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Obsessive-compulsive disorder

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  • Obsessive-compulsive disorder

    In December I took a look at my medical chart and found out that my PCP had diagnosed me with obsessive-compulsive disorder one or two years previously (right after an incident where I went to the hospital in a panic attack about something). I haven't been to see a psychiatrist since then to get a confirmation of the diagnosis, but honestly once I read that a lot of things kinda snapped into place. I'd had thoughts before that I might be obsessive-compulsive but I brushed it off because I felt like I didn't have any of the obvious signs (overly frequent hand washing, obsessive cleaning, etc. -- I'm actually pretty disorganized in my personal life). However, after doing a little bit of reading I found out that there are a lot of compulsive behaviors that aren't the stereotypical behaviors, and those are what I was doing (constant reassurance seeking, researching an obsession to the point of losing sleep, etc.). I'm not sure why I wanted to post this now, but I just kind of feel like I want/need to talk about it. It can be really isolating because OCD is not as common as generalized anxiety (my previous diagnosis) and it's hard to explain why something won't leave my head even when I recognize it's not completely rational.

    I take medication which does help, but I'm not currently in therapy. Finding a therapist for OCD is very hard, and it's even harder when you're religious. The primary treatment for OCD is exposure response therapy (ERP), and my OCD can exhibit itself as scrupulosity. I am wary of going to a secular therapist for that kind of treatment when something as important as my religion is in the mix (secular therapists have worked fine for my depressive episodes in the past, so I'm not dissing secular therapists altogether). One other Orthodox person I've seen online had a therapist who recommended not going to church (possibly only for a few weeks, though the poster didn't stipulate that) as part of his ERP. I do not care for that approach. I'm only going to be in Massachusetts for another year (less really, because I'll be in Texas all summer), so I'm hoping to start a more rigorous search when I move back for a permanent therapist. In the meantime I take my medication and try to cope with the mechanisms I've learned, but it can get rough.

    Has anybody else struggled with OCD or known someone who struggled with OCD? Or does anyone have questions about OCD? Like I said, I just feel right now that I kinda need to talk about it.

    "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
    "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
    Katniss Everdeen


    Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.


  • #2
    I believe Dee Dee did.

    I am a bit obsessive about certain things. I get into an interest and then it is all I do for a while. Then I get bored and get into something else. The result is I am a "jack of all trades" and know a bit about everything. Trivia king. I was in to electronics, then graphics, video editing, then playing guitar, then painting, and science (astronomy), etc.

    I don't know if that would be OCD. I don't feel it is a detriment, but more of a benefit, because I like to know about everything. Maybe your OCD will be helpful in your career as a lawyer. You will dedicate all of your energy to a case, researching it, etc.

    Comment


    • #3
      Originally posted by Sparko View Post
      I believe Dee Dee did.

      I am a bit obsessive about certain things. I get into an interest and then it is all I do for a while. Then I get bored and get into something else. The result is I am a "jack of all trades" and know a bit about everything. Trivia king. I was in to electronics, then graphics, video editing, then playing guitar, then painting, and science (astronomy), etc.

      I don't know if that would be OCD. I don't feel it is a detriment, but more of a benefit, because I like to know about everything. Maybe your OCD will be helpful in your career as a lawyer. You will dedicate all of your energy to a case, researching it, etc.
      Nope, that's not what OCD is. Obsessions are normal. I don't really count my periodic obsessive interests in things as part of my disorder. OCD comes with compulsions. My research compulsion is the result of distressing thoughts/worries that often aren't rational. I continue to research until I come to a resolution that provides temporary comfort, but often the obsessive/intrusive thoughts recur. OCD sufferers often suffer with the fear of the unknown. People who have "checking" compulsions (e.g., checking to make sure the stove is off 20-50 times) are afraid of what will happen if they don't check. My OCD is not helpful, because I cannot focus the obsessions and sometimes I will be obsessed with a worry to the point that I can't concentrate on the things I actually need to do.

      "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
      "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
      Katniss Everdeen


      Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

      Comment


      • #4
        Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
        Nope, that's not what OCD is. Obsessions are normal. I don't really count my periodic obsessive interests in things as part of my disorder. OCD comes with compulsions. My research compulsion is the result of distressing thoughts/worries that often aren't rational. I continue to research until I come to a resolution that provides temporary comfort, but often the obsessive/intrusive thoughts recur. OCD sufferers often suffer with the fear of the unknown. People who have "checking" compulsions (e.g., checking to make sure the stove is off 20-50 times) are afraid of what will happen if they don't check. My OCD is not helpful, because I cannot focus the obsessions and sometimes I will be obsessed with a worry to the point that I can't concentrate on the things I actually need to do.
        Sounds like something desert solitaries struggled with. Perhaps reading something like the Apophthegmata Patrum might help some.
        Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

        Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
        sigpic
        I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

        Comment


        • #5
          Originally posted by One Bad Pig View Post
          Sounds like something desert solitaries struggled with. Perhaps reading something like the Apophthegmata Patrum might help some.
          Thanks friend, I'll check it out.

          "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
          "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
          Katniss Everdeen


          Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

          Comment


          • #6
            Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
            Nope, that's not what OCD is. Obsessions are normal. I don't really count my periodic obsessive interests in things as part of my disorder. OCD comes with compulsions. My research compulsion is the result of distressing thoughts/worries that often aren't rational. I continue to research until I come to a resolution that provides temporary comfort, but often the obsessive/intrusive thoughts recur. OCD sufferers often suffer with the fear of the unknown. People who have "checking" compulsions (e.g., checking to make sure the stove is off 20-50 times) are afraid of what will happen if they don't check. My OCD is not helpful, because I cannot focus the obsessions and sometimes I will be obsessed with a worry to the point that I can't concentrate on the things I actually need to do.
            ah OK. yeah I don't have the compulsions. I don't have to keep doing something. that must be terrible to live with.

            Comment


            • #7
              From what I understand of OCD you feel as if you have to do some kind of habit or else something horrible will happen. I saw a documentary once in which a mother compulsively washed her hands. She broke down when she saw her three year old son washing his hands as a playtime activity.

              I have no authority to give psychological help. I can give my sympathies.

              God loves you.
              sigpic

              Comment


              • #8
                I wouldn't describe compulsions as "habits." Habits are things people do without really thinking, like the third thing I do every morning is get coffee. Compulsions are done to relieve distressing thoughts, and they're performed repeatedly because the comfort they provide is only temporary.

                "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
                "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
                Katniss Everdeen


                Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

                Comment


                • #9
                  Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
                  I wouldn't describe compulsions as "habits." Habits are things people do without really thinking, like the third thing I do every morning is get coffee. Compulsions are done to relieve distressing thoughts, and they're performed repeatedly because the comfort they provide is only temporary.
                  I did not know that.

                  Do you need a hug?
                  sigpic

                  Comment


                  • #10
                    I do. It has largely been in check the last four years but previously it had been debilitating near the point of hospitalization. It tends to be religious in nature and of what the Catholics would brand scrupulosity. My compulsions included such things as checking frequently. I have read the famous advice from Fr. Santa that if you doubt whether something is a sin, it is not, but that seems to fly in the face of what Paul wrote.

                    Though I do take medicine, for me, reframing is the most effective thing for me. I saw a Christian therapist with a strong academic background who helped me reframe many of my issues, and my wife has been even more helpful in that regard. Her having g a Catholic background has opened up additional resources there I would have otherwise missed.
                    "I am not angered that the Moral Majority boys campaign against abortion. I am angry when the same men who say, "Save OUR children" bellow "Build more and bigger bombers." That's right! Blast the children in other nations into eternity, or limbless misery as they lay crippled from "OUR" bombers! This does not jell." - Leonard Ravenhill

                    Comment


                    • #11
                      Originally posted by TheWall View Post
                      I did not know that.

                      Do you need a hug?
                      I think I provide her with more than enough hugs
                      אָמַר לוֹ יֵשׁוּעַ: אֲנִי הַדֶּרֶךְ וְהָאֱמֶת וְהַחַיִּים. אֵין אִישׁ בָּא אֶל הָאָב אֶלָּא דַּרְכִּי
                      "Yeshua said, 'I AM the Way — and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through me'" - Yochanan 14:6
                      כֻּלָּ֨נוּ֙ כַּצֹּ֣אן תָּעִ֔ינוּ אִ֥ישׁ לְדַרְכֹּ֖ו פָּנִ֑ינוּ וַֽיהוָה֙ הִפְגִּ֣יעַ בֹּ֔ו אֵ֖ת עֲוֹ֥ן כֻּלָּֽנוּ
                      "We all, like sheep, went astray; we turned, each one, to his own way; yet HASHEM laid on him the guilt of all of us" - Yesha'yahu 53:6

                      Comment


                      • #12
                        Originally posted by Y'hoshua View Post
                        I think I provide her with more than enough hugs
                        If you know what's best for you, you do.
                        Enter the Church and wash away your sins. For here there is a hospital and not a court of law. Do not be ashamed to enter the Church; be ashamed when you sin, but not when you repent. – St. John Chrysostom

                        Veritas vos Liberabit<>< Learn Greek <>< Look here for an Orthodox Church in America<><Ancient Faith Radio
                        sigpic
                        I recommend you do not try too hard and ...research as little as possible. Such weighty things give me a headache. - Shunyadragon, Baha'i apologist

                        Comment


                        • #13
                          Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
                          In December I took a look at my medical chart and found out that my PCP had diagnosed me with obsessive-compulsive disorder one or two years previously (right after an incident where I went to the hospital in a panic attack about something). I haven't been to see a psychiatrist since then to get a confirmation of the diagnosis, but honestly once I read that a lot of things kinda snapped into place. I'd had thoughts before that I might be obsessive-compulsive but I brushed it off because I felt like I didn't have any of the obvious signs (overly frequent hand washing, obsessive cleaning, etc. -- I'm actually pretty disorganized in my personal life). However, after doing a little bit of reading I found out that there are a lot of compulsive behaviors that aren't the stereotypical behaviors, and those are what I was doing (constant reassurance seeking, researching an obsession to the point of losing sleep, etc.). I'm not sure why I wanted to post this now, but I just kind of feel like I want/need to talk about it. It can be really isolating because OCD is not as common as generalized anxiety (my previous diagnosis) and it's hard to explain why something won't leave my head even when I recognize it's not completely rational.

                          I take medication which does help, but I'm not currently in therapy. Finding a therapist for OCD is very hard, and it's even harder when you're religious. The primary treatment for OCD is exposure response therapy (ERP), and my OCD can exhibit itself as scrupulosity. I am wary of going to a secular therapist for that kind of treatment when something as important as my religion is in the mix (secular therapists have worked fine for my depressive episodes in the past, so I'm not dissing secular therapists altogether). One other Orthodox person I've seen online had a therapist who recommended not going to church (possibly only for a few weeks, though the poster didn't stipulate that) as part of his ERP. I do not care for that approach. I'm only going to be in Massachusetts for another year (less really, because I'll be in Texas all summer), so I'm hoping to start a more rigorous search when I move back for a permanent therapist. In the meantime I take my medication and try to cope with the mechanisms I've learned, but it can get rough.

                          Has anybody else struggled with OCD or known someone who struggled with OCD? Or does anyone have questions about OCD? Like I said, I just feel right now that I kinda need to talk about it.
                          I have struggled with OCD-like symptoms in the midst of sustained levels of extreme stress, for a prolonged amount of time. A self-directed holistic approach helped me. I will mention two things: supplements and exercise. Perhaps a vitamin and mineral test is in order for you? You might be deficient in key nutrients despite healthy eating.

                          Comment


                          • #14
                            Originally posted by Scrawly View Post
                            I have struggled with OCD-like symptoms in the midst of sustained levels of extreme stress, for a prolonged amount of time. A self-directed holistic approach helped me. I will mention two things: supplements and exercise. Perhaps a vitamin and mineral test is in order for you? You might be deficient in key nutrients despite healthy eating.
                            I respectfully request supplement and alternative medicine talk be kept out of this thread. I take vitamin D because I have been actually diagnosed with a deficiency. I do not take anything else because I do not look kindly on vitamin shilling. My opinions on this are final.

                            "Fire is catching. If we burn, you burn with us!"
                            "I'm not going anywhere. I'm going to stay here and cause all kinds of trouble."
                            Katniss Everdeen


                            Christ our Passover has been sacrificed for us. Therefore let us keep the feast.

                            Comment


                            • #15
                              Originally posted by thewriteranon View Post
                              I respectfully request supplement and alternative medicine talk be kept out of this thread. I take vitamin D because I have been actually diagnosed with a deficiency. I do not take anything else because I do not look kindly on vitamin shilling. My opinions on this are final.
                              So you are deficient in at least one important vitamin? I wonder if it ends there for you? That's a rhetorical question, as per your request.

                              Finally, just a word on scrupulosity: Do not be too righteous, and do not act too wise; why should you destroy yourself? Do not be too wicked, and do not be a fool; why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of the one, without letting go of the other; for the one who fears God shall succeed with both.

                              Comment

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