“Jennifer” is a senior trader, and was surprised to learn of OCD on the web. By the time she came to do the programme, she had been signed off work for ‘stress’ and was awaiting a mental-health team referral.
Decades ago, Jennifer had systematically bullied a schoolmate. For months she’d been researching her on a social networking site, and even used a clever ruse to contact her parents. Describing a need for “atonement”, Jennifer’s fear was that this person might well be suffering from adult psychiatric problems.
More fears unfolded as Jennifer understood her OCD – and more clever ruses emerged. Once, she duped all her friends into erasing her emails, claiming a “suspected virus” – this after sending an X-rated joke she later feared would offend.
Though it made her OCD worse, Jennifer had taken to social drinking as a respite from unrelenting anxiety symptoms.