Posted by ed_uk2010 on February 11, 2015, at 19:29:18
In reply to Re: OCD Dont know where to go, posted by Bill82 on February 11, 2015, at 17:54:32
I think it's useful that OCD is being discussed on this board because it rarely is. It's often mentioned in passing... but the term 'OCD' is widely misused. I think there's a lot of misunderstanding about what OCD involves. OCD is not the same as extreme perfectionism, although some people have both; OCD is not the same as obsessional personality traits either.
OCD normally revolves around thoughts (the obsession) which are unwanted, intensely repetitive, intrusive and either shocking (sexual, religious), anxiety-provoking (disease, contamination) or difficult to explain (symmetry and similar preoccupations). In general, the thoughts revolve around the idea that something awful or appalling could happen (such as infection from contamination) or sometimes that the sufferer themselves will be condemned as a result (sexual, religious etc). Compulsive behaviors often occur in an attempt to either suppress or 'disprove' the obsession, but the constant doubting makes it necessary to repeat the compulsions over and over and over again. Repetitive thought processes 'mental rituals' may occur in isolation (pure-O), or physical rituals and compulsions may be present(classic OCD). Either way, the obsessions and compulsions take up a huge amount of time.
Common types of OCD include:
Obsession: Fear of disease, bacteria or contamination.
Compulsion: cleaning, washing - the most well known type of OCD among the general public. The many other types are much less known.Obsession: Out of character, unpleasant sexual thoughts (abuse, incest, rape) or intrusive violent thoughts (injury, death).
Compulsions: washing, touching, praying, counting etc.Obsession: religious profanity.
Compulsions: praying, repeating religious passages, counting etc.Obsession: bodily dysfunction, perceived deformity.
Compulsions: touching, checking (eg. in the mirror), comparing, measuring.Obsession: doubting (car not locked, house not locked, window left open?).
Compulsions: checking, opening/closing doors, switching lights on and off. Rituals to be performed on leaving rooms/house/car.Obsession: symmetry, possibly a special type of OCD.
Compulsion: reordering, rearranging etc.>Yea I have thought about that, haha, one of the main things that spikes me.
In general, a major characteristic of an obsession in OCD is that it will be based on the worst or more unpleasant thoughts possible. Especially in sexual/violent OCD. The thoughts are ego-dystonic.
>Guess it gets back to the thing I said about not being able to accept
Accept what? That you might be impotent?
Accepting the fact that you *will* struggle to get an erection some of the time (which is normal) is a major way in which you can reduce the power of the obsession. Reducing the power of the obsession will eventually allow you to realise that you're not impotent at all.
>would rather just not exist or even exist with ocd than agree with it.....
What could you never accept or agree with?
Here is an example:
Obsessions in sexual OCD may be related to abuse, incest, homosexuality, pedophilia or rape, amongst other things.... unpleasant, unwanted, intrusive thoughts, ideas or images. This does not mean the sufferer actually wants to abuse someone; as you know, it means that the thoughts of abuse keep coming into their mind, against their will (ego-dystonic). The thoughts will feel appalling, frightening and abhorrent, this is the very nature of OCD, that the thoughts are not based on reality, the mind is creating the most unpleasant scenarios possible, torturing itself, causing doubt - is it OCD or is it real? The obsessions cause a huge amount of distress precisely because they are totally unwanted and out of character.
In this situation, 'acceptance' would refer to the acceptance that these thoughts are occurring as part of the OCD, and that it *is* OK because no one is actually going to be hurt in any way. The thoughts are part of the illness. The sufferer is not a bad person. If they were, they wouldn't be distressed by the thoughts! The very fact that the thoughts cause so much distress proves that they are OCD. The understanding and acceptance that no one is going to be hurt means that the thoughts lose their power. Once an obsession loses its power over the sufferer, the obsession will eventually go away.
>And as for the addiction aspect of it I have thought that, but then again I'm in serious pain and want to stop but just want to check To make it feel right. If it was addiction wouldn't it be ego syntonic?
Yeah, if you're masturbating to try to prove to yourself that you're not impotent, it's not an addiction, it's a compulsion. In OCD, the compulsion is occurring to try and suppress the obsession that you might be impotent.
So... you might be impotent sometimes. So what? You may indeed. Lots of people are. Until you accept that this is a possibility, you'll continue to try and disprove it by your compulsive behavior. Acceptance may be the route to health. And in health, you won't be impotent.
>Do any medicines help to allow the person to get rid of the doubting or are they just for allowing for the person to disengage compulsions?
SSRIs help some people reduce the doubting. But sometimes, like Phiddipus says, it is necessary to accept certain aspects of the obsessions in order for them to lose their power. Once they've lost their power, they will eventually go away.
>bipolar, schizophrenia
Nothing you've said so far is suggestive of either condition. Your symptoms sound highly typical of severe OCD only.
Take care. And be kind to yourself.
poster:ed_uk2010
thread:1075804
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20150129/msgs/1076276.html