OCD AND ME by Adrian Mccarthy

52-minute documentary film

An intriguing insight into a condition that many of us share to some degree - Irish Independent.

An incredibly powerful documentary – The Saturday Night Show.

Most people have heard of OCD but what exactly is obsessive compulsive disorder? It affects between 2-3% of the population and presents itself in many unusual guises. People are often surprised to learn that OCD goes far beyond the common perception of excessive hand washing or the repetitive checking of light switches.
OCD is an extreme anxiety-related condition where a person experiences frequent, intrusive, and unwelcome obsessive thoughts, often followed by repetitive compulsions, impulses, or urges.
To get an understanding of this disturbing mental illness we spend time with some people who have agreed to come forward and talk about their OCD. We also feature experts in the field and an anxiety support groups in the west of Ireland.
Jacob is a 25-year-old Dublin artist whose daily existence is dominated by his battle with severe contamination OCD where he views himself as ‘OCD clean’ and most of the world as ‘OCD dirty’. Jacob gets frustrated with the lack of awareness of this disorder and throw away phrases like ‘a little bit OCD’ which make a joke of this mental illness. His mother, Mella, also lives with her own form of OCD. Mella gives us a unique perspective, not only as a parent of a son who is unable to touch her, but also as someone who has lived with her own OCD since youth.
Eileen, in her 60’s, lives in Sligo town and is part of a local anxiety support group. She has lived with her OCD for the last 50 years and says it has destroyed her life. She hopes sharing her story might stop others from going through the same hell. Her OCD has come in many forms, hand washing, praying, folding clothes etc. If she does certain rituals, she believes it will prevent terrible things from happening to people in her family. We spend time at home with Eileen and get exclusive access to the weekly support group where Eileen and others talk openly about this sometimes-embarrassing disorder.
Simon is a highly functional 32-year-old Dubliner who works for a prominent Dublin radio station. He has lived with a variety of forms of OCD and has started talking openly about the condition in recent months. Simon brings us to his old school, back to a street where he was convinced, he had caused a road accident and to St Patrick’s Hospital where his life was transformed.
OCD is the third most common concern reported to St Patrick’s mental-health support services in Ireland and The World Health Organisation lists it as one of the 10 most debilitating illnesses on the planet. OCD and Me gives us a greater understanding of this secretive and often misunderstood condition.

Producer/Director: Adrian McCarthy
Editor: Brenda Morrissey
DoP: Eleanor Bowman
Ass Producer: Zlata Filipovic
Exec Producer RTÉ: Niamh O’Connor
Exec Producer: Martha O’Neill
Sound: Sue Downey

A Wildfire Films Production for RTÉ.

THE GUINNESS GIRL

Two scenes from "The Guinness Girl", the one woman play written by Maria McAteer. The Guinness Girl is the true story of a young girl of Irish and Caribbean heritage growing up In Newcastle in the 70's. The play follows her journey, how she Irish danced though the prejudice around her and eventually found herself. Performed by Maria McAteer and accompanied by Alice Beadle on the violin.

What's Going On In Your Head? Be The Light

A stigma-busting audio-visual film from What’s Going On In Your Head? produced by Jon Salmon and edited by Liz Smith. Featuring performances from artists including Shocka, SK Shlomo, Hyphen, Daragh Fleming, The Castell Brothers and mental health advocates Jonny Benjamin MBE, Emi Howe, Jake Mills, Angela Samata, Finlay Games and Jo-Anna Sell. For more information and other projects visit - www.whatsgoingoninyourhead.org.A stigma-busting audio-visual film from What’s Going On In Your Head? produced by Jon Salmon and edited by Liz Smith. Featuring performances from artists including Shocka, SK Shlomo, Hyphen, Daragh Fleming, The Castell Brothers and mental health advocates Jonny Benjamin MBE, Emi Howe, Jake Mills, Angela Samata, Finlay Games and Jo-Anna Sell. For more information and other projects visit - www.whatsgoingoninyourhead.org.

SCHIZOPHRENIA: THE VOICES IN MY HEAD by Kim Bartley

SCHIZOPHRENIA, THE VOICES IN MY HEAD, was nominated for Best Single Documentary award in the Celtic Media Festival, Best Director & Best Factual Documentary in the IFTAs (Irish Film and Television Awards) and best documentary of the year by The Irish Times.

The film tells the stories of six young people living with a diagnosis of schizophrenia, all determined to get on with life and fight against the huge stigma associated with it. The interviewees share their experience of hearing voices, of paranoia and delusions and of living with the stigma of a condition that is still largely misunderstood by most of the population.

“I knew very little about the condition when we started out, it’s a complex subject matter. I feel we’ve done the contributors justice and hope this documentary will open people’s eyes to the fact that there are different types of schizophrenia, not everyone with a diagnosis will experience the same symptoms, challenges or successes as our contributors but hopefully their experiences will help shed some light on a condition that still carries huge stigma. We’ve come a long way in how we deal with and speak about mental health issues such as depression and anxiety, schizophrenia sometimes feels like the last frontier and these six contributors have shown extraordinary bravery in agreeing to take part.” Kim Bartley, Director.

Directed by Kim Bartley, Produced by Aoife Kavanagh, Edited by Paul Mullen

Sacha Wood

Sacha Wood is an English-Irish singer-songwriter and freelance musician. Her songs often deal with mental health, using playful lyrics and nostalgic music to evoke experiences of depression and dissociation. Her latest album, Catharsis, centres on the healing power of music as a space for vulnerability, connection and transformation, and she is delighted that some of these songs get to play a part in the conversation at SHOUT London. Sacha is also a volunteer with Unreal UK, a charity for those living with DPDR (Depersonalisation and Derealisation Disorder).

Q&A Jon Salmon, Angela Samata, Jane Boland, Neil Avery

Jon Salmon is an award-winning executive producer, mental health campaigner, Co-CEO of Speakers Collective and producer of What's Going On In Your Head?

Angela Samata is an arts professional, mental health speaker, Churchill Fellow and the presenter of BBC1's award-winning ‘Life After Suicide.’

Jane Boland has been the suicide prevention lead at NHS Merseyside Care, and now working as the Clinical Lead for James' Place, a suicide prevention charity.

Neil Avery is a financial partner who advises some of the most prominent figures in Music, Theatre, Television, and Entertainment during the day, while pursuing his passion as a singer-songwriter by night.

Nicola A. Waddell

As a Show Runner and Executive Producer, Waddell has produced and directed feature length specials, documentaries, studio talk shows and factual entertainment series from Jonathan Ross to How to Cheat at Athens for Channel Four UK, BBC, ITV, SKY, Discovery (US), CNBC (US & EMEA), Nat Geo (US), MTV Italia, S4C Sweden, Canal Plus, Channel 9 Australia. Over the years her experience has included developing projects, securing co-productions and producing teams worldwide, spearheading productions in USA, India, North Africa, Spain, Italy and Australia. She is currently concentrating on scripted projects and brand-led content for international Broadcast through Boxty Films. She has been a committee member for Edinburgh International TV Festival, completing training with an SAS Survival Team and is a graduate of the Robert McKee Scriptwriting course. Waddell also Mentors for Women Breaking Barriers (NI), Production Trainees for Grand Scheme Media and volunteers with The Mix (mental health charity for young people).

Katy Evans

Katy Evans is a recent Fine Art graduate from Liverpool Hope University. She communicates her experiences of mental illness through the medium of acrylic paint, with her style largely focusing on distorted figuration. In combination with elements of text, she approaches her practice in an unfiltered, authentic manner.

Katie Thomas

Poetically, Katie Thomas is an articulate individual, who uses poetic structure to evoke otherwise difficult discussions. She began writing as an emotional outlet, which later grew into a passion, allowing her to express emotions, and thoughts, with little negative repercussions. She is an aspiring poet, and teacher, who uses her skills to inspire, and engage other people. She wants to use her poetic skills to intellectually express herself, and ensure discussions are held. She is passionate, emotional, and confident in her abilities to inspire change through poetry.

Neil Avery

Neil was diagnosed with dyslexia, dyspraxia, dyscalculia about 5 years ago. His diagnosis came from his daughter’s diagnosis, and he told us that as he was reading her notes he realised “that’s me!”

Ronald Amanze

Ronald Amanze, the founder of Talk Dementia, is a Dementia Champion with the Alzheimer’s Society, a Dementia Diarist with DEEP and an Ambassador for The Stroke Association, working to ensure there is better provision for the wider sections of our communities in dementia service and dementia research. His background as a music producer and musician has led him to be passionate about the role of creativity in improving the quality-of-life experience for all those living with dementia.

BIPOLAR ME by Ceri Ashe

Ceri Ashe is a Welsh actor, playwright and founder of Popty Ping Productions theatre company, who shine a light on stories that often go unheard. Ceri specialises in verbatim theatre which uses real peoples words to tell a story.

Ceri is also a mental health advocate for bipolar and through her work with the charity Bipolar UK and her play ‘Bipolar Me’ (which is based on her experience of being diagnosed with the condition in her late twenties) she is passionate about using her platform as a creative to dispel the stigma that still exists around mental illness.

‘Bipolar me’ is a truthful, dark comedy. From the highs of a festival, to the depths of depression; this punchy, enlightening and moving show takes you on a rollercoaster of emotions and shines a light on a still much misunderstood condition.

Sydney Abubakarr Foday Conteh

Sydney is the founder of Thando Writing.

Thando writing is a writing organisation that strives to increase participation in literature, founded by the poet and author Sydney Conteh.

The main goal for Thando Writing is to inspire a love for writing, whenever that may be poetry, short stories and more; Thando Writing aspires to introduce more people into the publishing world, as everyone has a message and the voice of those people should be listened and be expressed freely.

Thando Writing works closely with schools and other organisations from all around the world to directly run workshops (online and in person).

Private workshops are also available.

I have a deep knowledge of youth work and my goal as a writer is to inspire the next generation of writers, with your help I believe I can achieve this big goal.

To learn more about my work see my portfolio below.

Portfolio: https://linktr.ee/thandowritting

HOSTAGE TO MY THOUGHTS

Hostage to my Thoughts is a result of a music, film and public health collaboration between Gambian Artist Nazeem, Liverpool Artist Ali Horn and, Liverpool-based companies Brightmoon Media and Capacity Development International.

We all have mental health, and we experience it in different ways. Nazeem wrote this song in the Gambia to help him deal with his own mental health and to let "other people know they are not alone". He later recorded the song in Liverpool with fellow musician Ali Horn who shared the sentiment and emotion in the track. The lyrics of the song, openly describe feelings of loneliness, mental entrapment and anxiety and the need for a listening ear, kindness, and compassion. We know that men are less likely to talk about their mental health or seek help; we believe that raising awareness of mental health through music and video could be particularly effective in engaging men in Liverpool and beyond. The video has been shared with public health practitioners and mental health charities across Cheshire and Merseyside to help amplify Nazeem’s message.

Songwriter: Nazeem
Vocals & guitar: Nazeem & Ali Horn
Lyrics: Nazeem & Dr Vicki Doyle
Music Video: Directed & edited by Roger Appleton, produced by Dr Vicki Doyle
YouTube: https://youtu.be/djgzwXa_OK0

Aleksandra Nikolajev Jones

Aleksandra Nikolajev Jones is a performer, choreographer and producer originally from Serbia but now based in Wales. Her project “Lullaby for Mother” is supported by Arts Council Wales, JOMEC, SPARCS, YMa and PONTIO.
Aleksandra is founder of Gravida Collective arts development agency enabling mother artists to continue to live creative lives.

Join us to explore selection of dance pieces from Lullaby for Mother followed by a Q&A.

Choreography: Aleksandra Nikolajev Jones
Dramaturgy: Jelena Vuksanovic
Music: Dan Swain

Marigold Lately

Marigold Lately was born in the late Autumn of 2022 after a gestation period of more than 50 years. Since her birth she has performed at over 100 comedy and spoken word events throughout the UK.

Sharing sometimes sorrowful, sometimes snarling tales and often surreal, comic commentary from someone ‘stuck on a pin’, wriggling, who is willing to share it.

Marigold is viciously gentle – straddling genres but never sitting on the fence.

She recently made her stage debut in her one-woman sell-out show 'Dirty Old Town' in November 23 at the Hope Street Theatre, Liverpool.