OCD Action

Rena32
Member

I know we all have sat and wondered many times, what could of caused our OCD, I wonder about it constantly, does anyone else do that?

Wed Feb 24 2010 4:55:04 #
Unregistered

Hi Rena
Of course we all do it, it's natural to want to know the cause in the vain hope that by knowing why we can learn how - ie. how to overcome it. This was the basis of psychiatric treatment 40 years ago when I was first diagnosed and if I had a £1 for every hour I have gone over and over what caused it, both on my own and with professional help in one to one psychotherapy sessions I could pay for a few months at the Priory!!!
However, all this effort has left me no nearer knowing what caused it and I have at long last come to the conclusion that it is pointless thinking about it constantly. We can do nothing about our genetic makeup and the past has gone, it can never be altered. but the good news is that we can start with the here and now and the future which we can change and focus our thoughts into defeating the OCD instead of exhausting ourselves with endless rumination about things which we can never change because they have already happened.

Wed Feb 24 2010 9:28:24 #
Truddles
Member

Hi Rena,

In some ways I'm fortunate as I actually know what caused my OCD, it was definitely my epilepsy I started to put in place safety mechanisms to protect myself and others when my seizures started to get out of control. I started by checking locks, taps etc (as during partial seizures I could undo what I'd done) and as you all know one check becomes two becomes three and so on ad infinitum I therefore do need to sort the seizures as it is now one of the things perpetuating my OCD. So although it was initially in the past, the seizures remain in the here and now. Although I can't go back and change things as Joyce so rightly says, I need to find out what's making my seizures worse and some of that unfortunately is in the past.

If I'd had a pound for every fruitless appointment for the physical conditions and the epilepsy not to mention the OCD, I too would be rich

Having said that I think I must have had a predisposition to OCD for it to have taken such a hold on me.

Wed Feb 24 2010 12:15:28 #
aishah
Member

Hi Rena,
I think my OCD was triggered by the fact that my father was an alcoholic and very violent towards my mother and some of my siblings. My sister tells me that I was on the receiving end of it sometimes but I have a mental block about most of my childhood.
I can recall some things but they are mainly bad and very traumatic things that took place.
I suppose I did what any very young child would do to try to protect myself and that was to have everything else in order around me, whilst what should have been a happy childhood was completely out of order.
I have learnt through CBT in the last 12 months to let go of ordering everything around me. I have urges when I am stressed to start ordering and admit I am control freak (or used to be). I recognise the signs now and am more able to be rational and not give in to the compulsion to clean and order.

Its taken me 35 years to reach this point, now I am more stuck with the intrusive thoughts which became a lot worse once i had let go of the compulsions.

Take care
Bridget

Wed Feb 24 2010 14:58:13 #
aishah
Member

p.s. I too think that I must have had a predisposition to OCD also and one of my sisters has it and I do believe that my dad may have had it too but didn.t have a diagnosis. He suffered extreme levels of anxiety and 'bad thoughts' as my mother described it but sadly took his own life before I could find out.

Bridget

Wed Feb 24 2010 15:06:22 #
mama
Member

I think we are all predisposed to it...in the genetic make-up. It is the way our body responds to stress...some people cant recall one tragic event or period of time...some can. I think about people who have undergone worse things than I yet did not respond with OCD. I think we are the lucky ones with the genes for it and likely family history of bad coping skills. Across the board, stress makes OCD worse...good or bad stress...it is our biological response, and our learned coping skills that keep us trapped. That is my oppinion.
Andrea

Wed Feb 24 2010 15:52:00 #
freddy
Member

Hi Rena32
My OCD seems to have appeared after I split up with my husband.

Regards,
Freddy

Wed Feb 24 2010 16:11:01 #
mama
Member

Freddy, that would definately be enough stress to put anyone over the edge...so sorry to hear.
Love,
Andrea

Wed Feb 24 2010 21:00:34 #
Unregistered

I think I always had a bit of OCD in me, then early last year something tipped the balance... I think it was probably the anxiety I developed over guests smoking in our house and the chemicals of the smoke being left behind as a harmful residue. The contamination from that was actually what I became obsessed with before germs. That came a while later and was influenced a lot by my parents' bad hygiene habits. So I suppose you could say that my parents caused my OCD, but I think there was something there before, they just triggered it. I don't really want to blame them though, but, you know...

Wed Feb 24 2010 21:25:17 #
Unregistered

I think my OCD was caused by the fact that I have no emotions, apart from hate, jealousy and resentment.

Thu Feb 25 2010 23:03:53 #
Unregistered

Now, come on, I'm sure that's not true. If that was the case then you wouldn't be able to communicate with anyone, even if it is only online. It's the OCD that makes us think we are bad people sometimes. The real you is in there somewhere.

Thu Feb 25 2010 23:07:14 #
stevieb
Member

I've wondered if its anything to do with the fact that I was breach born. I was very sick after I was born because of this, and was lucky not to have been severely impaired. In fact I've often wondered how different I'd be as a person had it not been for that.

Fri Feb 26 2010 0:16:33 #
Rena32
Member

Giles, of course you have positive emotions, if you didn't you would not be so caring and helpful as you are on this forum. Don't let that OCD make you think that you are unworthy or emotionless. You are a good person, and don't let OCD convince you otherwise. So you tell that OCD it is a lie!!!

Fri Feb 26 2010 3:48:38 #
mama
Member

yeah! ...what Rena said! She's right Giles and you know it!
Stevie- thats an interesting thought....I dont know though...it would be interesting to do a study on breech born babies and see if there is a correlation...i doubt one has been done to date.
Andrea

Fri Feb 26 2010 4:36:00 #
Blueskies
Member

Mine certainly came from a controlling childhood, where the expectation to be good at everythng was at the top of my parents list of being a well educated person so that they could not appear as failures!!! That may sound harsh, but coming from an indian background, education and money , material possessions were more important than emotional needs. And all too often if I were to do well, then, it would have been my parents who took the praise for raising such and educated person. Which boils down to conditions of worth!!! if I did well, it was them who took the praise, if I did bad, it was my fault!! and a shame on their beliefs as parents.

but fast forward into the present, sometimes the past is in the present and sometimes its not. I am now learning about my own mistakes, feelings and emotions, some resolved some still ongoing. Its hard work but we will all get there with each others support!!!

Fri Feb 26 2010 10:21:36 #