‘If I sit down too quickly, will I break my spine?’ How Ian Puleston-Davies …

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It is testimony  to Ian Puleston-Davies’s acting skills that he plays a tough, carefree builder in Coronation Street.

For it is a character completely at odds with his own. Ian suffers such extreme anxiety he worries that if he picks up his children, he might hurt them, or that if he sits down too quickly he will crack his coccyx.

While his soap character Owen merrily blusters about in the Rovers Return pub, for Ian just drinking a pint is an ordeal.

Taking control: Actor Ian Puleston-Davies who plays Owen Armstrong in Coronation Street,opens up about his long struggle with crippling OCD

‘I’m terrified that the glass is cracked and I’ll swallow glass, or that it’s stained and dirty,’ he explains.

‘Before rehearsing every scene, I have to go through a series of checks, like feeling the lip of the glass with my finger to make sure it’s not chipped and examining it for stains.

‘I sip very slowly as I think I’ll cut myself if I drink too quickly, and I make sure my teeth are far away as I’m convinced I’d scratch them otherwise.

‘If I jump into a van I practise sitting down in it first, or if I sit down quickly I check the seat has padding, as I worry I’ll break my coccyx. I am always checking that things won’t hurt me.’

Ian, 54, suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD) and is constantly plagued by intrusive worries about contamination, germs and harm.

The condition is one of Britain’s most common mental health problems and is characterised by unsettling thoughts or compulsions.

Compulsions: Ian, pictured with Anna Windass, played by Debbie Rush on Coronation Street, has suffered from severe OCD since he started working as an actor and feared it would wreck his career

‘I liken it to an overactive antenna,’ says Ian, who lives in Chester with his girlfriend Sue MacPherson and their two children, Maggie, five, and Charlie, two. ‘When most people process information, they discard 99 per cent. But my antenna gets clogged up, so my brain ends up full of unnecessary thoughts.’

OCD usually starts in early adult life but can begin at any time, including childhood, as Ian found out. He was just seven when he was teased by schoolfriends for compulsively checking his trouser zip was fastened during football kickabouts.

He recalls: ‘I also began checking my shoes every few yards I walked, in case I’d trodden in dog dirt. As a teenager I was always last to leave the changing rooms after swimming as changing in a small cubicle was a nightmare. I took ages because the fear of dropping my clothes on the wet floor was too horrific for words and my body had to be bone dry.’

By the time Ian reached adulthood, he had realised his behaviour was unusual but thought he was the only person who felt that way. By then his anxieties were extreme.

‘My first fear of the day was lifting my head off the pillow – I thought if I did it too quickly, my neck would break. Then I’d be scared that if I sat up too quickly I’d damage my spine and if I stood up too quickly I’d break my ankles.’

Outside the house, things were even worse. ‘I’d worry there were germs on door handles. On the pavement I saw every mark and would analyse how far away it was and whether it was toxic.’

At 21, Ian began working as an actor. He has appeared in countless shows and films, including the Guy Ritchie movie Revolver, Ghostboat with David Jason and acclaimed drama My Beautiful Son. But he feared his obsessions would wreck his career.

OCD MAKES NORMAL LIFE IMPOSSIBLE FOR THOUSANDS

More than 750,000 adults and children in the UK suffer from OCD – more than one per cent of the population.

Symptoms are usually intrusive thoughts or repetitive compulsions. Some people suffer only compulsions – such as repeated checking or tidying – while others experience only obsessions or extreme worrying.

‘There are three main components,’ says Consultant Psychiatrist Dr Jim Bolton.

‘The obsessional thoughts, the anxiety they cause, and the compulsion – the thing someone does to relieve the anxiety, such as washing their hands.

Half of sufferers undertake compulsive rituals so often that normal life is impossible.’

The exact cause is unknown. It can run in families or be triggered by stressful events. It often goes hand-in-hand with illnesses such as anxiety and depression

Another explanation – believed by Ian – is that OCD is triggered by low levels in the brain of serotonin, a neurotransmitter that regulates mood and anxiety.

‘I’d almost been late on stage several
times. I’d be in my dressing room obsessing about marks on the mirror.
And once I missed my cue as I was still standing on a chair examining my
fingernails under the light, worrying they were too long.’

While
many people have only mild or moderate OCD, about half of all sufferers
have it severely, like Ian, and the condition completely takes over
their life.

He says: ‘At its worst it was 24/7, because I was dreaming it as well. I couldn’t go to the cinema for 20 years because I’d obsess about people sitting around me – are they friends? why are they here? – and it would ruin the film.’

Ian was 35 when he finally got help. During a bout of depression following a relationship break-up, he began seeing a counsellor and confided in her about his behaviour.

‘By then I’d narrowed it down to three things: early dementia, a blood clot or madness. Now people know a lot about OCD, but back then I didn’t know what it was and nobody around me did either.’

The counsellor referred him to a private psychotherapist in Harley Street, who diagnosed OCD. ‘I wept with relief that I wasn’t going crazy and also with anger and frustration that no one had told me what I’d had since I was seven.’

Ian was prescribed Prozac and referred to the Maudsley Hospital in South London, which specialises in mental health problems. There he received Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, which trains the brain to think in a different way. He also began attending a self-help group.

The treatment helped him feel more in control at work and his career flourished. In 2010 he joined Coronation Street, where the cast have been very supportive.

‘Antony Cotton [barman Sean Tully] knows about my condition and when he serves me a pint he’ll say, “It’s clean, it’s not chipped – I’ve examined it.” The people I work with closely are my safety blanket because when I’m overwhelmed I turn to them for help.

‘I’ll say to Mikey North, who plays Gary Windass, “I just scratched my head. My nails aren’t so long that I would cut my scalp, are they?” ’

After more CBT, Ian came off medication last year and believes he is 85 per cent cured.

‘The final straw came when we were on holiday last summer. Sue and I were arguing a lot about my OCD, which was particularly bad. I worried when I picked up Maggie or Charlie – had I scratched them or wrenched their neck? I was completely obsessive.

‘I was 54 and my OCD was still no better. I didn’t want my family to suffer another minute so vowed to finally get rid of it. There’s no easy escape; you just have to be determined to beat it. But I honestly believe you can, and since then I have been much more in control.

‘I want on my gravestone, “Ian did not go to his grave clutching his wet wipes.” OCD is like the twin I wish I never had, and I despise it for tampering with my life. I don’t want to live with it any longer.’

lan is a patron of OCD-UK, which supports children and adults affected by Obsessive Compulsive Disorder. For more information, go to ocduk.org.

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