Pinar Tarhan is a writer through-and-through and, while she had written briefly about her mental health here and there, it wasn’t until her Recovery Diaries essay “The Trauma of Not Being Traumatized Enough: My Life with Pure OCD” that she really stepped forward into the light and put forth “my first really open, really honest essay, with all the backstory, with all the diagnoses, and all the adventures.” And she is, first and foremost, an author; but she is also an author living with Pure OCD.

It’s reasonable to wonder why she waited to disclose, but when a person’s mental health challenge involves safety-related compulsions because the person believes that, if they don’t do everything possible to mitigate harm (like avoiding knives or ledges or traffic) or else they will do something horrible to themselves or someone else, it’s understandable that they might hesitate before talking openly about it. But Pinar isn’t shy, and she isn’t afraid, and she isn’t hiding. She has a full, brilliant life living with Pure OCD/Harm OCD, a mental health challenge where the individual impacted engages in compulsive behaviors to prevent harm to themselves or others, even though there is no actual threat or danger present. She also lives with anxiety, which she charmingly and writerly says often appears “as a side-dish to OCD”. In her interview with Recovery Diaries in Depth host Gabe Nathan, she talks about how she is much better than she was nearly ten years ago, when she wrote her essay on our site, but also about how she still engages in some “checking” behaviors to assuage her anxious mind.

Pinar, who lives in Istanbul, also discusses some Turkish attitudes towards mental health and her thoughts on how views on mental health and mental illness are changing in her culture while also expressing some of her own thoughts on where she fits into Turkish society, and the unique challenges of finding “her tribe.”

Pinar Tarhan is truly a breath of fresh air, we know you will enjoy this engaging conversation between two old friends who enjoyed catching up together as much as they enjoy their own mental health advocacy and openness.

Are you ready to discover more stories of mental health, empowerment and change? Check us out for more essays, films, and more podcast episodes featuring diverse voices from around the world.

Conversations like the ones on this podcast can sometimes be hard, but they’re always necessary. If you or someone you know is struggling, please consider visiting wannatalkaboutit.com. If you or someone you know is considering suicide, please call, text, or chat 988.

​EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR / EDITOR: Gabriel Nathan | DESIGN: Leah Alexandra Goldstein | SITE ORIGINATOR: Bud Clayman

See Related Recovery Stories: Anxiety, Bipolar Disorder, OCD, Recovery Diaries In Depth Podcast