Episode 2 Extreme OCD Camp

Six young Brits are on the journey of a lifetime.

They're heading deep into the North American wilderness.

SHE SHRIEKS

But this is no ordinary trek.

He was having thoughts of beating her up, of punching her in the face.

I just keep seeing it over and over again -

him just lying there lifeless at the bottom.

They've all signed up to a radical treatment programme

for mental illness...

I want to tap the wall with my elbow.

-You might have been born with a stupid voice.

-I was.

..because all of them have obsessive compulsive disorder.

It's impossible to describe what turmoil my brain is in.

The lid, in case my clothes touched it. The flusher.

This is pathetic. This is not how my life should be.

OCD has robbed them of their independence

and made living normal lives impossible.

They've been unable to get the treatment they need,

and they're desperate for help.

My parents have been through so much.

I hate the man I thought I should have been at 22, that I'm not at 22.

He's so pissed off that OCD has robbed him of his life.

So in a last-ditch attempt to reclaim their lives,

they're spending ten days

at one of the world's most extreme OCD camps.

Last time on Extreme OCD Camp,

the group arrived on the north-west coast of America

to begin radical treatment for their OCD.

Today, they will be taking actual risks.

Therapist Pete Weiss and Dr Travis Osborne are OCD experts,

and are helping of all them overcome their greatest fears.

You ready?

22-year old Jack has severe contamination OCD.

So far, he's been determined to confront

his chronic anxiety about germs.

My mouth went dry and my chest was beating.

I was sweating, I felt kind of like I was going to faint.

Drinking from a glass in a restaurant

was a massive step forward, but it's not been easy.

-BLEEP

-sake!

Youngest of the group is 17-year-old Imogen.

She constantly fears that her family will be harmed,

and that she can only prevent it

by avoiding certain foods and tapping things.

It really does scare me, like,

"If you don't tap that tree, your mum's going to die."

So far, Pete has convinced Imogen to resist the urge to tap

and accept her fears out loud.

Maybe something bad will happen.

Oh, dear.

It may be painful, but it IS progress.

Like Imogen, 18-year-old Megan is plagued by thoughts

that those she loves will be harmed.

She's also been challenged to face her fears out loud.

You're going to get ill.

For the last 12 years, 22-year-old Josh has been

ruled by symmetry OCD, which compels him to do everything twice.

I have to touch everything with my left and right hands,

my left and right feet,

equal amount of times everywhere I go, 24/7.

So far at OCD Camp, Josh has been challenged to see how long

he can wait before repeating an action

a record ten minutes led to a dizzy high.

But his next attempt led to a crashing low.

To me, it is like seeing a bus come towards you.

21-year-old Olivia fears being dirty so much

she photographs her surroundings to reassure herself they're clean.

But the main reason for her fear is the smell.

Some people's biggest fear is getting ill maybe, or dying.

-My biggest fear is anything that smells bad.

-Good work.

The most complex of the group is 23-year-old Andrew.

My OCD does primarily revolve around avoiding the number 13.

Andrew's severe OCD and fear of the number 13

has crippled his life and ruined his confidence.

But so far, it's his low self-esteem that Pete has focused on treating.

I don't even like talking, I sound stupid.

So if you shout, you might be rejected by all of us?

It involves being rejected, yeah.

Little by little, even Andrew is finding a way through.

I'm so hoping you feel at least

a little tiny bit proud of yourself for what you just did.

After four days of intensive treatment,

the group's toughest challenge is yet to come.

They're about to take a trek into the wild.

But this is no mini-break.

The extreme conditions are intended to trigger their OCD

so that Pete and Travis can confront it head on.

I can't really wrap my head around what we're about to do, honestly.

To now go and take them out into the woods

after everything that we've already done,

I just can't really put words to it.

Pete's taken OCD groups camping before,

but treating six Brits in the wilderness is a first.

After a four-hour ferry ride,

the group arrive at Stehekin. Surrounded by mountains,

it's a campsite in the sticks.

They'll have to get down and dirty,

cook for each other, and sleep out in sub-zero temperatures.

For the next three days,

Washington's wilderness will be home.

They might be away from civilisation,

but there's no escaping their OCD.

It is frustrating. You're constantly thinking you've got to tap that

or something bad's going to happen, you've got to tap that.

It's difficult.

And of course being in the wild will bring its own challenges.

Hey, you guys! Heads up really quick.

This is a great wilderness toilet paper.

Good texture,

lots of fibre.

You might want to collect a couple, put them in your pocket.

Imogen, you don't look so thrilled.

This is better than the real thing, let me tell you.

-I'll take your word for it.

-OK.

We can do camp fire here because it has the shelter, the wind screen.

Camp right there? Yeah, I think it's perfect.

Let's get warm.

I stepped off the boat incredibly cold, incredibly cold.

It really hit me that I'm actually genuinely sleeping outside tonight.

I'm actually eating outside.

We're in a very uncontrolled and unpredictable environment.

It doesn't matter that they're cold and uncomfortable out here.

You can't wish away the night,

you can't wish away the rain,

and for some of them, that triggers their OCD ten times as much.

Harsh as it may seem,

Pete and Travis need the OCD to be triggered so they can treat it.

-Could this blow over?

-Sure.

I don't like that answer.

Can you give me a nicer answer?

-How does that feel?

-That's cosy. I'm quite warm, actually!

Good! I'm glad.

Oh, it's like a really good massage!

Camp set, preparations begin for dinner.

I'm going to put the rice on.

Olivia suffers from an obsessive fear of smells,

and tonight, she is in charge of cooking for the whole group.

Onions are my favourite vegetables, but I won't cut them

unless I can have a shower straight after

because, like, the smell...

Sometimes they split when you cut them and bits jump out.

Plus, it's really hard to get the smell off your hands, I find.

The thought process that goes through my head is that

if an onion touches me, then my hands will smell of onions,

then my clothes will smell of onions

and then other people will think I smell of onions

and then they'll stay away from me,

or they'll get a bad impression of me, that kind of thing.

But a hot shower isn't an option here,

and the group are starving, so Olivia has to power through.

Can you see if there's any things to put stuff in?

-You know, once it's done?

-Oh, like a dish?

-Yeah.

-Michelin quality.

-Yeah.

But not everyone is as content as Josh.

Jack finds dinner stressful at the best of times,

and the great outdoors is making him

even more anxious about coming into contact with germs.

The water is just from like a thing down there, like a communal tap.

I've not been the first to touch it,

I've not been the first to eat from it.

I don't know what the ladle has been used for,

I don't know when it's been used.

It's like about a 9 out of 10 for me, anxiety-wise.

Jack obsesses about hygiene and how his food is prepared.

Pete and Travis want him to take a risk and give up control.

If a hiker came down the trail and asked,

"Why is that guy freaking out about eating a bowl of rice?

"Why does he look like he's in so much pain?"

In your words, how would you explain it?

Swap it for a bowl of poison.

Yeah, just swap it for a bowl of poison.

So, when you look in that bowl, you see a bowl of poison?

Yeah, and I don't mean, like, see, as in...figure of speech.

I mean SEE. See see.

-Actually see it.

-Travis, I don't know about you,

but I think he's got two choices,

and that's allowing himself to be pushed around

by this disorder, or face it.

You have to kind of decide,

like, do you want your life to be about getting sick?

If this is going to be your life,

where you are succumbing to OCD's wishes,

then that's a choice you could make, right?

You could just play it safe.

Or, say, "I'm going to take a lot of risks.

"I'm going to risk that I'm going to get sick because I want..."

-What?

-Um...

Go out with these lot and just eat what they're eating.

Good.

What just happened with Jack, the thing that's very profound,

is that we couldn't control everything out here.

It's the food being packed the wrong way.

It's that he doesn't know where the pot comes from,

he doesn't know where the water comes from.

It's all of the combined effect

makes all of this a ten for him, to eat.

But this is real life for him,

and so I think it's good it's happening now,

where we can support him through it.

Jack's not the only one with a fear involving food.

Imogen's OCD doesn't just compel her to tap.

She also thinks her family will be harmed

if she eats and drinks certain things.

The triggers can change,

and at the moment, chocolate is one.

Just holding a piece is a massive challenge,

but Pete wants her to try.

Imagine someone has her little time bomb

in this M&M,

and there's, like, a detonator in this M&M,

and they put the bomb in your house

where your family are.

SHE SOBS

It's all right.

And if you set off the detonator...

..your house... and your family are going to die.

How do you detonate it?

You have to eat it.

Despite her genuine terror,

Imogen is determined to push herself even further.

Just relax, just relax, don't stay there. Give yourself a second.

That was about three seconds, I think.

Yep!

-That's a good face.

-Yeah.

-Yep.

What you all have to remember, you guys, is that it's not OCD

if you know that the thought is irrational.

It's not OCD.

If you believed the thought, if you truly believed it,

that would mean that you were psychotic or delusional.

THAT's crazy.

When people talk about crazy, that's what they mean.

Imogen is a long way from that.

I agree. So are you.

I'm not so sure on that one!

I'm not so sure on that one.

I know you're not. I don't think the rest of us agree.

It's just a little crossover of wires in my brain.

It's a pretty rubbish feeling

to be so scared of something that you enjoy so much.

Normal for me would just be...

Even if it meant that I could only eat one M&M,

that would be incredible.

Pete and Travis call it a day.

The only job left is to collect more firewood.

The more big stuff we can find, the better,

because that's the stuff that will burn the longest.

In the new environment, everyone is feeling the strain of their OCD,

but Andrew also suffers from depression,

and out of nowhere, his mood turns.

I just got a real bad feeling of depression.

I just felt as though everybody was ignoring me again.

I think people don't want to start a conversation

because they hate my voice.

"Why would we go over there and talk to that absolute idiot?

"We've got some nice, more normal people to walk along with

"and talk to."

I think somebody said to me something like,

"You've got to put your food in a bear box

"or something, or a bear would come and eat you,"

and I just said, "I really wouldn't care if it did."

I still feel a little bit like that at times.

I meant it. At times, I really wouldn't care if a bear did eat me.

I just woke up, everyone is still asleep

and it's just a beautiful, beautiful day.

Part of me wants to go and build a fire and start some hot water

so when they wake up, they'll be comforted with those things,

but then there's another part of me that says that

I wouldn't be doing them any favours by making it too plush.

I slept absolutely horrifically.

It was the worst sleep I've ever had in my life.

I'm not made for this, I'm a city boy. This is terrible.

No-one slept, because it's just cold and wet and it sucks.

I am feeling a bit better today.

-You are?

-I felt hideous yesterday around here. I felt so rejected.

Three nightmares about getting rejected again.

-Last night?

-Three separate ones.

What are we having for breakfast? What do you want for breakfast?

Not fish and chips again? We can't do it(!)

I don't know what there's going to be.

There is some, like, oatmeal to make porridge,

so porridge, if that's a possibility.

You should really have porridge when you're down here anyway,

-shouldn't you?

-Yeah.

-This is porridge territory.

Spurred on by talking to Andrew,

Jack summons up the courage to eat some too.

It's a massive step forward after last night's rice ordeal.

For me, I feel, already, I've regained my dignity,

regardless of what happens now.

I'll have a hell of a lot more independence, I think,

because I feel that when it comes down to making food,

preparing food, doing things like breakfast, porridge in the morning,

I feel like it will be stuff that I'll be able to do on my own.

Yeah, it makes me feel, obviously, better about myself.

Sorry, Andrew! Agh!

With breakfast over, it's time to pack up and hit the trail.

The four-mile hike is intended to focus their energy

and stop OCD taking over

as they have to keep going until the next camp.

Following Andrew's low point the night before,

Pete's giving him responsibility as trek leader.

I can completely see why Pete and Travis have brought us out here.

Some people might be sitting there thinking,

"They've got OCD, you know?

"Why are they on a trip? What is the point of this?

"Is walking meant to cure it, or something?"

But everybody's OCD adapts to where you are,

and if you're able to fight it when you're cold and you're hungry

and you're tired, then you're a very strong person, really.

That's all I have to say.

And while trekking,

OCD expert Travis wants to use the time to work with Josh.

So far, they've tackled his symmetry OCD

by encouraging him to go for as long as possible

before repeating an action.

On the first day, he could barely wait five minutes.

A day later, he pushed through to ten.

Now, after fist-bumping Travis with his left hand,

he's desperately trying not to do the same with his right.

Despite the extreme heat and unfamiliar terrain,

he's trying to hold off for a painstaking 25 minutes.

-We're at 23-and-a-half minutes.

-Oh, my god.

This is the longest, Josh, you've ever gone without doing a ritual.

-Can you give me a number for your anxiety?

-Seven.

-Seven?

Five, four,

three, two, one...

25 minutes!

OTHERS CHEER

Josh has reached his target, but instead of ending his pain,

he decides to keep on going, and Travis is stunned.

He's just pushing and pushing and pushing himself

to go further and further,

even though he's having a really extreme panic attack right now.

Do you want us to hike, Josh?

Yeah?

Are we nearly on 29, Travis?

A couple of seconds until 29.

Amazing.

-Right, Josh...

-Josh!

-You've got ten...

-I'll count down.

Ten, nine, eight, seven,

six, five, four, three, two...

-Come on, Josh.

-..one.

-Yes!

-Good job!

Oh, my god!

30 minutes, Josh.

Half an hour is incredible!

30 minutes. You go do whatever you need to do right now.

Probably collapse!

That's just so much for me.

I can do so much with that.

I can do so much. Just everything with that.

So I'm really, really happy.

For some of them,

they realise that they have nine days to make an impact.

They're terrifying themselves over and over and over again,

and imagine how exhausting that is.

They're completing an ultra-marathon here.

Josh's triumph spurs everyone on to keep trekking.

-How's everyone doing? Good?

-Good.

-Massive.

But an hour later, walking along a cliff edge

proves too much for Jack and triggers another side to his OCD -

not germs this time, but intrusive thoughts about harming people,

something the group haven't seen before.

I know we're getting higher,

so the higher we get, the more dangerous it gets,

the more the intrusive thoughts are going to come.

Although Jack has never harmed anyone,

he's had thoughts like this before, which cause him to panic.

And as he can't stop until the next camp,

he uses skills he's learnt so far to face his fears out loud.

Maybe I could push someone down.

Maybe I could push someone down.

Maybe I could push someone down.

Maybe I could push someone down.

Maybe I could push Olivia down the hill.

Maybe I could push Megan down the hill.

Maybe I could push Josh down the hill...

As soon as they reach camp, Jack removes himself from the group.

He was down on the dock and I went down and said, "What's going on?"

And he said, "The images are so loud."

He was having thoughts of harming Imogen, of beating her up,

of punching her in the face,

and it was just this intrusive image over and over of, I think,

of her just on her knees and him just beating on her.

I think Jack is just so pissed off,

and frustrated and angry that OCD has robbed him of his life.

And it's robbed him of the things that he loves.

The worst of Jack's panic attack may be over,

but it's really shaken him up.

It made me cry. It made me really, really, really cry.

I've not cried like that since I was a kid.

There's absolutely a direct link between the fact that we're

kind of getting towards the end a little bit now.

At home, I've got my mum, I've got my dad, I've got my brother,

I've got family, yeah, a couple of really good friends,

but...they understand it to a point.

They understand it to a good point, as well,

because they've all lived with it for so long,

but they don't get it in the same way that those five people

that are cooking dinner right now do.

-Is that a splint?

-Yeah...

SHE LAUGHS

-It's like a broken leg.

-Oh, stop!

I forgot that the boiling water would totally melt the adhesive.

THEY LAUGH

It's been an emotionally charged day for everyone,

but Josh at least wants to celebrate reaching a personal best.

Ohh!

JOSH GASPS

-Jesus Christ!

-Is it cold?

One, two, three, go!

THEY SHRIEK

Oh, my god! Oh, my god!

That's cold. That's cold.

I really enjoyed it, I'm glad I did it.

Oh, my god!

THEY GASP

As the group settle down for the night,

nature calls for Olivia.

Her contamination OCD means she's terrified

of smelling badly,

and she now has to face her worst fear -

a dirty, smelly long-drop loo out in the woods.

You're allowed to tell me how bad it is.

I didn't sit on the seat, and I just tried not to look down the hole.

I'm just going to look.

Ohh! That is rank! Oh, my god!

How did anyone get changed in there?

Ohh!

Urgh! I don't think I can use that.

No, it's disgusting.

-OK, you want to just go for it?

-Ohh!

-OK. That makes sense.

I know this is huge.

This is, I think, the hardest thing we've had so far, isn't it? Yeah.

Ugh! I'll just have to use it.

This is the one place Travis can't hold her hand.

She's got to do this on her own.

SHE COUGHS AND SOBS

-Are you OK?

-Ugh!

SHE COUGHS

How are you doing?

MUFFLED REPLY

VOICE BREAKING: I haven't moved.

SHE COUGHS

Oh, God! I don't want to go near the door.

Say when?

Olivia has come through her biggest challenge yet.

It's a massive victory over her OCD.

I was about to be sick.

Like, being in the room was just absolutely horrific.

It was so, so bad.

I think I could probably use anything now,

because that was so bad.

-Normal life is going to be so much easier.

-Good job, OK?

What did you call it?

Olivia just did the single hardest exposure

literally of her entire life. She used that toilet.

That is not a toilet. That is a cess pit.

10 out of 10.

APPLAUSE

-Well done.

-Attagirl!

Good work.

Do you have a little bit of water we could borrow?

Campfire lit, they reflect on their achievements so far.

High point's probably leading the trek

because I felt quite important, I suppose, leading it,

and also having my photo done with Megan and Imogen.

I don't really have any friends, you know, I lost touch with everybody.

I don't really get the chance to have many photos done,

so to have a photo done with two really nice girls...

..it's something that's...

GIRLS GIGGLE

-There'll be many more.

-Yeah, loads more.

When you first learned about this programme,

that you were going out in the woods for some sort of camp,

what did you think about that?

I think, for me, the trek I always thought was going to be

the hardest point, because I get so tired so easily,

so I thought that actually by doing this

would kind of help push my OCD to try and eat more,

because I can't do a lot because I run out of energy so quickly.

There are things out here which you can't do in a doctor's office.

Being in a doctor's office,

it's just a total sterile environment,

and this environment, it brings out the best in people

but it also brings out the worst in people.

But you need to see both those sides of people

to actually try and get better.

Next morning, and time for another trek.

But no-one's in a hurry to get started.

Good morning, everybody!

Good morning! Good morning!

Hello, hello, hello!

Morning!

Big Bear.

Big Bear!

What is it with Americans?

So happy, Americans.

Just give us our morning. God!

No, go have your morning out there. Look at the mountains, it's AMAZING!

I know, I looked at it loads!

After their rude awakening,

Pete decides to check in on their progress - American-style.

So let's start with...a personal weather report.

So we'll just go around really quick and just tell us

how you guys are doing right now in this moment.

Heat wave.

I don't know why.

I like it, I like it, it's nice.

I am having a rainbow, so some sun with quite a bit of rain.

I'm having a sunny day, just a good day.

I am sunny with a couple of clouds moving in from...

..the west, which will hopefully pass on by and continue being sunny.

Light rain forecast and thunder.

I've always got really thick, black clouds over me, but it's one

of them days where I think a decent amount of sun is getting through.

After a mixed report, Pete hits them with what they're doing today.

OK, so we are hiking to Moore Point,

and if everyone can look out this way,

you see that huge cliff right there?

And how there's a little plateau at the top?

That's where the trail goes. We're going to go right over that.

So we have a hill to climb.

This will be your first wilderness camp site,

completely wilderness camp site.

No privies, no picnic tables, no shelter, nothing.

What do you think, Imogen?

-Yay(!)

-THEY LAUGH

Today's kind of all about pacing.

You know, fighting OCD is kind of a lifetime...challenge,

and you're going to be best positioned if you pace yourself.

They have a long way to go, but only minutes in,

the cliff edge proves too much for Megan.

Thoughts of her family being harmed are coming thick and fast.

What just popped into your mind?

When we climbed that hill then, I pictured my dad falling down

-and hitting his head.

-OK.

I just keep seeing it over and over again.

-So it's just cycling.

-And him just lying there lifeless at the bottom.

I just feel so guilty and stressed.

Megan would normally deal with her panic attack by constantly

repeating good thoughts in her head.

But now, she's determined to ride out her obsessions

in an attempt to break the torturous cycle.

-It keeps flashing in my mind.

-OK.

I just want you to try to stay with it,

try not to distract yourself or shift away from it, OK?

When I get anxious, though, it's just like a mess in my head.

-It's kind of a jumble?

-Yeah.

-I can't check if they're OK.

-Yeah.

Yeah, being out here almost makes the exposure harder

because you can't just call them or run to the other room.

He could have just dropped down somewhere and I have no idea.

Right, right.

Is that image still cycling?

-It's, like, a five now.

-Five? OK. And you still haven't ritualised?

-No.

-Good, you're doing a great job. Good work.

-Thank you.

-All right.

That was the most anxious I got, so I've achieved more than I thought.

Initially, I wanted to just have a minute of the day without OCD,

but now I feel like I can do a lot more than that.

After a couple of hours, it's mission accomplished

and the troop reach the top.

And you, Big Bear?

THEY LAUGH

But for Andrew, there's one last mountain to climb.

So far at camp, he has been helped with his fear of rejection.

-Shall we sit here?

-Yeah, yeah.

But it's a crippling fear of the number 13

that causes him the most problems.

And Pete wants to address that now.

He uses the nearest thing to hand to trigger it - Andrew's camera.

CAMERA BLEEPS

Bring up menu.

One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine, ten,

11, 12, 13... I'm on there.

-OK. So that was another exposure right there?

-Just doing that.

Toggle between them a few times,

turn it on and off about four times, and each of them times, it'll be

a complex movement between different items carefully planned out.

Turn it off then, obviously I would have to turn it back on,

do that whole process again, turn it off, turn it back on.

OK. Can you stop yourself from doing that?

-Yeah, I don't intend to.

-OK.

Andrew's OCD about 13 is so strong

that even the smallest link can trigger it.

Tell me one more time, just so I know for sure why "program" is a problem.

Program is a problem because it ends in M,

and M is the 13th letter in the alphabet. So by going on program,

we're just coming into contact with 13.

-So you're going to go to program.

-Yep.

Then talk me through, tell me what's going on.

What's happening in your head?

Yeah, there is something in my mind now telling me that, you know...

..there's something not quite right.

If I have a bad bout a really bad bout of depression

over the next few days,

that is the time that I'm going to be likely to grab it and do it.

It's just about sticking with it.

I can easily do all of this now, as horrible as it is, but the hard

part is going to be not getting tempted to try and rectify it.

Oh, you will be tempted. You absolutely will be.

This is a lot like the other exposures we've done before

at Island Wood, isn't it?

I will be tempted because it's just going to be on my mind,

-it's just something.

-So the question is, right now, Andrew,

are you willing to tolerate all of that stress?

Yeah, because I feel really positive.

If I were at home, I'd say no, I'm not. But I'm positive

and I'm with lots of people and I've got exciting things happening, so...

so I'm prepared to.

-Well done.

-Thank you, yeah.

I think what I've learned from Pete and Travis is that

although number 13 is a big issue

and a lot of things centre around it, that is more like

a covering point for the fact that I've got no independence,

no friends, no social life, and this has really, really opened my eyes.

And I know for a fact that if I did build up a social life

and keep in touch with everybody,

then that is actually an indirect way of combating 13,

because the more confident I feel, the less likely

I feel compelled to have to hide behind routines from everything.

With the toughest part of the trek over,

it takes one last push for the team to reach their final camp spot.

After two days of trekking, it's a massive achievement.

-Congratulations.

-Thank you.

Yeah!

All right, you guys, you can do whatever you want for a while.

Enjoy.

While the others relax, it's more exposure time for Jack and Imogen.

As fear of food is such a major part of their OCD,

it's down to them to make dinner.

Move it back maybe a centimetre or so.

Jack's starting to cope with preparing meals outdoors,

but Imogen's problems stem from the types of food she's exposed to.

And on tonight's menu is one that triggers her OCD thoughts of harm.

I can't eat pizza because it is a bad food, which my OCD has decided,

which REALLY sucks, because it is, like, my favourite thing.

And that just shows how horrid OCD can be.

Why can we not just have something grim or meaty every night,

why are we having pizza for the third time since we've been here?

I think it's a personal thing against you.

Yeah, I think it is as well. I think someone's out to get me.

It's absolutely horrible, and when it affects something like food,

people don't realise, do they? People don't get how...

You know, it's kind of one of the biggest things in our lives.

You better tell me it smells disgusting. When you're eating...

It does smell disgusting. I ain't going to eat it.

I'm in the same camp as you.

'I hate to say it, but OCD is one of these things

'that doesn't actually go away.'

I think you can learn to control it,

but it's always going to be part of you, and that sucks.

But you don't have to be that person, because you can take a stand

and one day, I hope that I will be able to go to a restaurant and

order anything I want, eat it and not feel bad, and maybe the next

day, if I've got a job or something and I'm feeling a bit stressed, I'll

tap my desk before I leave and I'll just think to myself, "I'm stressed,

"I tapped my desk, it's done",

and then carry on life as normal so everyone will think,

"You've got a handle on it and you're OK."

It's the final day in Washington's wilderness. No-one's going

to miss the cold and damp, or unwelcome guests in the night.

You're all dead asleep.

Josh is snoring and all of a sudden, I hear, "What, what, what?"

SHE LAUGHS

And I go over there and Jack is...he's vertical.

I've never moved quicker in my entire life,

because a mouse ran onto my face and into my sleeping bag.

So I had a mouse literally go down my sleeping bag so I've gone,

literally, "hrrrm".

I think we need a little bit of wildlife on this trip.

The end of the trek may be a welcome relief for some.

I've got two blisters and a black toenail.

It's obviously because of all that walking we've done.

But despite the woods being tough,

the thought of going home is even tougher.

They're going home tomorrow.

Wow, they're going home tomorrow.

Or at least they're going to be out of our hands tomorrow.

For me, I think I may be taking it harder than the majority are here.

I feel very scared and very anxious,

and I'm not looking forward to it.

I'm not looking forward to anything of going home.

After Josh's great achievement at camp, he's desperate to get home,

and for the first time be more open with his friends about OCD.

That is one of my biggest regrets - instead of just being honest

with them, I just got scared and lied to them.

I really, really do miss them.

I hope that this trip will help me just to get out there,

get back there,

rekindle some old friendships

and hopefully make some new ones as well.

With less than 24 hours to go,

Imogen wants to use the time as best she can.

Up to now, she's been able to hold an M&M to her lips

for just a few seconds.

Despite her intense fear this could bring harm to her family,

she's going to take the risk and see how much further she can go.

OK, that was six minutes.

I think back to when I first had that M&M in my hand

and I could hold it to my lips for two seconds.

I was so, so scared,

and now I can hold it for, like, ten minutes.

'She is jumping leaps and bounds ahead.'

Imogen's confidence is at an all-time high,

so she pushes herself one step further.

Almost spontaneously, she stuck out her tongue.

Oh, Imogen!

Imogen.

'What this means is it's just a huge hope and confidence for progress.'

With over four hours to kill in the van, Imogen's triumph

with the M&M inspires Jack to go further than he's ever been, too.

Up until just a few days ago, sharing a water bottle would

have been unthinkable, but today, he's willing to give it a try.

-Are you going to be the sipper?

-I'll be the sipper.

-Is this a brand new bottle?

-A brand new bottle.

-Oh, that's a shame.

-It is a bloody shame.

That was a little bit more than a sip.

-Is that OK?

-Yeah.

-Cap it, and hand it back?

-Yeah, yeah, hand it back.

I saw Pete brushing his teeth yesterday,

so I know he's a good teeth-brusher.

That makes everything a hell of a lot easier. But...

I didn't this morning, though.

-Now that's cruel.

-Yes!

Well done!

-What's your number right now?

-About six-and-a-half.

The group wait anxiously for Jack's panic to rise, but it doesn't.

A week ago, it would have been an eight or a nine,

but I think because it's been three days of just being dirty

and going through all the other exposures, it kind of, yeah,

it feels lower, it feels more manageable.

I don't want to be, like, eating out of toilets when I get home,

but I want to at least be able to eat within 100 yards of one.

American road trips, that's what you do.

Apparently you change on American road trips. Cue music.

MUSIC: "When You Were Young" by The Killers

-HE SINGS ALONG WITH RADIO

-# You sit there in your heartache

# Waiting on some beautiful boy...

# To save you from your old ways

# Watch him now, here he come... #

The highs and lows of OCD Camp have affected everyone,

but it's clear this roller coaster ride isn't over

when Andrew's mood suddenly turns again.

OLIVIA: You know you've made five friends for life, like we all have.

-ANDREW:

-I don't fit in like everybody else.

Yes, you do.

I never will do, there's just no point. I'm just fed-up.

PETE: How many people in this van have ever been in a place where

you just didn't feel like fighting any more?

-JORDEN:

-Twenty...two times today.

How many times today?

I appreciate everything that every nice person has ever done for me,

but there's just too many bad people for me to cope with.

I can't cope with life.

There's too many things I can't... I just can't cope with.

But if the bad people are bad, they're not worth bothering with.

Yeah, but it might not be them people that are bad,

it's me that nobody likes.

As well as it just being because I was worried that people weren't

listening to me and talking to me, I think it was that sense of

it's all changing in two days, the end's coming, and it just threw me.

'I'm actually really sad about going home,

'because I've not got much of a life back home, so obviously

'I'm extremely worried that I might end up going back to how I were.'

If I can just stay in touch with these people

and build on what I've learnt, then hopefully I can move forward.

-JACK:

-It's just bad days, man, bad days and good days.

You'll have loads more bad days and good days.

But you're glad you came, ain't you?

Oh, course I am. Course I am.

It's the best thing I've done in my life.

There's a level of worry that I have for all of them,

that we can't take them home with us, we're not moving to the UK.

That they're on their own.

From tomorrow, they'll be battling with their OCD alone, so Pete

has a keepsake for them all to help remember what they've learnt.

We have something for you.

And...it's a little dragon charm.

Eleanor Roosevelt said a really great thing, which was,

"Do something that scares you every day."

So when you look at this,

I encourage you to think about that.

I reckon the trip's probably the best decision I've made so far,

I think, in my life, probably. There's two ways I can look at this.

I can look at it as an amazing, brilliant experience

and an opportunity to set myself up, hopefully, for the rest of my life,

in a really positive way, or I can just drop back to old habits.

It's a really great opportunity to go home

and finally start living.

I've got a long way to go, but like I said when I first came here,

I just needed that one big push just to get me going again.

And I've been given a bigger push than I expected.

I want that degree that I personally think that I truly deserve,

and I want that job that I deserve.

I want that life that I deserve. It's definitely going to happen.

It's just a matter of when, really.

I've had fish all over my hands,

I've had onions all over my hands, used the most disgusting toilets

in the world and no-one has stayed away from me.

Everyone has been very close. No-one has been disgusted.

My independence has massively improved.

Like, the one thing that I came out here to mainly do was to just

be able to make decisions on my own.

'I'm kind of frustrated that I didn't have the opportunity to do

'this earlier, because I think I would have had a much easier life.'

I still care the same amount about my family, obviously,

but I'm learning that it's not my job to look after them

as much as I do in my head.

There are people here who have the same fears that I have, and I always

thought I was alone, and I always thought, "What is wrong with me?"

People do understand.

It'll kind of, hopefully, give me a little boost in the morning just

to press on and work that bit harder to get where you want to be in life.

You know what? I really did do it, I achieved it.

I managed to survive without my mum on my own.

Sharing bedrooms with people, you know, hot tubs.

I've done all this in a country on the other side of the world.

If you'd asked most people if I could achieve that...

but I've done it, so another thing I've proved them wrong with.

And to say thank you, there's also a present for Pete.

It seems like if we give you this,

we have the final say on nationalities.

THEY LAUGH

PETE: Thank you, guys.

They may have survived camp,

but their greatest challenge is yet to come -

whether they can fight their OCD back home.

Back in England, Jack's wish for independence is slowly

-becoming a reality.

-Ladies first.

Including going to restaurants with a good friend and her son.

Thanks a lot, cheers.

'Things have changed.'

It's like, when I'm outside, I'm not wearing gloves, I'm not quite

so obsessive about sell-by dates on food,

I'm eating off plates quite regular.

-You still can't use normal cutlery.

-No, I mean, I want to try it.

Everything about me wants to try using the regular cutlery today,

-because I actually feel quite good for it...

-Yeah.

..but I know it's probably a little bit of a step too far.

'It feels like I'm getting there slowly.'

I am a million miles from where I want to be, but then...

Yeah, but you're a million miles further than you were.

Despite still having a strong fear of germs,

he's now more hands on than ever before.

Oh, look at him!

Nice to just sit here and have a little cuddle with one.

I mean, obviously, I have to wash my hands afterwards,

but it's still nice to be able to at least try it a bit.

When I'm going through the things that I'm going through,

I'm able to deal with them in a lot calmer fashion, really.

It's not quite so chaotic.

I didn't choose this, I didn't choose this life.

I didn't choose this horrible, horrible condition.

Erm, but I do choose to get better from it.

-THEY LAUGH

-Sorry!

As for Imogen, life since camp has been a fresh start.

I wouldn't say it's the end of my OCD.

I'd say it's the beginning of my new way of looking at OCD.

Each day is a battle, but she's trying to tap less and less.

Obviously I am still scared a lot, you know, there are things

that I think to myself, "Oh, my god, I can't do this".

I think it's always going to be a monster in the back of my head

but hopefully it won't come out so much.

Imogen is also fighting her intrusive thoughts that stop

her eating and drinking what she wants.

'I can drink tea and coffee.'

Not hot chocolate yet, and M&M's I'm still working with.

I haven't been able to eat a whole M&M yet.

I think I usually get, like, maybe a quarter

and then end up having to chuck it, but, you know, we're getting there.

Since the return from camp,

Olivia is pushing herself every day to overcome her fear of smells.

Please can I have two pieces of salmon? Like, little piece...

The thing I'm most proud of since I got back is I think

I used to take maybe 20 pictures a day on my phone of toilets

and dirty seats and things that I thought were dirty, for reassurance.

And I've taken three in maybe three weeks, two-and-a-half weeks.

Great presentation skills.

Yeah, I definitely feel more positive about the future now.

As for Megan, her OCD had caused her to drop out of university,

but since going to camp, she's back.

I feel now I can actually have a normal life

and get a normal job like everyone else,

because if I couldn't do uni I think I felt like I couldn't do anything.

-How are you?

-Hello.

Camp has had a massive impact, a really positive impact on my life.

I get the same number of thoughts, but I know now how to deal with

the anxiety and not ritualise, so I feel really positive about my future.

-Bye!

-See you.

Andrew's OCD had made him almost a recluse.

Now his confidence is building every day.

I've been trying to take Cookie out and we'll go to t'shop every day.

That's like an exposure to get me more confident with being out.

I've got such a lot less will to do routines

when I feel as though I've got a life outside of the house.

And it wasn't just the camp that made an impact,

but the people he was with.

Making them friends in America meant a lot to me.

You see, like there, six notifications.

It's been pretty much zero for three years straight,

so when I get, like, seven or eight every day, it's quite nice.

It's made me realise that I can make friends and maintain friends.

Ah, I typed that on 13 minutes past.

Ugh! I'm not going to let it get me down too much.

I'm just going to try and ignore it as best I can.

The number 13 is... It still is a big part of my identity,

but I think I can realise more now that it doesn't have to be.

Oh, where's that going?

As for Josh, his symmetry OCD had prevented him getting a job.

After the camp, things have changed.

-Two minutes on that, chef.

-Cool.

Like, someone says, "Yes, chef."

It's like, "Who are you talking to?" It makes you feel good, definitely.

My OCD seems to be a lot less active when I'm constantly doing things,

constantly sort of being stressed.

And it's a job that I really, really think I could thrive in.

To be able to come back from the camp and just say, "I can do that,"

and go for it, it's a massive step.

And the job isn't the only good news.

Since getting back, I'm seeing someone. Erm...

..yeah.

She's awesome, I'm awesome. All good.

Subtitles by Red Bee Media Ltd