Yiorgos Georghiou releases memoir on living with obsessive-compulsive disorder
Yiorgos Georghiou, a 22-year-old accounting and finance student at the University of Leicester, has published a memoir titled 'I Was My Own Enemy'. Living in Nicosia, Cyprus, the author details his personal struggle with obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), a condition that significantly impacted his daily life for years, including physical avoidance of objects he associated with negative memories.
The book aims to serve as a resource for individuals suffering in silence and for parents seeking to identify the often-misunderstood symptoms of OCD in their children. Georghiou emphasizes that the condition extends far beyond common stereotypes of neatness or hand-washing, noting that he had normalized his suffering before realizing the nature of his condition. By sharing his experience, the author intends to become the supportive voice he lacked during his own period of struggle.
According to data from Harvard Health Publishing cited by local media, OCD affects approximately 3% of the global population. Georghiou continues to reside in his parents' home in Nicosia while promoting his work, hoping to shed light on the reality of living with a mind that, as he describes it, refuses to rest.