OCD Midwest held its third annual OCD Walk Sunday morning to raise money and awareness for obsessive-compulsive disorder.  

The organization, which is affiliated with the International OCD Foundation, has a mission to spread information about OCD throughout Illinois, Indiana and Ohio communities.  

Over 75 people were in attendance including those who have OCD, their loved ones and others supporting the cause. They registered online to take part in the One Million Steps for OCD Walk, which took place at the Akron Zoo for the first time. 

Co-chair of the event Amanda Kungle said, “Just advocating for change for our people, giving those that are isolated a voice and safe space to express themselves and to be who they are,” is the most special aspect of the day. 

Kungle, who has OCD, knows the importance of finding a community that supports each other through similar struggles. 

“Everybody’s here to support each other and hang out,” Kungle said. “We have a lot of return walkers, so we’re doing something right. To me, it just means that I get to be an agent of change.” 

Co-chair and President of OCD Midwest Gabrielle Faggella specializes in the treatment of OCD and related disorders, such as hoarding disorders and trichotillomania and dermatillomania, hair pulling and skin-picking disorders. 

Faggella, with over 30 years of experience in this field, said there’s a difficulty in finding professionals who treat OCD. 

“We try to increase public awareness, as well as professional awareness because even though these disorders are so common, a lot of people don’t know how to treat them,” Faggella said. “All of the money we raise here today, half will go to the International OCD Foundation, and then half will stay in our affiliate to further our mission of educating and training clinicians.”

Faggella said she hopes through this event more people will begin to understand that OCD is a serious disorder, and for those who have it to know they are not alone. 

“People don’t realize that this is an incredibly impairing disorder,” Faggella said. “It’s listed in the top 10 of the World Health Organization’s most debilitating illnesses, so it’s up there with cancer and heart disease.”  

Faggella also stressed the importance of finding a community for those with OCD, since many of those suffering from it have never met someone else with the same disorder and feel like they are the only one who experiences this struggle. 

“The first time we had this three years ago, there was a lot of laughter and even some tears, because for most people it was the first time they had ever met somebody with OCD,” Faggella said. “This isn’t just, ‘Oh, I’m so OCD.’ This is really a struggle, and we see more people getting involved every year, going to support groups and being willing to talk about their experiences.”

Kayla Gleason is a reporter. Contact her at [email protected].