes we need to be reminded that recovery is possible. Twelve months ago, 'Jon' - @TheOCDBeard to users of Twitter - was on the brink. After hitting rock bottom and undergoing treatment for OCD at CADAT, he's living life with a variety of tools in which he can ably fend off intrusive thoughts and live a happier life. It's an inspiring story, and so in this episode I speak to 'Jon' a...

4 years ago

41 minutes

The OCD Chronicles

BONUS EPISODE! Music, exercise and mental health, a conversation with Jimmy Watkins, from 'Running Punks'

It's not just my mental health that's in a state - my physical health needs some attention. Now, as anyone with a mental illness will tell you, exercise isn't a fix for a disorder or condition, and it's insulting to say it is. I need CBT, not cardio. Actually, scratch that... maybe I need both? I keep hearing about Running Punks, and the work of Jimmy Watkins. Former Future Of The Left guitarist (and I really liked that band for a time), former GB athlete, and all round good guy. I'm intrigu...

4 years ago

39 minutes