In terror of deodorant

David battles his unusual obsessions

A DAD reveals how he has spent his life battling bizarre phobias — like being terrified of deodorant and obsessed with blinking. David Vaughan, 37, has been diagnosed with a rare form of obsessive compulsive disorder known as “Pure-O”.

A DAD has revealed how a rare condition made him terrified of deodorant and obsessed with blinking and breathing.

David Vaughan, 37, has spent his life battling bizarre fixations.

From the age of 11, the married dad-of-one can vividly remember having unusual thoughts and not being able to shake them off for months at a time.

He has recently been diagnosed with a rare form of obsessive compulsive disorder known as “Pure-O” which causes sufferers to think about things like sex, blasphemy and even murder incessantly.

David said: “The earliest obsession I can remember was blinking. “I was very conscious of it. “In your day-to-day life you don’t notice you are blinking and you certainly don’t actively make yourself do it. It is like breathing but I became obsessed with doing it. “Then there was breathing. “You don’t consciously do it and you can’t stop it but I started thinking ‘What if?’ I would just be very aware of taking breaths and end up taking much deeper breaths.”

Later aged 15, when David was preparing for mock exams, one of his friends claimed his mum had seen a clairvoyant, who said one of their group would kill themselves before the exams.

For months he became obsessed with the fear it would be him despite knowing he had no intention of harming himself.

Later, he was driven to throw all the aerosol cans in his house over the neighbour’s fence, after learning of the dangers of substance misuse.

He said: “I must have seen something about substance misuse and aerosol sniffing at school.

“I was thinking ‘You mean there are all these dangerous things in our house?’

“I became fixated on that, just the thought of them being there.

“And it went on for months and months to the point where one day I threw all the aerosols, deodorant and polish over the neighbour’s fence.

“He had a very overgrown garden, they are probably still there.”

David, from Ormskirk, Lancashire, continued to experience gripping notions into his

adult life while he embarked on a career helping recovering alcoholics and drug addicts get back to work.

But in September 2011 his condition reached rock bottom.

David, who seldom drinks, was struck down by an obsession that he would become an out-of-control alcoholic.

For five months his life began to unravel as his mind was taken over by a fear of alcoholism until he broke down to his 33-year-old wife Toni.

He said: “For some reason my psyche latched onto that and just ran with it to the point it was everywhere.”

David eventually went to the GP who referred him on for therapy at Ormskirk Hospital where he was diagnosed with Pure OCD in June 2013.

Through treatment, which is ongoing, he learned the obsessions are sparked during periods of heightened anxiety.

And his alcohol obsession had emerged out of the pressure he put on himself not to fail his loving family including two-year-old son Daniel.

He added: “The fact I obsess about letting my family down is because I love them so much.”