Hi Paris -
although I don't drive myself, I can empathize. It is typical of OCD to get the attacks Rena so eloquently describes. And she's right: we need to learn to see them as 'alien', as a type of demon that is not the same as our own mind and brain. If you really can make this concept all your own, the pure suffering from the demon will decrease. But it's a hard thing to do.
It will take time. OCD is not very well known as something that can end in a single day, so to speak (I am extremely wary of all clinicians that tell you OCD is well-treatable and can be eliminated in X days with Y sessions per day - they lie). It all has to do with slow changes in brain structures, and the time required for healing also depends on the number of months or years that one suffered heavy OCD. More and more neuroscientists find that our brains are not, as once was thought, are 'static' and unable to change; they're dynamic, malleable, or, as science has it: 'plastic'. They can adapt.
Proper medication, cognitive therapy, and physical exercise all can help a great deal in overcoming mental disorders. 's Funny: once it was thought that running worked against depression because levels of endorphines (substances we ourselves produce) worked a bit like an 'uplifting' drug. Enkephaline, Met-enkephaline, and Dynorphine are such substances.
Well, they do have some effect. But running (swimming, etc.) works anti-depressant-like for another reason: the production of new nerve cells in a region called the hippocampus is enhanced. It is likely that it works by increasing the levels of neurotrophins, molecules that help form neuronal connections in our brain in the best possible manner, and give these cells a sense of direction, and increase their contacts with other nerve cells (more 'branches'). This way, networks of brain cells become more dense, with many more contact points, and information is better processed, including information concerning our moods. Simply put: if this mechanism is induced, one can rise above a state of 'feeling trapped' and really see new possibilities, e.g. for starting contacts with others, doing hobbies, and so on.
Ooo... I am meandering a bit here. But it was nice writing it down anyway.
Ciao, Cuthbert.
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD)
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