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International Journal of Emergency Mental Health and Human Resilience | ISSN: 1522-4821 | Volume: 20
July 25-26, 2018 | Vancouver, Canada
Psychiatric & Mental Health Nursing
14th World Congress on
Mental Health and Wellbeing
5th World Congress on
&
The war within: Obsessive Compulsive Disorder / Complex Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder, the struggle,
fight and recovery
Lucy Faranda
York Catholic District School Board, Canada
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!
Lucy Faranda, IJEMHHR 2018, Volume: 20
DOI: 10.4172/1522-4821-C3-017