Paloma Faith sparks backlash after saying wearing PPE to hospital made her ‘look OCD’

Paloma Faith has sparked controversy after she made a joke about OCD, or Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.

The singer shared a Twitter thread about her visit to the hospital for a pregnancy scan, and noted how “stretched” NHS staff are because of rising cases of Covid-19.

“They are exhausted,” she wrote. “This 2nd/3rd wave and the new strain everywhere. It’s terrifying…”

Faith made some valid points, as she urged the government to speed up vaccinations for doctors and nurses, but it was a comment she made about OCD that attracted backlash.

While describing her hospital visit, she explained that she put on as much PPE as possible. “I wear a visor and two masks and open every door with an anti-bac wipe,” she said. Then she joked about how all the protective gear made her “look OCD”.

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a mental disorder characterised by uncontrollable obsessive thoughts that often cause distress, but is often misrepresented as simply about being overly neat or clean.

Faith’s fans swiftly called her out for using OCD as an adjective and trivialising a complex disorder. The comments on Faith’s tweet are almost entirely pleas to educate herself on the issue.

Around three quarters of a million people in the UK are believed to be living with severe OCD, according to charity OCD UK. So it's probably best to avoid jokes about it, even if to make a well-intentioned point.

indy100 contacted representatives for Paloma Faith for comment. If she responds, we'll let you know.