A LOVE Island star has revealed their life changing diagnosis after a six year mental health battle.
Dr Alex George, 34, who rose to fame on Love Island in 2018, took to his social media to tell his 2 million followers about his diagnosis.
A Love Island star has revealed their life changing diagnosis after a six year mental health battle[/caption]
Alex shared a very honest video on social media[/caption]
Alex explained the discussions he’d had with his psychiatrist[/caption]
Appearing in a video, the Love Island star said: “I had an appointment with my psychiatrist yesterday and the back story to this is that three years ago I was diagnosed with ADHD.”
Alex explained that it was around that time when he met the psychiatrist and that they went through a process of him stopping the drinking.
He went on: “I had a real plummet in December and ended up in a very, very dark place and been on medication since then, and had trauma therapy and things and I’ve got a lot better.
“I’ve been like, six or seven out of 10 a lot of the time – some dark times, but generally better.”
Alex then explained that he’d sat down with his psychiatrist and was told something he says he’d “kind of known for a while.”
He said: “I’m not stupid, I’m in this space and I had this feeling. She said a lot of things causing you distress now are related and caused by OCD.”
Alex looked emotional as he opened up on the diagnosis, adding: “This obsessive doubt and obsessive rumination. I’ll talk about how I experience it more at another point but they effectively said you have OCD and we need to treat it.
“The next step is deciding what does that look like.”
Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, commonly referred to as OCD, is a severe anxiety disorder that affects 12 in every 1000 people.
The disorder doesn’t discriminate between age, race or gender and according to the charity OCD-UK, it can be so debilitating that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has ranked OCD among the top ten when it comes to the most disabling illnesses of any kind – in terms of lost earnings and lessened quality of life.
Obsessions are thoughts, ideas and urges which feel impossible to ignore by sufferers – and they can be very persistent.
Obsessions can cause a huge amount of anxiety, particularly if they are distressing thoughts about harm coming to someone you love.
On the other hand, compulsions are the ritual sufferers perform to rid themselves of the anxiety felt from the obsessive thoughts.
What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)?
Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health problem. It has two main parts that are connected, obsessions and compulsions.
Obsessions are unwelcome thoughts, feelings, images, urges, worries or doubts that keep coming into your mind.
They may feel stuck in your mind, no matter what you do. You may worry what they mean or why they won’t go away, and feel very distressed by them.
Compulsions are repetitive things that you do to reduce the distress or uncertainty caused by obsessions.
Compulsions can be things you do physically, like repeatedly checking a door is locked. Or they can be things you do in your head, like repeating a specific word to yourself. Or they may involve others, such as asking people for reassurance.
Treatment can involve talking therapies such as Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with Exposure and response prevention (ERP).
You may be offered the following medications for OCD, either on their own or alongside talking therapy:
- Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – this is a type of antidepressant. Research has shown that it can also help to treat OCD.
- Clomipramine – this is a tricyclic antidepressant. You may be offered this if you try an SSRI but it doesn’t help.
If you think you might have OCD, visit your GP, and you can find further information at mind.org.uk/
Alex was flooded with messages of support from friends and fans in the comments.
One person wrote: “I think your a great person regardless of what you have! You are so real, kind and genuine! The world needs more Alex’s.”
Someone else put: “Sending you lots of love Alex, having ocd myself I know exactly what your going through, it’s so misunderstood.”
And a third echoed: “Thank you for sharing 
You really are an inspiration, my son has ASD and you have helped me to help my son endlessly.. thank you!”
Alex captioned his post with a lengthy statement, writing: “I wanted to share a little update with you on where l am at.
“I was diagnosed with OCD a few days ago. It’s not a surprise to me, but it still oddly comes as a shock. To be honest, OCD has probably caused me more distress than anything else. But, I already feel better having clarity and I can now begin to work on it to get better.
“My psychiatrist (who also looks after me from an ADHD perspective) has also said she believes I have ASD. That hasn’t been formally diagnosed yet, but again, it didn’t come as a huge surprise. Even so, it’s a lot to take in.
“I’m not going to lie, I kind of wish I could be less complicated and more ‘normal’, whatever that is. I was saying to my friends it’s kind of becoming a joke at this point lol.
“I am however grateful l’m in a much better place than I was at Christmas (things were pretty dark) and I want to reassure you all that l’m actually doing pretty well, despite how this all sounds. As my wonderful psychiatrist said to me, I was a house of cards on our first appointment three years ago. I think that paints a picture.
“I will probably expand on some of these things in time, but I’m glad I have faced each of them over a period of time, rather than all at once.
“Thank you all for your support, it really means a lot to know I am not alone. And neither are you. Love, Alex.”
Dr Alex has been diagnosed with OCD[/caption]