Topic Tuesday // OCD from an insiders perspective // 1 Aug, 7pm AEST

[Unqualified]

My mother does not acknowledge that she has OCD. She has screamed at psychiatrists when they approach her, so she is untreated.

My partner only has medication at the moment, and is trying to get some counselling. We have been trying for years to get my teen daughter diagnosed and haven't had much success yet.

The right medication helps, I guess 🙂

[Shaz51]

Checking & closing of all doors, windows & curtains at home/out.,mr shaz has done thid , but now he has locks on the indows  @NikNik, @Katie0024, @Unqualified, @kerrys, @Tim_H

[Ngunjima]

@NikNik

With difficulty! 

For me, My OCD takes two forms.

1. An unpleasant thought or image that I simply want to not have in my head, that I try to ignore or suppress, depending on how I am going, sometimes I can move on and forget about it. Often I can't and it dominates my mind, the thought is the first thing I think about in the morning and the last thing I think about at night for months on end. It causes me great anxiety and a feeling of being trapped and hopeless.

2. A specific worry that I try to dispel or answer through elongated rumination. Again sometimes I can dispel it and move on. Often though it leads to a panic attack and into a deep depression and self loathing for months.

There are a bunch of different themes that my Obsessive Thoughs have. Religious ones, particularly fear that I will go to Hell, existential ones, "I am completely alone, all of my experiences are my imagination and not real". Also thoughts of harm coming to people that  I love, or worse of all, the thought that I will harm someone that I love.

The latter is the hardest one of all. It goes something like this "What if I go mad and hurt someone that I love", "why are you having these thoughts?" you must be a psychopath to think such things" etc. It becomes a thought battle inside my head of trying despirately to prove to myself that  I am not a pychopath.

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@NikNik wrote:
Thanks @Tim_H for the insight
@Ngunjima you mentioned the popular culture perception of OCD. Would you be open to sharing abit about your experiences? How you would explain your experience of OCD to a friend perhaps?

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[Katie0024]

Some of my Obsessions:
-Terrified of smelling bad
-Scared people are going to misread my sexuality
-Thinking I've killed someone or have done something really bad
-Thinking I've stolen something
Thinking things are in the wrong spot
-Not remembering something
-Family is going to get hurt, sick or die
-Feeling responsible for everything including terror events across the world if you don't do something right
etc.

[NikNik]

@Ngunjima Thank you for sharing that - you explained it really well.

I don't think people understand how diverse the condition is and the different impacts it can have.

I just posted a question about professional support - what have you found helpful?

[Tim_H]

Hi kerrys,

I can't recall any significant events. I'm sure there's a strong genetic component as both my parents are highly anxious and strict.

One thing to note though is my first major 'obsession' was that I might be a sinner. So being at a Catholic primary school most likely triggered that

[kerrys]

@Katie0024 

Thank you very much for shring your experience with OCD. The list of compultions you have provided sounds quite severe. I am sorry for the pain this must bring to you, physical and mental. The trauma of not being able to learn all the car plate numbers and checking if you have run someone over while driving must be so anxious provoking. Are you able to manage your OCD better now?

[Katie0024]

@Ngunjima I have the same one as you with the intrusive thoughts/images in your head - I didn't realise it was from the OCD - It feels like the more I try to avoid them the more it comes back

[Ngunjima]

@Katie0024

Thats exactly how it works unfortunately. The way to approach it is through Exposure and Response Preventions (ERP) as @Tim_H mentioned. However, I would definately find a qualified therapist to do this with as it takes time and initially the anxiety goes up before it goes down.

[Tim_H]

Thanks for the question NikNik,

I'm a strong believer in professional support, and I still see my psychiatrist once a month. The illness is something I'll have to deal with for the rest of my life. Anytime I stop seing my psychiatrist the OCD tends to get worse, as I drop off a little with my CBT/ERP

Treatment is however something that helps me manage, it certainly hasn't provided a cure. So I can get a little frustrated at times there aren't some new options available