While public awareness about mental health conditions such as anxiety and depression continues to grow, there are still those disorders which are sorely understood by the vast majority of society, one of which is OCD.

Described by OCD UK as “a serious anxiety-related condition where a person experiences frequent intrusive and unwelcome obsessional thoughts” Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is believed to affect around 1.2% of the population, but it is still often misunderstood by those who haven’t experienced it.

Thanks to phrases such as “I’m a bit OCD” or “stop being so OCD”, the myth that people with OCD solely focus on cleanliness and organisation continues to pervade. But underneath, OCD takes so many different forms, including a need to do things in a certain routine to avoid feeling anxiety and stress, as One Direction singer Niall Horan has previously explained.

Niall Horan opens up about being diagnosed with OCD