Skip to content

'Talking therapy for my OCD saved my life'

Tom MacDougall
BBC News, South Yorkshire
RDaSH NHS Trust Allan Bell - a man with glasses, a grey beard, and a bald head.RDaSH NHS Trust
Allan Bell, 59, said he was a "completely different person" since accessing therapy

A taxi driver who suffered with obsessive compulsive disorder (OCD) from the age of 15 has thanked the NHS Talking Therapies programme for "saving and changing" his life.

Allan Bell, now 59, said his symptoms were so severe that he was initially assessed by councillors as having a depression rating of 90%.

After 20 hours of therapy with Rotherham, Doncaster and South Humber NHS Foundation Trust, his rating reduced to 10%.

He went on to volunteer with the trust's mental health service, advocating for others with the condition to seek help.

'Right first step'

Mr Bell, a father of one from Doncaster, said his symptoms were so severe that they were impacting on his relationships and self-esteem.

It could take him 45 minutes to get into the house at night because he would obsessively check that the door was locked properly.

He felt compelled to do it by the anxiety that it "didn't feel right" and something could happen to his family if he didn't.

He also said he could no longer go shopping with his wife, Bev, because he would ask her to carry out compulsive behaviours, such as touching items on the shelves a certain number of times.

"I felt so inadequate, so stupid, and so silly - that's where the depression comes from," he said.

His family and employer eventually persuaded him to speak to his GP in 2024, and he was paired with a trainee therapist from the NHS trust named Agnieszka.

"After I'd been in there five or 10 minutes, I didn't know if I'd be OK, but I knew I'd made the right first step," he said.

Together, they talked about his OCD and began work to overcome his depression and anxiety.

"Her and my wife, they made a brilliant partnership - they saved and changed my life."

Provided Allan and his wife, Bev, who has glasses and short, blonde hair.Provided
Allan said he might not be alive if it wasn't for his wife and trainee therapist Agnieszka

One year on, Mr Bell no longer attends therapy and his life is "completely different".

He added: "I can see a future for myself, I couldn't see one before."

He now volunteers at stress control classes in Balby, and has even thought about undertaking clinical training.

"I can't do anything clinical because I'm not trained, but talk to me in about a year and a half and I might be an apprentice.

"I might be the oldest apprentice in the country, but that's what my aim is."

He also wants to encourage other people with OCD to try therapy, and said people shouldn't be held back by their preconceptions about it.

"The simplest way of putting it is, what have you got to lose?" he said.

"It's an hour out your life to begin with, but you're going to be a different person by the end - I'm a completely different person."

Listen to highlights from South Yorkshire on BBC Sounds, catch up with the latest episode of Look North or tell us a story you think we should be covering here.