Canadian TV personality Dina Pugliese-Mirkovich opens about OCD and feeling 'shame'
The TV personality said she spent many days being bullied and at home, sick.
Dina Pugliese-Mirkovich is opening up about her mental health struggles.
The former "Breakfast Television" host took to Instagram on Thursday morning with a throwback photo of herself in grade 8. She recalled feeling "so relieved that the school year was almost over," as she had spent "far too many days in the hallways being bullied," and many days at home.
Pugliese-Mirkovich said she spent many days inside at home or even in school, offering to help clean up, hiding in the bathroom — "anything to avoid stepping outside for recess," she claimed.
"I became physically ill from it all. I went home sick over and over again. I started repeating patterns to help calm and soothe."
That's when her obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) began, though it's not something that was "talked about back then," she reflected.
The 49-year-old said "repeating things" seemed to manage her anxiety back then. "I would flip my bedroom lights on and off until it felt 'OK' to go to bed. I would open and close the bedroom door and repeatedly say 'good night' to my family."
Pugliese-Mirkovich admitted feeling confusion and embarrassment, adding her family was patient with her.
"These calming 'loops' were an attempt to try and gain some sort of control back… but they were so draining. I didn't know how to stop them from happening or end them sooner, no matter how hard I tried," the Toronto-native explained.
She then said she began seeing her family doctor, in what was the start of her healing journey.
Her candid post came as the world marks OCD Awareness Week this week. According to the International OCD Foundation, it's "an international effort... to raise awareness and understanding about obsessive compulsive disorder and related disorders, with the goal of helping more people to get timely access to appropriate and effective treatment."
Pugliese-Mirkovich encouraged her followers who are struggling that it can get better.
"There were good days and bad. Steps forward and steps back. But by talking about it and getting help, slowly but surely, I got better," she claimed.
"If you, or someone you love is going through the same, please know that it's the mind's way of coping, that you can get a handle on it and that your life and days will get better."
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