Retired Ohio County Schools educator and wrestling coach Willilam Welker said he has lived with Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) since childhood, and that compulsion has now driven him to write a pamphlet about OCD to help others.

The booklet is titled “The Emotional Battle — Coping With Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder.” It is free to the public, and can be picked up at local pharmacies, churches, doctors’ offices, WVU Medicine Wheeling Hospital, the Welty Home and Altenheim.

Common symptoms include fear of germs and continuous hand washing, needing things to be orderly and balanced, repetitive behaviors and following a routine.

“I’ve had OCD all my life,” he said. “I decided to put a book together to assist other people with OCD, and to let them know they are not alone.”

There are 2.9 million Americans who have been diagnosed with OCD, he added,

“But there are so many more out there, because a lot of us have it,” Welker continued.

The booklet was sponsored by Joseph A. Maroon, manager of Abbey’s restaurant on Wheeling Island. Maroon is interested in the topic because he believes his grandfather lived with the disorder, according to Welker.

“It has nothing to do with medication — I don’t tell you to take this or that,” Welker said. “I just suggest group therapy and things like that with people who are going through the same kind of stress.”

The first chapter of the book emphasizes that those living with OCD are not alone, and how Welker came to realize he had OCD.

“When I was a young kid in elementary school, my mother used to say to me, ‘Billy, you dwell on things too much,'” Welker said. “I still do. When I was teaching and had so much to do, I still had OCD but my mind was busy with other things. When I retired, that is when it hit me really hard.”

Welker noted it was much easier living with OCD when he was a teacher and coach and thinking about others.

It became especially difficult for him after his wife Peggy passed away. The couple had been married 56 years. He found he needed to get out and get involved to keep his mind occupied.

“For me, the best thing to do is writing,” Welker explained. “It keeps my mind occupied.”

He also suggests getting out and helping others.

“When you have OCD, you feel like you have to be organized, and it’s OK to be organized,” Welker said. “But you have to get into some other project where you’re helping other people.”

Other chapters in the pamphlet deal with “guilt and worry,” “intrusive and unwanted thoughts” and common symptoms of OCD.

“A lot of time people with OCD will feel a lot of worry,” Welker explained. “I will have one worry, figure it out, then another worry will come into my mind. It’s a constant drain.

“There are feelings of guilt over things you did in the past. You have problems forgiving yourself.”

Those with OCD just need to come to a certain understanding, he continued.

“You are not crazy,” Welker said. “You have an emotional issue, and it can be coped with.”