I'm obsessive sufferer admits bra tycoon

Published on Sunday 10 May 2009 23:15

SCOTS bra tycoon Michelle Mone has revealed she suffers from obsessive compulsive disorder.

The underwear entrepreneur said the condition compelled her to arrange her underwear in a certain way and even colour co-ordinate her coat-hangers.

Ms Mone, who is claimed to be worth 50 million, said her condition was so severe that she checks every room in her home each night to make sure the furniture and ornaments are in the "correct" position.

And she claimed she had cancelled meetings with clients because underwear had not been arranged the right way.

Ms Mone said: "When I come home at night, it takes me 17 minutes exactly to go around every room in the house and check everything is in its place. I feel I can relax after I do it.

"All the hangers have to co-ordinate with each room. I have walnut in my bedroom and if there is a pine hanger in amongst the walnut ones, I go nuts until it is removed. It's getting worse."

But the Glasgow-born entrepreneur, who left school at 15 with no qualifications, said she would only go for treatment when the condition became impossible to live with.

She said: "Maybe if it gets absolutely unbearable, I'll do something about it."

Ms Mone said her husband, Michael, who helps run the business, MJM International, understands her condition and the couple have separate offices.

She said: "His PA will talk to my PA and we will arrange a meeting downstairs. He won't come into my room.

"When we go home, there is a notebook in the kitchen drawer and we write down things we want to talk about the next day."

A spokesman for charity OCD-UK said: "OCD is often called the secret illness because sufferers go to great lengths to hide it, so it's great that somebody in the public eye can talk about the illness.

"It's vital that sufferers seek treatment because, if they don't, it can get worse."

CONDITION CAN BE DEVASTATING

OBSESSIVE-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a serious anxiety-related condition thought to affect as many as three in 100 people. It can have a devastating effect on the lives of those who have it.

The condition can take many forms and sufferers can go undiagnosed for years.

In general, sufferers experience repetitive, intrusive and unwelcome thoughts, images, impulses and doubts which they find hard to ignore. The thoughts push them to perform repetitive acts as a way to alleviate the symptoms.

OCD affects males as often as females, and on average begins to affect men in late adolescence and women in their early twenties.