OCD Action

Unregistered

Hi everyone. I am new to this and not sure wehre to start. Basically, I have been diagnosed with OCD and am waiting for CBT. I have bought some self help books. My OCD is to do with kitchen knives. I was terrified I would lose control and hurt my little girl. I know deep down this would never happen but am finding it hard not to ruminate and worry CONSTANTLY about it. Looking back, I have had other related anxiety issues, agoraphobia, hair pulling etc. I'm also taking SSRI's but they are not working. I know about exposure therapy but I have never stopped using the knives to do cooking etc so where do I start?

Tue Mar 30 2010 19:21:19 #
Moocher
Member

Hello Sunshine. I think there's a lot you can do to help yourself before you begin CBT. I think the self-help books are a good place to start. The OCD with kitchen knives is quite common. It's understandable that this would worry you. I have problems with agoraphobia too. I think the SSRIs can take a while to start working but I don't have any personal experience of them. One facet of exposure would be to record onto tape exactly what would happen if you were to carry out your obsession. It's horrible but it's supposed to get you used to confronting the obsession.

Wed Mar 31 2010 2:42:25 #
brennie
Member

Hello Sunshine, i have the same problem with kitchen knives myself, please believe me that these are intrusive unwanted thoughts about harming your child ....you will never ever carry these thoughts out, its just the evil ocd taunting you.
Good Luck
Brennie x

Wed Mar 31 2010 14:02:40 #
Unregistered

Thank you so much guys for your helpful advice. I just want to be able to start enjoying my life again and enjoying by beautifull little daugher xx

Wed Mar 31 2010 19:40:00 #
aishah
Member

Hi Sunshine,

I have had this thought in the past and still do from time to time. The thing to remind yourself, as always is that it is only a thought and you will not ever act on it, even though the thoughts may be so strong that you think you will. This is the OCD I,m afraid and we have to keep fighting it and don't fall into the trap of believing it.

Good luck and try not to worry.

Bridget

Thu Apr 1 2010 14:25:18 #
Unregistered

Thanks again. Is it acceptable to put off my worrying until later in the day e.g write in my journal at night or dedicate say half an hour to worry about it only the books say to not worry about it at all otherwise I'm fueling the obsession, I say this just because I am finding it really hard to give up the worry completely...

Fri Apr 2 2010 10:13:13 #
swan
Member

Hi,
I think thta would be an excellent thing to try. It would be a starting point to prepare you for not worrying at all Ive had periods when it has worked and periods when it hasn't. I know the books say dont worry at all but you may find thta initially half an hour a day is not possible so if it isnt dont feel you have failed dont have such a long gap between when you can think about it.

Fri Apr 2 2010 16:59:17 #
Wombat140
Member

Sunshine, it all depends what books you read. I've seen experts who actually recommend having a set time of day to worry! I suppose it makes a certain amount of sense, as an intermediate stage. The rest of the day you can say to yourself, "Oh, I don't need to bother about that now, it'll get dealt with later". Then when evening comes, you're thinking about it deliberately, so you only need to go over it once and then you can tell yourself it's dealt with.

It's true that ideally you shouldn't worry about it at all, but "ideally" doesn't get any parsnips buttered. Worrying in this way is often compared to a compulsion of the usual kind - washing hands and so on. You wouldn't expect to get anywhere by trying to stop that all at once, you work up to it bit by bit. So the same could apply to this.

Hope this helps,
Wombat140

Fri Apr 2 2010 17:50:22 #
Unregistered

Thanks guys x

Sun Apr 4 2010 15:41:40 #
Blueskies
Member

Sunshine I sent you a pm!!!!

Wed Apr 7 2010 19:56:00 #