OCD Action

slogsweep
Member

Morning everyone, hope you're doing ok.

I've just watched a fairly horrible episode of South Park, that pokes fun at OCD and insinuates OCD is caused only by childhood trauma.

While I know that not to be the case I'm still spiking like mad and having a horrible morning. Anyone got any tips for combating the spikes?

Thank you

Slog

Tue Jan 17 2012 10:35:48 #
ACB33
Member

Hi Slog,

Sorry to hear your having a rough morning. Isnt it horrible that things we used to once find amusing or fun then become triggers for this terrible illness - I find that really hard to deal with.

I have been having CBT/Counselling for about 7-8 weeks now and last week I had my first lot of exposure therapy (please forgive me if im telling you stuff you already know - I talk to so many people on here its difficult to keep up who knows what and where they are on their journey). These spikes certainly are a nightmare and sometimes so unbelievably strong its so difficult to think straight and get any sort of rational thought on anything so...DONT FIGHT IT! You are wasting valuable energy and simply raising your emotional stress for no 'real' reason.

Any good OCD book will tell you that the Fight or Flight response has been passed down to us over thousands of years so we have to try and find a way of 'flying' over our thoughts rather than fighting - fighting the spikes will only make them stronger.

The best advice I can give you (from someone who has only had a few weeks of exposure therapy - so any fellow OCD sufferers please correct me if im wrong) but the key is to try and get your body and emotions down to a reasonable and manageable state and just flood your thoughts with those that make you feel so terrible. This may seem an impossible task when your really suffering but please trust me when I say the more you intentionally try to flood your mind with the thoughts - it actually, believe it or not, becomes quite boring and sometimes quite funny. I find that laying on the sofa or laying on your bed with the windows and curtains open (lots of light and fresh air) and just close your eyes and take some long and deep breaths while your flooding your mind with thoughts and spikes on purpose - This way you are actually controlling your thoughts which makes them less scary!

Im not saying this will make it any better straight away. Just try and do it for a minute or two in the beginning and you will slowly find you will become stronger and be able to deal with the uncomfortable feelings of anxiety which will gradually get less and less over time. Blimey I know I make it sound simple but I look at it this way... Nobody can live their life the way we do on a regular basis forever - something has got to give and its all about taking a risk. Infact the only 'risk' is what we have managed to stir up in our brain and actually not a true or 'real' picture of reality.

Of course nothing is for certain in life (only birth and death are certainties for everyone) so, like me who craves control and certainty, we MUST find the strength to hit this head on. There is no short cut, secret door or magic pill that will take this away, you have pretty much got to allow the OCD to overcome you - That doesnt mean giving up, it just shows you that you can sit and think about this stuff and actually nothing terrible will happen to you, those around you and reality in general - We as human beings simply dont have that power so dont beat yourself up over something you simply cannot control.

What have you got to lose? You cant live your life day in day out the way it is now - its not worth it, it makes for a horrible and upsetting existence and life is about enjoying, loving and living - dont allow the OCD to take this away from you ITS YOUR RIGHT!. Its a false reality that we feel we are forced to live by but look at most people around you - they are living their life day by day without OCD and they are fine.

No one is going to go through life without getting ill, losing someone they love or experiencing bad or rubbish times - THATS LIFE! We just need to find a way of dealing with it. We have no special power or significance in what happens through our thoughts (as they say actions speak louder than words) So dont put pressure on yourself over something that NO ONE ELSE in the world has- your striving for the IMPOSSIBLE and whilst your doing that you will constantly feel a failure and distressed (how can you be a failure over the impossible??)

I really hope what I have said makes sense (being dyslexic doesnt help when trying to give people detailed advice in written form) and I dont mean to sound patronising or cruel - I totally understand how distressing it can be - Ive lost my job and at one point wouldnt leave the house but I just knew I couldnt live life like this anymore and had to take the plunge and (at the moment) im doing a million times better than i was and nothing bad or terrible has happened I just take each day as it comes and if I have a bad day I just simply force the thoughts on myself whilst trying to stay relaxed and in control.

You will be fine Slog - Im really sorry for the long waffely message but I hope at least some of what I have said will help you.

Take Care and Good Luck

ACB

P.S A really good book is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy for Dummies - Its a brilliant place to start. Dont rush anything Slog you need to take your time and battle one thing at a time. You will find once you fight one thing, the others either wont be as bad as they first seemed or you will have the tools to deal with them in a more confident manner - Keep smiling - YOU WILL BE FINE!

Tue Jan 17 2012 11:36:35 #
slogsweep
Member

All of the info you've given me there is golddust ACB, I didn't know any of the stuff about therapy. I start Thursday/Friday so I think I'm getting eaten up by nerves and spiking easily despite the medication. I don't think I'm capable of flooding my mind yet, at least not without the guidance of a therapist. I'll be buying that CBT for Dummies book for sure.

Thank you so much,

Slog

Tue Jan 17 2012 12:54:58 #
ACB33
Member

Hi Slog,

Unfortunately the medication alone isnt enough for you to beat this - dont get me wrong its a HUGE help but im certain you will find with the therapy and counselling it will be a massive help. Just give it time. Your probs right about the flooding thoughts - your a very sensible person and im certain you have the capabilities to really strive in CBT. Just give yourself time and dont expect too much too quickly. Its a delicate situation and there is alot to learn but once you have those tools they will be invaluable for the rest of your life!

Even though the thoughts are there - if you cant flood yourself with thoughts then try not to surpress them. Certainly try to relax though and lots of deep breaths in a light airy room. Please let me know how you get on with your CBT and I wish you all the best with it

ACB

Also just one more quick thought (and this is just in my personal opinion so please dont take this as gospel as i know its a sensitive subject but...) I know many people say and even the NICE Guidelines say that you shouldnt be talking about your childhood with your therapist but (again just in my personal experience) dont totally dismiss it - its amazing how much of it all fits together like a jigsaw puzzle and I think understanding certain aspects of WHY OCD occurs in you personally is key in accepting OCD and its traits. We are all different and deal with stuff in different ways. Just make sure you have a healthy mix of both CBT/Exposure Therapy and a little about the past. Dont forget - it might be painful to look in the past but thats again trying to change the impossible - we cant change the past but we certainly can 'try' to live a brighter future (again just in my personal opinion/expereince)

Tue Jan 17 2012 13:22:52 #
ACB33
Member

Hi Everyone,

Slog I just wondered how you got on today with your 1st CBT session. I know it's very early days but was it an immediate help?

I just wanted to share this paragraph with everyone. It's out of the CBT for Dummies book. I would recommend it to everyone. It's a very well written and simple book that's been clearly researched and understood by those who wrote it.

The paragraph goes as the following...

"Trying to get rid of doubt by seeking unattainable certainty is like trying to put out a fire by throwing more wood on it. If you're intolerant of uncertainty, as soon as you quell one doubt another one's sure to pop up. The trick is to find ways to tolerate doubt and uncertainty - they exists whether you like it or not"

In my opinion this paragraph alone pretty much sums up what CBT is about (in a nutshell). Of course we are all different and CBT can be changed and adapted to many many issues. That's the beauty of this type of therapy it's extremely flexible but not at all easy!

I hope this gives some of you who are currently suffering of feeling low, trapped and scared a little comfort and knowledge that will help you either start your recovery, assist you in your battle or add to your success tools if you have come out the end of the tunnel. There really is light there and it's a powerful one and you somehow need to keep strong and determind you will get through it.

No-one gets life changing success without hard work, determination and experiencing all the crap that is thrown at each and every one of us. Giving up is NOT an option, don't try and find ways of coping, just PROMISE yourself you will get through it. Like I say it's not easy, if it was none of us would be on here sharing advice, tips and help to those you suffer just as much as you do.

Stay STRONG everyone, get as much help as you possibly can and good luck in getting to that light at the end of a very long bumpy tunnel.

Take Care all

ACB

Thu Jan 19 2012 22:11:04 #
slogsweep
Member

Hello ACB thanks for the concern, means a lot

It was good, very beneficial and I could tell she was working on getting my confidence up instantly. I have a course of 8 weeks to go and I'm overjoyed that this nightmare may be getting sorted (at least for the time being). It's just a shame it's ruined my university experience.

How are you?

Slog

Thu Jan 19 2012 22:16:30 #
Stuy89
Member

Hi Slog,

I can totally relate to this because I had a similar experience about 2 weeks ago after watching an episode of Casualty (Which I've watched for years) and for some bizzare reason after watching that particular episode I suddenly found my head flooded with anxious thoughts about how fragile the human body is.That lasted the rest of the night and the day afterwards. I couldn't really focus on anything because it was like I was forcing myself to think through all these philosophical questions to find an answer that would put my mind at ease. That didn't happen. It did eventually calm down. But I was kinda scared more of the thought that maybe by watching similar programmes that I like I'll have these spikes again. It is a living nightmare!

Oh I'm new to this site so hello to all!

Fri Jan 20 2012 1:14:41 #
slogsweep
Member

Hello Stu welcome to the site, I hope it does as much for you as it has done for me.

It's this digging that you speak of through my mind that ruined me in the first place, don't do it! Or at least, try not to. Why not introduce yourself with a forum post? There's always such brilliant people on here ready to comment in no time,

I'm finally getting treatment though as I said and feel much better than I did,

Best wishes,
Slog

Fri Jan 20 2012 13:13:05 #
wannabefree
Member

Hi everyone. Hi Slog, good to know that you are on the way to recovery now, it wasn't so long ago when things were very different, but sounds like it is going well now, Well done on that too, cos it isn't easy... Are you on the train again tonight?
Wannabe

Fri Jan 20 2012 20:45:05 #
slogsweep
Member

Hello Wannabe, no trains for me until Thursday next week . Yes I feel as if I'm getting somewhere with this now, how are you getting on?

Slog

Sat Jan 21 2012 11:21:54 #