Jackie McGregor: How Charles and Camilla mud wrestling has helped my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

“Doing your bedtime routine?” asked my son on his way upstairs. “Just the doors to check,” I replied.

“Charles and Camilla mud wrestling in pink tiaras!” I yelled as I tried the backdoor handle to make sure it was locked.

When I felt everything was secured, I headed upstairs, halfway there my resolve weakened. Did I check the cooker? Then I remembered Simon in his gold G-string.

Let me explain, I suffer with checking OCD (Obsessive Compulsive Disorder) this manifests at night when I’m going to bed or when I’m leaving the house. I will inspect oven, hob and switches rigorously, come out of the kitchen and go straight back in again and start over. This can continue for several minutes before I can tear myself away.

An expert on TV advised that shouting something ridiculous while you check switches and locks, can help reinforce the notion that you have made sure everything was secure. By remembering the silly things, you were shouting (even more effective if they’re rude!) while you performed the action, helps assure you that you’ve checked it. Hence, me yelling nonsense every night as I turn off electrical equipment and lock doors. As silly as it sounds, this method has helped cut down on the time I spend checking things.

Around one in 50 people in the UK have OCD, this adds up to over one million sufferers. OCD affects males and females equally. There has been an increase in sufferers in recent years, which could be due to factors like work habits, technology use and the cost of living.

The reason behind compulsive checking is to try and reduce the anxiety associated with uncertainty or doubt over feared harm coming to oneself or others.

In my case my OCD stems from an incident in a former place of work. During the troubles, I worked in a first-floor office in a notoriously unsafe area. The premise’s entrance was always kept locked. One day, I forgot to bar the door. Within minutes of leaving the door unlocked, I was held at gunpoint by masked men with shotguns while they carried out an armed robbery. Since then, perhaps unsurprisingly, I have been hypervigilant, always scanning for potential threats and endeavouring to keep everyone safe.

Ways to overcome checking OCD include meditation and cognitive behavioural therapy which involves exposing yourself to your fears and not responding with compulsions. Personally, I’m having more success with yelling nonsense as I turn things off, and for extra security, taking photos of the oven turned to off, and the bolted doors. This way, if I get upstairs and panic, I can look at the photos with date and time on them and know all’s secure.

I spend less time checking now. These seemingly daft actions help me, if you’re a checker you’ll understand the anxiety involved.

“Goodnight,” called my son. “Goodnight. Donald Trump in a leopard print bikini, eating a poke,” I yelled, as I turned off my bedside light and carefully unplugged it.