Interview with Amogh Kamli - The OCD Fighters

Ba Dum Tss. Meet Amogh Kamli, a budding entrepreneur, a former Fide International Rated Chess Player and the founder of Wisemove Academy - an institution with the purpose of helping students ace their skills in their formative years. Amogh Kamli has been a fighter since day 1 and it was only right that My OCD Fighter get in touch with him and oh yes we did. Amogh has been treated since 2011 as he suffered from chronic OCD along with hyper anxiety. Over the years his recovery was said to be exceptional and very impressive by all the senior doctors at the Institute of Psychological Health.

Read on to find out what Amogh had to say when we asked him a few questions about OCD. 1. Which particular incident in your life made you realize that you have OCD and once you found out that you had it, were you able to come to terms with the fact that you had a mental disorder? Well to recollect, the first time it hit me was quite daunting. So it traces back to the time when I was in 12th grade and I faced these series of intrusive thoughts which I ruminated over and over again and couldn't be at peace no matter what. This seems very human to do so. However, these thoughts weren't rational and I did seek a huge amount of reassurance from someone I trusted in-order to stop myself from the vicious worry cycle. It wasn't easy for me to come to terms with the fact that I have a disorder initially. The more difficult part was to confide in my friends, as our society, unfortunately, is quite "unaware" about mental health issues.However, I do see a positive shift nowadays. 2. People casually talk about being “obsessed” or even use the term “OCD” in a casual context. What is the distinction between normal, or even “quirky,” behavior, such as liking a very clean house, and the disorder according to you? So just because you are particular about certain things or wish to keep your house clean or follow a certain ritual doesn't qualify to be "OCD". Strangely, a lot of sitcoms and web series misrepresent OCD if at all they mention. There's a lot more than just wanting to maintain a symmetry or rechecking habits that OCD is about. According to me, OCD in itself is quite an overwhelming disorder to deal with and if not dealt with proper attention, it can severely leave you crippled. Using terms like " I am OCD about cleanliness or whatever" without being medically diagnosed with, tends to dismiss the hardships of those who truly have these difficulties. 3. There are a lot of mental disorders/illnesses in today's world, OCD being one of them. Until a couple of years back, very few people had even heard the term. In your opinion, how did awareness of OCD begin or rather how did it spread? I think a lot of credit goes to mental health awareness campaigns/print media/social media movements and individuals who came out in the light and spoke about these critical issues publicly. I think due to these factors the awareness about mental health issues has drastically changed. But I do see, we still have stigmas around mental health issues prevailing in our country. 4. If you could go back in time and offer some advice to yourself just after you found out that you had OCD, what would it be? Well I would definitely have sought immediate CBT therapy and medication. I did not seek help for almost 2-3 years post-onset of OCD. So seeking medical help would be my first line of action. Besides that, well I feel it's a journey about knowing yourself and understanding what works best for you when such an obnoxious disorder haunts you. So I rather let time take care of that and I learn to handle it efficiently as I learn more about myself in this journey of life. 5. Books have always been a source of comfort and answers. If you were to suggest a couple of books that could help people with mental illnesses, what would they be and what makes them stand out? Sure books are certainly comforting, however in my opinion, books have a limiting effect when it comes to dealing with OCD. What's crucial is having strong family support. If not family then building any kind of sustainable support system for yourself. Frankly speaking, my recovery over OCD got nothing to do with books. In fact, at one point in time, my anxiety levels were so high that reading about it would make it worse. Having faith that you will rise above this situation no matter what, not being disheartened, staying positive, having a never-die attitude, being easy on yourself at the same time, knowing your trigger points and managing your triggers surely helps a great deal. The important thing is to know that even if you relapse or have dips, one shouldn't get upset. It's a part of the recovery process. My best wishes to all!