DRIVEN MINDS PODCAST - GILLIAN SAGANSKY'S OCD STORY (CHAPTER 8)

By my recollections, the main reason and the sole purpose of why this podcast is established is to promote both the significance and the essence of mental health awareness, such as addressing why it is imperative to look after the current state as well as the underlying condition of a person’s mental health, why people should not be afraid of stigma when it comes to openly discussing their mental health disorders, why such psychological issues should not be regarded as something taboo, etc. Well, there has been a plenty of exceptional guests who have by far been invited or featured in this podcast for your information, including the notable Malaysian-born actor and the world’s female martial arts icon "Michelle Yeoh", who successfully took home her Oscar for the Best Actress at the 95^th Academy Awards for her outstanding performance in the year of 2022 in her American absurdist comedy-drama film called "Everything Everywhere All at Once". Thus, allow me to briefly introduce you the mastermind and the lovely woman behind her show the so-called Driven Minds Podcast.

HOST OF DRIVEN MINDS PODCAST: GILLIAN SAGANSKY

If you type her name on search engines be it on Google or Yahoo, you will absolutely discover at least a few details of information pertaining to her track record of professionalism ranging from her previous written publications on US magazines, musical DJ activities, to social media platforms. Similar to any other social media influencers out there, she has actively been navigating both her website and other social media networks such as LinkedIn, Twitter, Instagram as a result of her career journey in the realm of entertainment aside from her keen enthusiasm of being a mental health advocate.

Initially, I was not really into any showbiz vibes (the kind of industry she had been involving in). Neither was I interested in the luxurious fashion industry alike, nor being fairly knowledgeable about psychological issues and stuff in the first place. Fast forward, I accidently discovered her Instagram account in the midst of Russia’s ongoing military invasion of Ukraine in 2022, precisely the time when she decided to take part in helping thousands of Ukrainian refugees by joining one of the humanitarian efforts which was organized by the Global Empowerment Mission somewhere in April 2022.

(Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/Cdbem7tN_NS/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)

Anyway, to kick start with a preliminary introduction, Gillian Sagansky or popularly known by her nickname "Gigi" is a published writer, DJ, and host of the Driven Minds Podcast. If you come across visiting her website www.gilliansagansky.com, you will certainly read some pieces of information relating to her past and current work activities. Inspired by her own "arduous" (extremely tough + incredibly exhausting) mental health journey which spanned nearly two decades, she ultimately launched her mental health podcast the so-called Driven Minds in December 2020 in partnership with Porsche Type 7. Perhaps, you may be wondering what exactly the particular type of mental health issue that she had once been grappling with for almost twenty years. Believe it or not, it was none other than Obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD), which will soon be outlined in the next following discussions.

GILLIAN SAGANSKY: 20 YEARS OF STRUGGLE WITH OCD

Basically, it all started when she was diagnosed with ADHD at the age of 10 by a child psychiatrist and was subsequently recommended to consume several pills. Unfortunately, the unprecedented side effect of those pills she consumed led her to suffer not only from insomnia, but also severe OCD. As a result, she was struck with the compulsions to touch objects at a certain amount of time, counting everything incessantly to the point where she could not deal with anything related to the number 9 (e.g. if she saw a pair of shoes costs $9.49, there was no way she would have the courage to purchase it).

Then, following her diagnosis with OCD, she was later prescribed to undergo countless medications by a doctor. Sadly, she ended up being admitted to a hospital the moment when there was a major incident occurred with the way she consumed her drug prescriptions. At this stage, she was dead ashamed to share with anyone around her social circle that she suffered both from ADHD and OCD.

Next, after having graduated from the New York University in Modern Art & Philosophy, she managed to secure her very first job working as a writer and a DJ at prominent nightclubs. One day, when she went to her first ever therapy sessions in years, her therapist once told her or claimed that she never had anyone in her office with such a chronic OCD before. Subsequently, right until she decided to check in to a psychiatric hospital called McLean, she immediately went straight to the hospital’s counsellor, began to unveil the fact that she had constantly been misdiagnosed with wrong prescriptions, and ultimately decided to make an appeal to the hospital counsellor of McLean saying that she just needed to be there only for a week at her initial request.

(Source: https://www.instagram.com/p/CVDiy3aNG6V/?igshid=YmMyMTA2M2Y=)

In short, her decision to turn to McLean hospital for help at the time was a plot twist. Within three months approximately, she finally cured herself from OCD and she no longer had to fear confronting anything associated with the number 9. After all, you can check out the entire episode of her OCD story in the form of audible version through the given link attached below.

(Link: https://open.spotify.com/episode/3oVzyCBXtbJSiH6aVdJp2E?si=_mSQuTO-RGetFngIab2VpA)