A corpus-driven critical discourse analysis of Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder experiences on The OCD Stories

Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental illness that affects approximately 3-4% of the general population (Krzanowska and Kuleta, 2017). There is a growing body of research about the language used to construct the lived experience of OCD (Campbell and Longhurst, 2013; Knapton, 2018; Hartman, 2018). However, this research has been predominantly qualitative and focussed on case studies. By triangulating qualitative research methods in a corpus-driven critical discourse analysis, I have analysed OCD narratives that have been written as blog posts for The OCD Stories. In doing so, I address my research question: ‘How do people with OCD construct their experiences on The OCD Stores?’ My analysis indicates that these narratives are constructed predominantly in the first-person with a focus on past events. The collocates of ‘ocd’ also reveal that some individuals construct themselves or others with OCD as ‘sufferers’; that a medicalised discourse of diagnosis is present to construct OCD as a legitimate mental illness, and finally that there is a counter discourse of socially-constructed labels to categorise subtypes of OCD which are not medically recognised. These findings indicate that OCD is a heterogeneous disorder in the variety of ways it is constructed. It also suggests that socially-constructed subtypes of OCD may be a helpful way for individuals to communicate about their disorder, using labels which I suggest should not be ignored by medical professionals when treating a person who has OCD.