It’s Not What You Think

Dr Louise Newson: OCD & hormones

From periods, pregnancy and beyond, hormones play a crucial role in your mental health. When you have OCD, you might notice that during certain times of the month, or throughout certain life stages, the OCD symptoms get significantly better or worse. Penny and Angie chat with Dr Louise Newson, GP and menopause specialist, to explore how natural hormone shifts interact with OCD and anxiety. 
 
They also discuss:
- how to advocate for yourself when you see a doctor and you might be curious about looking further into your hormones and hormone replacement therapy (HRT)
- the difference between natural and synthetic hormones
- how histamine sensitivity can affect hormone- related OCD 
 
The Doctor Louise Newson Podcast
Balance app
The Definitive Guide to the Perimenopause and Menopause by Louise Newson

Rick Davies: The agony and absurdity of living with ocd

Australian actor and writer Rick Davies joins us to talk candidly about living with OCD and his more recent diagnosis of ADHD. We chat about:
How acting became a safe haven from the exhaustion of OCD
The trepidation of talking so openly about mental illness as someone with a public profile
How cathartic it is to hear other people talk about their ocd experiences
The co morbidity of OCD and ADHD
Feeling like a fraud when the ocd flares up
How privilege plays into recovery
 
The imperfects episode with Rick Davies
https://open.spotify.com/episode/4gkJmjH0evWzyJckThC5lk?si=f7bxsnpNTpaMe5GWPmuahw

We're Back! The Difficulty of 'Coming Out' with OCD

We’re back for Season 2! In this return episode, Angie and Penny chat about :
what they got up to over their holidays
why OCD can get so much worse when the pressure is on to have a good time
the complexities of ‘coming out’ with OCD. 
Angie reveals how difficult it can be to talk about false memory OCD
 
Freedom From Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by Jonathan Grayson

A chat with our psychologist: Part 2 - Is Self-Compassion the Antidote to shame?

In the season finale of Season 1, we're joined once again by clinical psychologist Andrea Wallace for a powerful discussion on the role of self-compassion in healing shame, especially for people living with OCD.
Andrea breaks down why shame and OCD so often go hand in hand, and how cultivating self-kindness can be a transformative part of the recovery process. We also explore:    •    Why shame frequently accompanies OCD    •    What to do when withholding joy becomes a compulsion    •    How to help children release shame    •    A simple, guided self-compassion exercise you can try at home    Whether you're living with OCD, supporting someone who is, or simply curious about the link between self-compassion, shame, and mental health, this episode is for you.

A chat with our psychologist. Part 1: mythbusting

Yes, we have the same psychologist, and to us, she is an OCD wizard. In this special two-part episode, Dr Andrea Wallace shares some of her wisdom around what it REALLY feels like to have OCD, busts some common OCD myths and talks a bit about her own imposter syndrome (apparently even the wizards gets it). 

All about kids and OCD

This week Penny and Angie are joined by pediatrican Dr Annie Moulden and clinical psychologist Lauren Wetheimer. They dive into topics including who can diagnose a child with OCD and how this process unfolds, how and why parents play such a big and important role in OCD recovery, the advantages of early diagnosis and the role of medication. 
Finding a psychologist in Australia:
OCD Bounce Directory 
Seeing a provisional psychologist:
UTS
Bond university
Swinburne University 
Online therapy options:
OCD? Not Me!
Books about OCD in kids for adults:
Talking Back to OCD by John S. March 
Breaking Free of Child Anxiety and OCD by Eli R. Lebowitz
Books about OCD for kids:
Nobody’s Perfect by Ellen Burns 
What to do when your brain gets stuck by Dawn Huebner

How to help a loved one with OCD

Hugh Van Cuylenburg has lived and loved someone with OCD for over 10 years. And that person happens to be co-host Penny Moodie. Penny and Angie talk to Hugh about why he thinks he’s still not great at always knowing what to do, why humour helps and why sometimes your instincts to help can fuel the OCD. They end the episode by offering their top tips on how to support someone you love who has this complex disorder.
Our top 6 tips:
1. Learn as much as you can about OCD
2. Practice patience
3. Try to foster a loving and non-judgemental environment
4. Expect relapses 
5. Try to see your loved one's psychologist together
6. Try to plan ahead and agree what you will do together when the OCD flares up
The Man Who Couldn't Stop by David Adam 
Othership app

A Hero's Journey: The road to an OCD diagnosis

Penny and Angie speak to Clinical Psychologist and Director of Melbourne Psychology and Counselling, Dr Claire Ahern about the often-bumpy road to getting an OCD diagnosis. They also pick Claire's brain about what to look for in a therapist, the question to ask someone who you suspect might have OCD and the differences between anxiety and OCD. 
OCD Bounce 
Mental Health Online
MindSpot
This Way Up 
OCD? Not Me!
Claire Ahern's Website: OCD Online 

Hello and welcome to our brains.

In the very first ACTUAL episode Penny and Angie introduce themselves and talk about their own personal experiences with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, the light and the dark sides of this disorder and what's coming up on this first season of It's Not What You Think. 

Welcome to It's Not What You Think

OCD, it’s really not what you think. This is a podcast about the horrors and hilarities of living with OCD, hosted by author and mental health advocate Penny Moodie and CEO of Stand Up Events, Angie Greene.