My OCD convinced me I pushed someone off a bridge & put bleach in my own dinner… I haven’t left the house in months

FRANTICALLY scrolling through her phone, Daniela Barroso texted her friends asking if she’d done something wrong. Thoughts rushed through her mind that she’d pushed someone off a bridge, put bleach in her food or done something even worse. Daniela Barroso’s OCD has led her to develop intense intrusive thoughts and became constantly convinced she had caused harm to someone Credit: SWNS Daniela first developed symptoms of obsessive-compulsive disorder at the age of eight Credit: SWNS But she hadn’t; instead, Daniela’s intrusive thoughts were a symptom of obsessive-compulsive disorder, which she first showed signs of at just aged eight. Back then, she would wash her hands up to 30 times an hour. Sign up for the Fabulous newsletter Thank you! As she got older, her symptoms worsened, and in November 2024, she developed intense intrusive thoughts and became constantly convinced she had caused harm to someone or said something awful to a friend. It led her to record every moment of her life, including going to the toilet, but she struggles to believe the footage is real. She tells the Sun: “I get constant intrusive thoughts; I don’t know what’s real anymore. “I haven’t left the house since March. “Every time I leave the house, I convince myself I’ve said something terrible, or I’ve pushed someone off a bridge. “I started recording everything, even going to the toilet, but then I wouldn’t believe the recordings.” Most read in Fabulous As a child, Daniela would wash her hands up to 30 times an hour and her symptoms worsened as she got older Credit: SWNS Daniela’s OCD has caused a massive strain in her relationships with family and friends Credit: SWNS She also spent hundreds of pounds buying a new toothbrush after every use, and didn’t eat a proper meal for weeks, as she felt the food was “contaminated” or dirty. Her condition has led to her attempting to take her own life; she hasn’t left the house since March, and she said she feels as though she no longer has a personality, as her OCD has completely taken over. Daniela, who runs a business making custom phone cases, adds: “At one point, I’m convinced I had every single subtype of OCD.” Daniela’s OCD – a mental health condition characterised by compulsions and obsessive thoughts – would leave her washing her hands so obsessively that they bled. The amount of sponges Daniela Barroso gets through due to contamination OCD Credit: SWNS “I would wash my hands 20 to 30 times an hour and would go through up to three bottles of hand sanitiser a day,” she says. Worried, her mum took her to the doctors, and she was diagnosed with contamination OCD, a subtype of obsessive-compulsive disorder, characterised by intrusive fears of germs or illness. Daniela’s parents were asked to monitor her condition and hid the soap in their house, so that she could only access it when she went to the toilet. This helped to ease her symptoms, but when she was 14, she developed religious OCD, and would have to kiss every statue of Mary and Jesus in her house before going out. “It got to the point where if I left the house and forgot my AirPods or something, I couldn’t go back inside, because it would take me 20 minutes to kiss all of the statues.” Eventually, her mum placed all of the statues in a box and hid them from Daniela, but she then developed an extreme hatred of the numbers three and six. “I saw them as devil numbers; I worked in a supermarket, and I couldn’t go down aisle three or aisle six,” she says. At age 18, in October 2022, she was put on sertraline, and in December 2022, she began having CBT (cognitive behavioural therapy), and exposure therapy, which really helped her symptoms. “The therapist would make me go down aisle three; it really helped,” she says. After just three months, in February 2023, the sessions, which were paid for by her work, stopped, and she also stopped taking her medication, as it was giving her migraines. This caused her condition to deteriorate again, and she began to smoke and drink heavily, as this caused her symptoms to calm down. In November 2024, Daniela said that out of nowhere “everything came crashing down” and she began having constant intrusive thoughts and would text her friends 24/7 asking them if she had said or done something wrong. What is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder (OCD)? Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental health problem. It has two main parts that are connected, obsessions and compulsions. Obsessions are unwelcome thoughts, feelings, images, urges, worries or doubts that keep coming into your mind. They may feel stuck in your mind, no matter what you do. You may worry what they mean or why they won’t go away, and feel very distressed by them. Compulsions are repetitive things that you do to reduce the distress or uncertainty caused by obsessions. Compulsions can be things you do physically, like repeatedly checking a door is locked. Or they can be things you do in your head, like repeating a specific word to yourself. Or they may involve others, such as asking people for reassurance. Treatment can involve talking therapies such as Cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT) with Exposure and response prevention (ERP). You may be offered the following medications for OCD, either on their own or alongside talking therapy: Selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) – this is a type of antidepressant. Research has shown that it can also help to treat OCD. Clomipramine – this is a tricyclic antidepressant. You may be offered this if you try an SSRI but it doesn’t help. If you think you might have OCD, visit your GP, and you can find further information at mind.org.uk/ Her symptoms became so unbearable that she began to self-harm, so that the physical pain would stop her mental pain, and she attempted to take her own life. She dropped out of university in December 2024, moving back in with her parents and became unable to leave the house; if she went outside, she would convince herself she had harmed someone. Doctors put Daniela on different antidepressants, which she said did nothing to help her condition. “I was just taking a pill and hoping that I would magically wake up one day and be normal again,” she says. Throughout 2025, her symptoms worsened to the point where her mum had to stand outside the toilet to make sure Daniela didn’t do anything ‘bad’ whilst she was alone. “I couldn’t do anything myself. I couldn’t cook a meal because I would convince myself I’d put bleach on my food, or I’d sat on it, so I had to put it all in the bin,” she says. Daniela’s OCD has caused a massive strain in her relationships with family and friends and has left her unable to sleep, as she is convinced she will sleepwalk in the night and do something terrible. “I feel like I don’t have a personality anymore because this has taken over my whole life,” she says. Daniela, who still lives with her parents, is currently on the NHS waiting list for more therapy, but hasn’t heard anything since November. Her parents have offered to help pay for private therapy, which she is hopeful will help manage her symptoms. Comment now