The chimp unleashed

I have a theory that the times in our lives that we lose to trauma, mental illness, or for any other reason become more vivid and significant in our minds and in our invented memories than if we had experienced them in the usual way. I have an interest, perhaps even a fondness, for the events of 2003 simply because I wasn't "present" for much, if any, of it. I began to experience problems with OCD for a sustained period at the start of that year. I had first gone to the university GP about the troubling thoughts that I had raped and murdered people on a night out in the summer of 2002. Of course, I didn't put it like this to the GP because I was 18, had no knowledge or experience of OCD, and was concerned that I would go on some kind of police watch list if I said something like this out loud to a doctor. And right here is one of the many ways in which OCD ensnares people in its grip: it makes you feel personally responsible for the intrusive thoughts, and it makes...