It took a long time for Sean Fletcher’s son Reuben to be diagnosed with OCD – and longer for him to get treatment. And at first BBC broadcaster Sean didn’t want to talk about it.
“It’s almost like you’re in a dark room and you’re fighting a monster, but you don’t know what the monster is and where the monster is and what weapons you need to fight it,” he said at London Metropolitan University’s Student Mental Health Newsweek. “And the diagnosis is like turning a light on.”
But it took a further nine months for Reuben to get the treatment he needed.
It was when Sean was sent to cover the launch of the London Marathon a few years back that his attitude changed. There was massive media interest because the Royals were there. Prince William talked to him and asked him why he was there. He replied that his son had OCD.
“It was the first time I told anyone outside the family,” said Sean. “I was really worried that I’d let out a family secret.”
But then another lightbulb went on.
“It was the best thing that happened. The weights were lifted off my shoulders, but I didn’t mean to do it.”
Sean went on to make a BBC Panorama documentary called Kids in Crisis with Reuben in 2018 which charts their journeys towards the light. He’s now an ambassador for the mental health charity Young Minds.
“Stigma is a massive thing,” said Sean. “We need to talk more.”
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