OCD Action

Elyse
Member

So I've been suffering with OCD for around two years now and have continuously been putting up with the compulsions etc but recently it has gotten to the point where I'm feeling severely unhappy, I feel I can no longer put up and cope with it and it's beginning to really affect my work and day to day life.

I've been to the doctor and have been put forward to start seeing a councillor, not quite sure what this entails but I'm hoping it helps.

The reason I posted this was because I was wondering if anyone else with OCD suffers from extreme worrying also? I can't work out whether it's part of my OCD or a totally separate thing. By worrying I mean I constantly worry about illness, literally all the time. Any slight pain or ache I genuinely feel it's a life threatening illness, and to put it clearly, every time I get a pain or headache for example I genuinely think there's something seriously wrong with me, this can happen copious times a day depending on how many pains/aches etc I get. It's really beginning to affect me now and I've been find myself crying every day over it, it's just getting too much to deal with. Is this constant worrying something that comes with OCD for certain people or is it a completely separate thing?

Thank you to anyone who has taken the time to read this, it means a lot. I just need some advice and feel so lost right now, thank you again
Elyse x

Fri Dec 23 2011 0:14:49 #
Truddles
Member

Hi Elyse,

I should really be off to bed now but didn't want you to go unanswered.

I'm sorry to hear that you're feeling so unhappy. With regards to constantly worrying about illness try reading the following book Overcoming Health Anxiety by David Veale and Rob Willson. It should help to easy the health worries.

Trudy

Fri Dec 23 2011 0:29:21 #
Mike
Member

Hi Elyse,
I had worries about contracting HIV for a while, and it was extremely scary. I was able to overcome those fears (and all my other fears) with ERP therapy. It makes me very unhappy that there is not better communication between psychiatrists, psychologists, patients and the public about ERP. It's the best treatment for OCD, according to peer-reviewed studies, and from personal experience I can tell you that it may have literally saved my life. But better yet, it restored me to having a normal, healthy, emotionally stable life, which was a huge improvement over my state a year ago, in which I started having suicidal thoughts and felt that my whole world was falling apart. I'd be more than happy to share with you my experiences with ERP, and how you could apply it to your obsessions. And I would highly recommend finding a therapist that uses CBT (cognitive behavioral therapy, which includes ERP) to treat OCD, because having a good therapist is often critical for success.

You are not alone, and the help you need is out there. It's just a matter of finding it.

-Mike

Fri Dec 23 2011 3:03:54 #
Unregistered

Hi Elyse,

well done for talking about your problems on this forum. And well done for going to your GP and asking for help -- that's a brave and very important step, and I hope you give yourself lots of credit for taking that step.

I totally agree with what Truddles and Mike have suggested above. The "Overcoming Health Anxiety" book that Truddles recommends looks excellent. (David Veale and Rob Willson are two well-known OCD experts, who both gave lectures at the recent OCD Action Conference in London.) My own psychotherapist told me recently that "Overcoming Health Anxiety" is one of the best CBT self-help books that he has ever read.

Re: your own post, you mention being referred to a "counsellor". As Mike very wisely points out, it is very important (if you have OCD, and / or Health Anxiety), that you are referred to a mental health professional who gives you a course of Cognitive Behavioural Therapy (CBT), including Exposure and Response Prevention (ERP) therapy.

A "counsellor" or "therapist" who is not using CBT (usually with ERP) is not recommended by the NICE Guidelines for Treating OCD.

(The only treatments currently recommended by NICE in the UK for treating OCD are CBT, ERP, and / or a course of anti-depressants (also known as SSRI's).)

I have attached some links from the OCD Action Resources Page, which contain lots of useful informtation:

GP Card:

http://www.ocdaction.org.uk/files/2010/03/GP-Card-v04.pdf

NICE Guidelines for OCD:

http://www.ocdaction.org.uk/files/2009/09/nice-cg031-publicinfo.pdf

What is OCD:

http://www.ocdaction.org.uk/files/2011/02/What-Is-Obsessive.pdf

Medication for OCD:

http://www.ocdaction.org.uk/files/2011/02/Medication-for-OCD.pdf

Assessment and Diagnosis:
http://www.ocdaction.org.uk/files/2011/02/Assessment-and-Diagnosis.pdf

If you are unsure whether or not your GP has understood that it is OCD and / or Health Anxiety that you want to be assessed for, then you might want to go back to see your GP to discuss this.

Other books about OCD (such as "Overcoming Obsessive Compulsive Disorder", also by David Veale and Rob Willson), also discuss Health Anxiety, as well as some of the other common types of anxiety disorders and problems that sometimes accompany OCD.

All the best.

Fri Dec 23 2011 9:05:49 #
Ranchu
Member

Hi there, I know exactly how you are feeling. I too have very bad health anxiety, and am in the middle of a very bad bout of anxiety at the moment.

I have checked myself so many times in the last week or so for signs of a particular illness I am scared I have. Even though I'm reassured at the time, the doubts always come back that I didn't check properly, what if.... Etc. It's horrible, and I understand the stress you are feeling.I'm trying not to check now, and have lasted 2 days without checking my body.

Go to your doctor and ask to see a psychologist. It's the only way you start to feel better. Have you had help before?

Fri Dec 23 2011 9:30:24 #
Elyse
Member

Thank you all, it genuinely means so much you have all taken the time to reply and listen to me, I can't thank you all enough.

Thanks Truddles, that helps, I think i'll buy that book as soon as I can and hopefully it will begin to help me slightly with my health anxiety as it really has hit an all time low for me with constant checking of my body for any signs etc.

Mike, what exactly is ERP? I have actually never heard of it however I have heard of CBT and I hope in the near future these therapies can help me overcome this. I know exactly how you feel with your HIV worry, it really does get to the point where your whole life is rotated around that one thing, there isn't a day that goes by where I do not worry about a life threatening condition and more often than not check myself every hour. Last night I hit a breaking point and just broke down, I convinced myself my legs were numb, I have a severe fear of numbness, I aren't sure why but I'm absolutely petrified of it. So when I'd worried myself so much last night I lead myself to thinking my legs were numb, I couldn't stop crying and was fearing for my life. Thanks again Mike, I'll definitely look into ERP and CBT also as I feel I have gotten to the point where I really do need help.

Hi Londoner, thanks so much for that boost you have given me, I hadn't actually given myself much credit for plucking up the courage to tell my doctor but I have now. I do find it quite hard to talk to anyone about, only my mum and the doctor know my OCD has gotten to this stage and telling the doctor was a huge step for me but I'm so happy I have taken that step.
I'm also definitely going to get that book, it sounds extremely helpful. I do not know what is going to happen once I start going to see the counsellor, like you said it is essential I am referred to a mental health professional. I will see what happens and let you all know as I'm quite clueless right now, my doctor didn't give me much information.
Also, thanks so much for the number of links you gave me Londoner, they're unbelievably helpful and I really appreciate you took the time to do that for me.

Hi Ranchu, I can really relate to that, I'm exactly the same. Have you had previous help? No, this is the first time I have sought for help, I have put up with it for around two years now and there have been some horrific times with my OCD and health anxiety in those two years but it has now gotten beyond my capability to cope with it. I too, constantly check myself and fear I am dying when I find something as simple as a bruise. I hope your health anxiety is under control and you are doing well!

Thanks again everyone,
Elyse

Fri Dec 23 2011 15:25:40 #
Mike
Member

Elyse,
ERP is the gold standard treatment for OCD. It is a behavioral therapy, so it accounts for the "B" in "CBT". The "C" refers to cognitive therapy, but cognitive therapy can be very ineffective for OCD if not done correctly, and in my experience it didn't help me at all, whereas ERP therapy saved my life. ERP stands for exposure and ritual (or response) prevention, and follows from the simple logic of overcoming fears by exposing oneself to them. The exposure part of the therapy will expose the sufferer to his/her fears so that the mind can habituate to the fear, and thus the sufferer will experience less anxiety. The ritual prevention aspect is about preventing oneself from doing any compulsions or rituals that would reassure him/herself or make him/her feel better or less anxious.

The catch is that since you are exposing yourself to your fears and refusing to engage in any reassurance-seeking behavior, you will actually feel WORSE before you feel better. But this is critical for success - if you don't make yourself more anxious at first you will NOT get better. That's why it's dangerous to do ERP without the guidance of a trained therapist, who can coach you along the way. If you tell me the specifics of your obsessions I'd be happy to tell you how ERP would apply to your fears, and I could give you some pointers on how to start the therapy yourself so you have a head start in overcoming your OCD.

-Mike

Fri Dec 23 2011 16:15:13 #
wannabefree
Member

I've nothing to add to the wonderful words being said on here, save for welcome to the forums Elyse...
wannabe

Fri Dec 23 2011 22:29:28 #
slogsweep
Member

Hello Elyse, sadly excessive worrying and catastrophic thinking is part and parcel of OCD. But you mustn't lose hope, even if sometimes it is hard to retain a grip on reality in your thoughts. CBT can help to control these horribly uncomfortable things, and with OCD Action, there's always a kind voice to be found in times of need. Such a good forum as I say to every new member,

Look forward to chatting in the future,
Merry Christmas

Slog

Sat Dec 24 2011 0:21:04 #
Elyse
Member

Mike,
ERP sounds extremely helpful and I can imagine it obviously saved you and helped you so much. My obsessions include various things, I mainly obsess over numbers. I cannot have any uneven numbers and go to great lengths to count things to make sure they're even, this can take half an hour at times, I avoid eating things if I cannot have 2 or 4 of that thing for example. I also touch things a specific number of times, this can be various numbers but it is often 8 or 10, I will just continuously tap something until I have done it say 8 times or until it feels 'just right' however I get severely frustrated with this as it holds me up and makes me late for outings at times because I'm too busy tapping things and cannot leave my house until I have done so. Another obsession I have is doing things in a certain order, it's often stupid things but can literally be anything such as I have to put my fork away before my spoon, it sounds so silly I know but it is genuinely so frustrating because sometimes my OCD doesn't tell me which order to do the things in so I end up attempting to decide which order to do the thing in for about ten minutes or it's sometimes longer.
Another obsession I have is when i'm walking, I have to go round lampposts or other objects in a certain way, sometimes I have to go to the right of them but sometimes to the left, one instance of this was when I was faced with a car in my way. My brain told me I couldn't go either left or right however I couldn't physically go forwards as the car was in front of me, I must've been stood for about ten minutes about to cry because I genuinely could not work out what to do, going either left or right would end up with me feeling severly bad and I was faced with the thoughts of people dying, my dying etc just because I went left around the car.
That is one main thing with my OCD, I have so many bad thoughts that accompany my obsessions and it's so upsetting, the thoughts are usually constant with every day tasks I have to carry out.
Would ERP help any of the obsessions I have listed?
Thank you again Mike and everyone else I cannot believe how helpful you all are and I hope to return the favour in the future for others when they post their troubles etc, everyone on here is so kind.
Elyse

Sat Dec 24 2011 17:33:13 #
Tess
Member

Elyse, it might help you but the only way to find out would be to try doing it. For instance if your OCD is telling you that you must tap something 8 times then you would have to stop before you reached 8 - and then live with the anxiety you would feel. The theory is that if you continue to do this then the anxiety will peak and then reduce and you will eventually come to realise that you don't have to do 8 taps. It's very hard but some sufferers say it is the only way they have managed to overcome their OCD.

Sat Dec 24 2011 17:45:57 #
Unregistered

Hi Elyse,

I'm glad that my post was useful to you, along with all the posts by other forum users. Thank for very much for your response.

Another great book that explains how to deal with mental compulsions and physical compulsions is a book called "Break Free From OCD", by Dr Fiona Challacombe, Dr Victoria Bream Oldfield, and Professor Paul Salkovskis.

I have just finished reading this book (it was published in 2011), and it is excellent. It is especially good at describing mental compulsions (and how to treat them), and is written in a more easy-to-understand style than some other books on the subject. Definitely put it on your Xmas Sales list!

Further to previous posts, ERP (Exposure and Response Prevention) is a type of therapy which all good CBT therapists will use in addition to CBT (Cognitive Behavioural Therapy) when treating a patient with OCD. They might explain that they are using two types of therapy (CBT as well as ERP), or they might describe the ERP (or "exposure tasks") as being part of the CBT. Either way, the important thing is that you and your CBT therapist set exposure tasks to be done during the CBT sessions, and also as homework for you to do in between the sessions, on your own.

The important thing is to get referred (or refer yourself) to a properly trained CBT therapist. Any CBT therapists you get referred to on the NHS should be practising the proper type of CBT; if you go privately, you really need to educate yourself about what CBT and ERP for OCD is, so that you can interrogate the therapist and make sure that they are giving you the correct treatment.

Have a brilliant Xmas, Elyse -- 2012 is going to be a much better year for you!!!

Sat Dec 24 2011 17:56:38 #
wannabefree
Member

I'll add my wishes to you for a happy Christmas Elyse... I agree with all that everyone on here is saying... I too am waiting to do CBT with a therapist... A mixture of fear, and excitement is with me most of the time... It has worked before, and will work again... I hope!
wannabe

Sat Dec 24 2011 22:15:27 #
Mike
Member

Yes Elyse, ERP can help with any kinds of obsessions and compulsions. It doesn't always work for everyone, of course, but it is the best therapy for OCD overall. For you, and just like everyone else, ERP therapy would have you do what makes you most anxious. If you feel like you need to put the fork away first, purposely put the spoon away first, and then the fork. Or maybe even leave the fork (or both of them) out, if that is what makes you most anxious. Purposely walk around lamp posts in the opposite way that your OCD is telling you. If you feel the need to touch something 8 times, either don't touch it at all or touch it the wrong number of times, whatever makes you feel the most anxious.

And most importantly, no matter how anxious you feel, do not correct your actions by giving in to the OCD. Eventually your brain will realize that nothing bad is happening even if you don't listen to the OCD, and you will habituate and will feel less anxious when you don't follow the OCD's rules.

Mike

Wed Dec 28 2011 16:26:42 #
Tess
Member

But Elyse, don't try to tackle everything at once, start with the things you find easiest and work your way up towards the more difficult ones. Once you start to challenge the OCD you will feel very stressed and anxious and only you know how far you can push yourself safely. The OCD will fight back, possibly with depression or once you have successfully challenged one ritual you may find the OCD starts making different demands. The aim is to steadily reduce your rituals but at the same time be aware of new ones trying to push their way in and to stop them before they gain a foothold. Ideally you should be doing this alongside a therapist who will set you homework and monitor your progress.

Wed Dec 28 2011 17:21:26 #
wannabefree
Member

Hi everyone, Hi Elyse, hows it going?
Wannabe

Wed Dec 28 2011 20:35:39 #
Elyse
Member

Hi everyone, sorry i haven't gotten back to you all in so long i've had such a busy few months.
Just to let you know things are finally beginning to pick up, I have now been put forward to receive CBT and my first session is this thursday, i'm excited, very excited as I feel this will be the first step towards being free of this debilitating illness,
Thank you everyone for being so supportive and I will keep you all posted with how the CBT goes,
Elyse

Mon Feb 6 2012 21:11:43 #