OCD has plagued me for most of my life – can I ever escape it?

Ask your GP to refer you to a specialist, says Annalisa Barbieri. It's not surprising you haven't been able to conquer it on your own

I am a 76-year-old married man and have had intense and ongoing obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) since the age of 13.

My father was killed in the second world war, just after I was conceived. When I was six, my mother remarried; the marriage soon became unhappy and tense. My mother was a strict disciplinarian and hit me frequently when she felt I had been naughty or cheeky. She often told me off; I don't recall her showing me much affection or praising me.