Professor T: Ben Miller stars in trailer for ITV drama
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It was back in 2021 when the star took on the role of Professor Jasper Tempest in the ITV drama Professor T, that Miller spoke out about his personal experience with OCD. As the eccentric Cambridge University criminology professor, who also suffers from the common mental health condition, the star reflected on the time where his symptoms became “unmanageable,” continuing to say that his experience helped him to connect with his character.
“I did struggle a lot with OCD, particularly in my twenties, and I’m very lucky in that it’s all very manageable now,” Miller said.
“But there were times where it was unmanageable, as it is for Professor T, so I know how that feels and I know how I dealt with it.
“I’ve found these sequences – where in the Professor’s imagination he doesn’t have OCD and he’s free of all those behaviours – are a great way to show what’s going on inside.
“Seeing somebody lining up items on a desk looks pretty innocuous but inside, that person can be a lot more complicated.”
OCD is a chronic condition where a person suffers from “uncontrollable, recurring thoughts and behaviours”. These thoughts are known as obsessions and behaviours, compulsions, explaining how the condition got its name.
For example someone with an obsessive fear of being burgled may feel they need to check all the windows and doors are locked several times before they can leave their house. Although everyone may suffer from “rituals or habits” from time to time, individuals with OCD tend to not get pleasure when performing these behaviours. Instead they cause significant problems in their daily life.
The National Institute of Mental Health (NIH) explains that some individuals with OCD also have a tic disorder. Motor tics are sudden, brief, repetitive movements, such as eye blinking and other eye movements, facial grimacing, shoulder shrugging, and head or shoulder jerking. Common vocal tics include repetitive throat-clearing, sniffing, or grunting sounds.
Speaking about his own symptoms, Miller went on to say: “I was very OCD about doorways and doors. For me, it was a way of mitigating and controlling my anxieties.
“I thought if I touched an object a certain number of times, then bad things won’t happen. Of course it doesn’t work – I constantly had to amplify my behaviours to try and reduce my anxiety.
“Mine was quite a mathematical one. I have quite a mathematical mind and sometimes that goes a little bit into overdrive.
“There comes a point where the OCD behaviours themselves make the anxiety worse and you enter into a positive feedback loop; it gets out of control. There were crisis points when I decided to seek professional help.”
In addition to OCD, Miller said that he suffers with anxiety, something that can be made worse due to his “stressful job” and lead to panic attacks. Elaborating about his panic attacks, he added: “I don’t know what triggers it for me. It can happen any time of day or night and it can literally happen during a conversation – it doesn’t seem to follow any pattern.
“I’ve never woken up in the morning and thought: ‘I’m going to have a panic attack today.’ I always seem to be surprised by them.”
Panic attacks are a symptom of panic disorder – an anxiety disorder where individuals regularly have sudden attacks of panic or fear. During a panic attack you get a rush of intense mental and physical symptoms – an episode that can be very frightening and distressing.
Some of the symptoms include:
- A racing heartbeat
- Feeling faint
- Sweating
- Nausea
- Chest pain
- Shortness of breath
- Trembling
- Hot flushes
- Chills.
The NHS explains that it is common for those with OCD to also suffer from anxiety and panic attacks, as they carry out compulsions and behaviours to try and relieve this intense anxiety.
Luckily, for those suffering with OCD and anxiety, there are various treatments available to try and help individuals live an undisturbed life. The main treatment methods include medication, psychotherapy or a combination of the two.
Serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SRIs), which include selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors (SSRIs) are used to help reduce OCD symptoms. The NIH warns that SRIs often require higher daily doses in the treatment of OCD than of depression and may take eight to 12 weeks to start working, but some patients experience more rapid improvement.
If symptoms do not improve with these types of medications, research shows that some patients may respond well to an antipsychotic medication. Although research shows that an antipsychotic medication may help manage symptoms for people who have both OCD and a tic disorder.
Alternatively, research shows that certain types of psychotherapy, including cognitive behaviour therapy (CBT) and other related therapies can be as effective as medication for many individuals. One therapy technique – where individuals spend time in a situation that triggers compulsions but do not act out any behaviours – is effective in reducing compulsive behaviours.
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