Current Conditions
74°F - RAIN
Mooney and five other OCD sufferers appeared at a "boot camp" supervised by trained therapists, who encouraged their guests to attack their phobias head-on.
"They filmed me having a panic attack," Mooney said. "I wasn't sure how I was going to feel about that once it aired."
When the episode did air, Mooney said, she felt surprisingly liberated.
"People have been coming up to me, telling me about their phobias or the phobias of friends or loved ones," she said. "Talking to people like that made me feel better — it was therapeutic for me and them.
"Coming out turned out to be a good thing," Mooney said. "A 17-year-old came up to me and told me her story of OCD, which reminded me of myself when I was a teen. And I realized I wanted to help her, so she wouldn't go through everything that I did."
So Mooney decided to organize a support group for those in the Elizabethtown area suffering from OCD. Hopefully it will start in about a month. "I'm still scouting for places for the meetings to be held," Mooney said. "Since the show, I've also been seeing Dr. Jonathan Gracen from the show. We have sessions at his office in Philadelphia. He's going to act as a consultant for the group."
OCD sufferers make up 4 percent of the population.
The anxiety disorder is characterized by an individual's obsessive, distressing thoughts and the related compulsive behaviors (or "rituals") used to neutralize the obsessions.Mooney said as a child she suffered from hypochondria (a fear of having a serious illness), but in adulthood, her OCD took shape about 1983, when she saw a news report about over-the-counter drugs being poisoned with cyanide.
For years, she found herself picking at her food, looking for anything that didn't belong.
"Going to the boot camp didn't cure me," Mooney said. "But I did get something out of it — new friends and a therapist — and I've been eating very well lately and gaining healthy weight."
She said OCD sufferers need to learn to live with uncertainty.
"We're constantly asking 'What if?' We have to learn to live in the present," she said.
She said it often was hard for her to get out of bed in the morning.
"But not now," Mooney said. "I feel like I have a purpose. I feel really passionate about this group.
"Trying to get above OCD isn't easy, but it's possible, with practice," she said.
(361) (207) (14) (8) (4) (2) (2)"It's even easier when you have someone to talk to."
For updates on April Mooney's OCD support group, contact her at alm6117@comcast.net.
E-mail: cdifonzo@lnpnews.com
