Hello all! Having spoken to the lovely Karen, I told her that I would post on here about her current research project. She would really appreciate any volunteers and I would certainly encourage you to take part – it’s an interesting project and it’s great to see someone who has personal experience of OCD doing research in the area. Karen is looking for people with OCD, depression but not OCD and people with no mental health problems. I’ll hand it over to Karen!
Hello. My name is Karen Robinson. I am a researcher with personal experience of obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD).
I had OCD for over 30 years but delayed 24 years before seeking help from the the mental health service. I was offered specialist cognitive behavioural therapy for OCD, which was to prove completely life-changing. So my personal background has been a big motivation for wanting to be involved in developing this research project.
I am employed by King’s College London to conduct the project and at the same time am registered as a PhD student at the University of Bath. I will be writing up the project for my PhD thesis. My supervisor is Paul Salkovskis. We are very grateful to have received funding for the project from South London and Maudsley Charitable Funds.
Invitation to take part in the research project
The research project is called ‘Seeking help and receiving appropriate treatment for OCD’. It aims to identify the factors which encourage people with OCD to seek treatment, and the barriers to seeking help. It also examines whether people are offered appropriate treatment when they do seek help. We would like to invite you to take part.
We are seeking 90 people with OCD (including people who have already sought help and people who have never sought help), and 30 people with depression but not OCD, who would kindly be willing to take part in this project.
Some of the factors which encourage people with OCD to seek help may be the same as the factors which encourage people with, for example, depression to seek help. Other factors may be more specific to people with OCD. So we are keen to ask people with OCD, and people with depression, to take part in the project. We are also seeking 30 people who have neither OCD nor depression who would kindly be willing to answer some of the questions.
If you thought you might be interested in taking part I would send you a Participant Information Sheet and a Consent Form. We would go through these over the phone, and you could ask me any questions you might have. If after thinking about it you decided you wanted to go ahead you would sign the Consent Form and I would send you a Research Pack of questionnaires.
The Research Pack
The pack includes the following;
- A questionnaire on factors which influenced your thinking about seeking help (or not)
- A questionnaire on your experiences when you sought help (if you have sought help)
- Clinical questionnaires about OCD, depression and anxiety
- Questionnaires on your views about OCD / depression, and how you think most people view OCD / depression
We imagine most people will choose to complete the pack at home. (I can send a hard copy or an electronic copy.) Alternatively we could go through the pack over the phone, or we could arrange to meet in person to go through the pack.
We estimate that it will take 1.5 to 2.5 hours to complete the pack. It is in several parts and it is fine to do a few parts at a time and come back to it later. Participants will receive a voucher as a token of appreciation for the time and energy involved in completing the questionnaires.
Your well-being whilst participating in the project
This study has received ethical approval from an NHS Research Ethics Committee (Ref: 11/LO/1684) and the Department of Psychology at the University of Bath (Ref: 12-001). This involved thinking about any possible negative effects the study could have on participants taking part. The questions in the pack are on a potentially sensitive topic. They may be emotionally draining to complete, or they could be upsetting. If at any stage you begin to feel you’ve had enough of the questions, or begin to feel upset by them, please do stop. If you wanted to return to them after a break that would be fine, or if you didn’t want to do any more, that would be equally fine. The top priority is your well-being. If you felt that you’d like to talk over any thoughts you have while filling in the questionnaires, or afterwards, I’d be very happy to arrange a time to talk on the phone.
All the information that you provide will be handled in confidence and kept securely. Any personal contact details you give us will be separated from the rest of your completed Research Pack. The rest of the pack will then be allocated a unique identification number, so you will not be able to be identified. The findings of the project will be written up into a report. We would be very happy to send you a copy if you would like one.
Thank you for reading this!
If you think you might be interested in taking part in the project, or have any questions, please could you contact me by phone, e-mail or post:
Phone: 07580 435439
E-mail: k.j.robinson@bath.ac.uk
Address: Karen Robinson, PhD Student, Department of Psychology, 2 South, University of Bath, Claverton Down, Bath, BA2 7AY.
Aside from being mega-rich and famous, what do David Beckham and Leonardo di Caprio have in common? Both suffer from Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD), Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is an anxiety disorder that is characterized by an obsessive or distressing thought. It may also involve compulsions or “rituals.” It is such a serious concern that event the World Health Organization has labeled OCD as among the top 10 most disabling illnesses faced by society today. In the United States alone, it is estimated that 3.3 million people are suffering from OCD.;
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