OCD, David Beckham and Me ...

by Sharon Yapp

I count to ten then check again - are my boots in there?
I'm off to footie, the game starts soon and no-one seems to care,
I unzip the bag and peek inside - to set my mind at rest,
I shouldn't do it, I've looked ten times - this really is a pest!

I grab my bag, run out the door and clamber in the car,
Mum's giving me an angry look, we're half 'hour late so far!
I ask the time - it's ten past nine, I'd best not ask once more,
I got away with once and maybe twice, but just asked three and four!

The radio blares out a song - it gets inside my head,
I like it when my brain is busy, it beats worrying instead,
"Obsessive and Compulsive" is the name for how I act,
The doc says we can "manage" it - we're a team - we've made a pact.

He says he'll help me to control, the fears locked in my head,
If mums not hugged 6 times today - tomorrow she'll be dead!
He makes me look back on my thoughts, and why I feel so sad,
But the next day - I am fine again, and so are mum and dad.

At school, in class - I am a pain, the others want to ditch,
But that's all long forgotten, when I dazzle on the pitch,
I've just been made the captain, of our footie team,
When I go up, to get the cup, I'll be acting out my dream!

Mum takes me to a ther-a-pist, who sits with me to chat,
We talk about my worries - and footie and all that,
He's helped me learn to understand this thing called OCD,
It seems that David Beckham has it and he worries, just like me!!