Re: OCD?
Loz
> Hello - have always had anxiety disorder and worrying. But notice that
> after stressful events and periods of extended anxiety, that my
> thoughts change. I'm wondering if the following typical thought
> pattern for me would be classified as OCD? I'll try to explain without
> sounding totally nuts.
>
> Had a miscarriage earlier in the year. Was okay with it in the sense
> that I was actually quite a bit more upset about being pregnant in the
> first place. (not to minimize how difficult miscarriage is for many,
> my apologies, but for me it was somewhat relief). However, I did
> grieve the prgenancy after about a month. Then that became anxiety,
> which was exacerbated by hormonal fluctuations following the
> miscarriage.
>
> My husband and I have been in the process of deciding whether or not
> to move. We wer elooking at homes when I began associating every home
> I saw with some negative outcome, usually involving a disease or
> accident of some sort. I decided perhaps we should just stay in our
> home, but then I began having the thoughts that if we stayed in our
> home something would happen to me, or perhaps to my husband if we
> stayed in this house. So, it seems I have now trapped myself in our
> house, but at the same time I believe on some level that I cannot stay
> in our house either. Bizarre sounding I'm sure. As I type this I feel
> foolish. However, there is one other factor making all of this worse.
> In the past, when I had thoughts like this, I always seemed to have a
> strong logical core that would allow me to say, stop, this is silly.
> But I was seeing a therapist who told me she felt I was very psychic.
> Now, I did not believe in psychics, but after she told me this I
> started seeing coincidences that I could not explain. Now, I am very
> worried about ignoring these thoughts I am having about potential
> homes we are looking at because I have the nagging fear that perhaps
> the thoughts are psychic of some sort.
>
> I cannot let these thoughts go to the extent that I won't look at
> houses in cities where I have imagined something happening. But I am
> slowly eliminating every city we look to move into. AND at the same
> time I am terrified to stay where we are because my mind has told me
> something will happen in this house too.
>
> Ahhhh, is this OCD? I know most rituals are confined to checking
> stoves and washing hands....has anyone ever heard of someone
> associating rituals to something as large as a house?
>
> Thank you, I find many of the posts in this group very helpful. Though
> I will not self-diagnose and I am seeing a new therapist, I am curious
> if anyone else has had obsessions like this.
>
> Stacey
>
Hi Stacey
Firstly hello and secondly your post is not strange, foolish and you are
not "nuts". I live in the UK and although I havent experienced your
symptoms reading your post I thought that "sounds like ocd to me".
I'm no expert but during the last 4 years I havent worked but have read
up on the condition and had some very good therapy as i have tried to
come to terms with my ocd demons.
My own take on ocd is it only affects the caring, sensitive, type of
person and the fact you have found this NG and written such a good post
tells me you fit into this category. As far as I now know no ocd
patients thoughts/fears have ever come true and that's why it is known
as the "worrying disease".
From what I have read/learnt ocd seems to take many varied and at times
somewhat bizarre routes. No-one likes to admit the have mental health
problems and with ocd it can be even more difficult to admit to your
problems. I first had ocd when I was about 13 and that revolved around
the quite common symptoms of worrying if the door was locked or the oven
was turned of etc.
Loz
Ignore that post I hit the send button by mistake before finishing it :-(
Loz
Hi Stacey
no expert but during the last 4 years I havent worked because of my ocd
but have read
up on the condition and had some very good therapy as i have tried to
come to terms with my ocd demons.
My own take on ocd is it only affects the caring, sensitive, type of
person and the fact you have found this
NG and written such a good post tells me you fit into this category. As
far as I now know no ocd patients thoughts/fears have ever come true and
that's why it is known as the "worrying disease". From what I have
read/learnt ocd seems to take many varied and at times somewhat bizarre
routes. No-one likes to admit the have mental health problems and with
ocd it can be even more difficult to admit to your problems.
I first had
ocd when I was about 13 and that revolved around the quite common
symptoms of worrying if the door was locked or the oven was turned of
etc. After 15 years of being able to ignore, to a certain extent these
thoughts, things got a lot worse and my thoughts got more bizarre and my
MH started to worsen. For example, I started to get thoughts that I
would hurt people and when I was writing/typing stuff at work I started
to think that I might write/type swear words etc. This went on for about
4 or so years with things getting more and more difficult until I just
couldn't cope and i had to admit to the world what was going on in my
head. I've never done anything that my ocd says will happen but that
still wasn't of any comfort when i had the thoughts. It wasn't easy
admitting to my family/friends what was going on in my head at the time
but at least they have now have some understanding of what I have to
deal with...
Anyway that's enough of me ;-)
From what I know it's very common for ocd to get worse and/or for the
thoughts you are getting to change after a period of stress/anxiety. For
me this is the case. The thoughts you are having about houses sound very
normal to me from a ocd point of view so don't feel like you are foolish
having them. I take setraline, i think its called zoloft in the us,
everyday and it does help my condition but from what I have read it is
only a small part of getting better. In my opinion cognitive behavioural
therapy (CBT) is the best way to get to grips with ocd. I have had that
at the best place in the uk and although things for me are still a
struggle I am staring to think of having a future again :-) I'm glad
that you are looking for new therapist because your last one sounds
useless to me. I'm not a believer of psychics myself but looking at your
situation could you be so unlucky that bad things would happen in every
potential place you thought of moving to? Of course not! You are not
psychic but suffering from ocd.
I'm sorry if my ramblings are boring but I have one last point to make,
that I have learnt during my treatment, and that is to do the opposite
to what your ocd tells you to do. If it tells you that you should check
your stove dont because in a few hours your house woont have burnt down.
If it tells you to wash your food becasue you dropped it dont just eat
it and you wont get food poisoning. If you feel bad about a house that
otherwise you really like move there and in a years time you will
realise that your ocd was lieing to you.
I know from experience that overcoming ocd is very hard but steps can be
made to start to get control of your life again. I hope some of this
makes sense and is of help to you.
Take Care
Lawrence
Zorg
Hi Loz
Personally, I think it's a good idea to check the stove. Once. People with
OCD need to make sensible choices about their safety and exposure to risks.
That's different from unnecessary exposure to unnecessary risks. I'd be
very sad if I lost any of my friends (with or without OCD) to a house fire.
They do happen, and people with anxiety disorders burn just as good as
normal peeps.
Zorg
JanAust
news:4694d1e3$0$97258$892e...@authen.yellow.readfreenews.net:
Hi Zorg
Saw you have been back on the ng so thought I would just butt in and say
hi to you and hope you are well.
It's winter here and really freezing (only about 1 or 2 degrees C at
night and early morning).
Anyway just thought I would say Hi.
Regards
Jan
Adelaide
Australia