OCD Awareness Week is promoted each October, and is a collaboration of charities around the world all working together to focus their efforts on raising awareness and changing perceptions about the impact Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) can have on those that suffer. This year OCD Awareness Week takes place during the week of 8th-14th October 2012.

OCD Awareness Week was established in 2009 by a partnership of OCD organisations from around the world, spearheaded by the OCD Foundation from the US. The list of participating organisations grows every year, with OCD-UK leading the way here in the UK. The objective for OCD Awareness Week is to increase awareness and understanding about Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder, as well as increasing access to effective treatment.

Charities involved in OCD Awareness Week during 2012 include the International OCD Foundation, OCD-UK, OCD Ireland, Anxiety Support New Zealand and the Canadian OCD Network.

Whilst stigma surrounding Mental Health is thankfully changing for the better, OCD remains one mental illness that continues to be joked about and trivialised, leading to continuing stigma for those that suffer. OCD Awareness Week aims to make positive change through changing the perception that people have about OCD.

OCD Awareness Week will aim to change perceptions and improve education about OCD, with several key objectives identified by OCD-UK:

• Raise awareness with the general public
• Raise awareness with health professionals
• Raise awareness with politicians and policy makers
• Highlight the different aspects of the illness
• Highlight the debilitating and devastating impact the illness can bring
• Change public perception that OCD is a ‘quirky’ illness, or that people can be a 'little bit OCD'
• Empower those affected to seek help and treatment with belief and hope for the future

Chair of the national charity OCD-UK , Kylie Cloke spoke about the charity's plans for OCD Awareness Week 2012, “I am very excited to be leading the team that is preparing and producing an innovative week dedicated solely to raising awareness of OCD. The 24/7, 365 days a year support we offer those affected by OCD is amazing, but as most of us can testify, we endured many long, often soul-destroying years, suffering in silence without knowing what the pain we endured was actually called, or where to turn for support and help. We need to ensure that those still suffering in silence are made aware that there is support, treatment and, most importantly, hope for the future out there. OCD Awareness Week aims to do exactly that!”

In the US, the International OCD Foundation will cap off the week with the 2nd Annual 'A Night to Believe' Celebration where they will be honouring this year's Dare to Believe Creative contest winners, featuring OCD-UK member, Claire Watkinson's Living With Me And My OCD film.