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A young woman living with “debilitating” OCD washes her hands more than 30 times a day and rarely leaves the house.

Masooma Naqvi, 20, is unable to shower or use the toilet without being “convinced she is contaminated”.

Her family says her mental health condition is deteriorating and is desperate for her to get life-changing treatment, only available in London or Massachusetts.

If the family opts for the US facility, the cost of the treatment and trip could exceed £50,000.

Masooma, from Broomhill, Sheffield, endured “significant pain and suffering” for nearly one decade after, aged 10, she would show signs of OCD, such as being unable to sleep in her newly made bed in fear the sheets would crease.

Masooma’s brother Bilal Naqvi told Yorkshire Live: “It’s so exhausting for her but it is also exhausting for the family.

“It is hard. We as a family cannot bear to see Masooma struggle like this any longer.”

Masooma has suffered so badly she has been driven to multiple suicide attempts.

Her dream is to become a paediatric nurse. She previously landed a job in the NHS as a clinical support worker, had signed the contract, got her uniform and was ready to start. Sadly she was unable to start the role as she “couldn’t even go out of the house”.

Bilal explained that in her teens Masooma’s OCD worsened and she “needed things in a certain way” when organising. In recent times, her condition has left her mainly triggered by contamination. He said: “She has basically become completely dependant on other people now. She needs assistance in the bathroom – where most of her triggers are.

“She does a lot of cleaning rituals and feels the need to wash her body over and over. The OCD has convinced her she is contaminated and urine is the biggest trigger for her.

“Every time she goes to the bathroom she feels the need to clean everything she will clean the entire toilet before she sits down and she does a deep clean using hot water and cleaning products she has to clean it a certain way and a certain amount of times.”

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The sibling continued: “In an attempt to reduce her anxiety and distress caused by the obsessions, Masooma will spend most of her day engaging in compulsive behaviours such as excessive hand washing and showering for hours. For Masooma these compulsive behaviours consume so much of her time that she’s unable to be productive at all.

“At present Masooma cannot touch surfaces, door handles, or even food without wearing disposable gloves and washes her hands at least 30+ times a day. The OCD cycle is a vicious one. While the anxiety initially may lessen slightly as a compulsion is carried out, it comes back stronger: this leads to more and more compulsions needing to be carried out. This cycle can take up many hours of the day, making it tough to function.”

Bilal said it is like “dealing with a child”. Their mum has to convince Masooma to stop cleaning and reassuring she has done her cleaning correctly in order to calm her down.

As well as the emotional strain, the cleaning rituals mean they have to spend a lot of money on products too.

“A lot of people don’t realise that for a lot of mental health conditions it is financially very taxing you’re constantly having to buy things like cleaning products etc,” Bilal added.

“I would actually put OCD in the same bracket as something like bipolar as it is so debilitating.

“The term OCD is often thrown around casually, often by someone joking about how organised they are. But true Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is debilitating and causes significant pain and suffering.”

Masooma was officially diagnosed around three years ago has been treated by the NHS Community Mental Healthcare Team. She was discharged from the psychiartric unit following two suicide attempts, Bilal explained, and now the family are seeking the appropriate therapy.

Bilal said: “She now requires treatment as an inpatient in a residential hospital setting with specialist OCD care.” They have found two facilities offering a “gold-star” treatment programme – one based in London and the other based in Massachusetts, USA. But this would set the family back around £5,000 a week.

Bilal has set up a Go Fund Me fundraiser, aiming to crowd fun £60,000 towards his sister’s treatment. He said: “It would mean everything to us as family member to get Masooma back the life she deserves. life back she deserves it.

“We believe in Masooma and with the right treatment she will emerge stronger than ever.” Over £8, 390 has been raise so far. To donate to the Go Fund Me page click here.

If you are struggling and have suicidal thoughts, know you are not alone and that help is available. Please contact any one of the following. In the UK, you can call the Samaritans free on 116 123 (the number will not appear on your telephone bill) or email [email protected]. In America, The National Suicide Prevention Lifeline is a network of more than 160 crisis centres that provide a 24-hour-a-day service via a free hotline on 00-1-800-273-8255. Lifeline is a national charity providing all Australians experiencing a personal crisis with access to 24-hour crisis support and suicide prevention services. Call 13-11-14. Help is ALWAYS available. If you need it, reach out.

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