Obsessive
Compulsive Disorder (OCD) is a mental health disorder that affects people of
all ages and walks of life. It occurs when a person gets caught in a cycle of obsessions and compulsions.
Obsessions are unwanted, intrusive thoughts, images or urges that trigger
intensely distressing feelings. Compulsions are behaviors an individual engages
in to attempt to get rid of the obsessions and/or decrease their distress.
Here
are the unwelcome OCD phases (that I remember) which have been part of my adult
life:
·
I wrote (and self-published) my first novel, Lacy Lessons: Touching Stories for the Heart of a Woman, that my grandiose emotions told me that it was bound to be a best-seller. (Not sure if Oprah Winfrey ever got the copy I mailed to
her for her book club in 2005.)
·
My craft phase involved a hot glue gun, found
stuff around the house that I could assemble together, artificial flowers, and
cheap items like buttons that I could assemble together to give away. This
could keep me up all night.
·
Like many Americans, I desperately wanted to
be on the TV remodeling show, Trading
Spaces, with my wife and nearby neighbors when it was on the air. No matter
how many times I dreamed of my application being chosen for show; reality
eventually made me aware that too much time had passed. It was never going to
happen
·
Soon after our eighth miscarriage, my brain
went into overdrive to find an artist to paint what my entire family might have
looked like. Since no artist could get inside my brain to see what I truly
wanted, I ended up doing a cartoon sketch of my family (see below). Once the
picture was done, the curse was broken.
·
You are reading my current obsession, ENCOURAGE ME. You can’t imagine how many celebrities I’ve made
aware of this writing endeavor. I’m guessing I’ve given away at least seven
hundred cards to people locally. My
family can get ignored during the lengthy writing process, which doesn’t make
them happy. I get little sleep at night until my brain is emptied creatively.
Common
obsessions in OCD can happen in the areas of losing control, perfectionism, religion, unwanted sexual thoughts, hypochondria, cleaning
(and washing), checking (and repeating), order, confession, and avoidance. If
you struggle with OCD, below are some suggestions that could make life better
for you:
1.
Although you can resist performing a compulsion, you
cannot refuse to think an obsessive thought: Obsessions
are biochemically generated mental events that seem to resemble one’s own real
thoughts, but aren’t. They are as counterfeit bills are to real ones, or
as wax fruit is to real fruit. As biochemical events, they cannot be shut
off at will. In thought suppression, it has been shown that the more you
try to not think about something, the more you will end up thinking about it.
The real trick to dealing with obsessions is if you want to
think about it less, think about it more. Neither can you run from or
avoid the fears resulting from your obsessions. Fear originates in the
mind, and it is important to accept that there is no escape. Fears must
be confronted. People with OCD do not stay with the things they fear long
enough to learn the truth that their fears are unjustified. The anxiety would
have gone away anyway on its own, without a compulsion or neutralizing
activity.
2.
OCD is chronic: This means it is like having
asthma or diabetes. You can get it under control and become recovered. At the
present time, there is no cure. It is a potential that will always be there in
the background (even if it is no longer affecting your life).
The current thinking is that it is probably genetic in origin,
and not within our current reach to treat at that level. If you don’t learn to
effectively make use of them throughout your life, you will run the risk of
relapse. This means that if you stop taking your medication and therapy that
you may find yourself in trouble once again.
3.
Recovery from OCD takes time: The
average uncomplicated case of OCD takes about six to twelve months to be
successfully completed. Some people need to work on the rehabilitation of their
lives after the OCD is brought under control. Long-term OCD can take a
heavy toll on a person’s ability to live.
It may have been a long
time since they have socialized, held a job, or done every day household
chores, etc. Some people have never done these things. Returning to these
activities may add to the time it takes to finish treatment. However long it
takes, it is crucial to see the process through to the finish.
There is no such thing as being “partially recovered.”
Those who believe they can take on only those symptoms they feel comfortable
facing soon find themselves back at square one. Untreated symptoms have a way
of expanding to fill the space left by those that have been relieved.
4.
Relapse of OCD is a potential risk that must be guarded
against: Although there is no cure for OCD, one can successfully
recover and live a life no different from other people. Once a person
gets to the point of recovery, there are several things that must be observed
if they are to stay that way. The goal of proper therapy is to teach
people to become their own therapists. It gives them the tools to
accomplish this.
One of these tools is the knowledge that feared situations can
no longer be avoided. The overall operating principle is that obsessions must
therefore always be confronted immediately, and all compulsions must be
resisted. When people are seen to relapse, it is usually because they
avoided an obsessive fear which then got out of hand because they went on to
perform compulsions.
Another cause can be an individual believing that they were
cured and stopping their medication without telling anyone. Unfortunately,
the brain doesn’t repair itself while on medications, and so when drugs are
withdrawn, the chemistry reverts to its former dysfunctional state.
Finally, some people may have fully completed their treatment, but have neglected
to tell their therapist about all of their symptoms, or else they did not go as
far as they needed to in confronting and overcoming the things they did work
on.
In pursuing treatment for OCD, it is vital to go the distance in
tackling all of your symptoms, so as to be prepared for whatever you may
encounter in the future. It is vital to remember that no one is perfect, nor
can anyone recover perfectly. Even in well-maintained recoveries, people
can occasionally slip up and forget what they are supposed to be doing.
Rather than a person beating themselves up for failure; they can
regain their balance if they immediately get back on track by facing that which
is feared, and then not doing compulsions. Health is the result of living in a
state of balance. It is extremely important to live a balanced life with enough
sleep, proper diet and exercise, social relationships, and productive work of
some type.
5.
The goal of any good treatment is to teach you to become
your own therapist: In line with the last point, good
Cognitive/Behavioral treatment should aim to give you the tools necessary to
manage your symptoms effectively. As therapy progresses, the
responsibility for directing your treatment should gradually shift from your
therapist to you.
Whereas the therapist may start out by giving you assignments
designed to help you face and overcome your fears, you should eventually learn
to spot difficult situations on your own and give yourself challenging homework
to do. This will then be a model for how you will need to handle things
throughout your life.
6.
Two of OCDs main features are doubt and guilt: These
are considered hallmarks of the disorder. Unless you understand these,
you cannot understand OCD. In the 19th century, OCD was known as the
"doubting disease." OCD can make a sufferer doubt even the most
basic things about themselves, others, or the world they live in.
Doubt is one of OCDs more maddening qualities. It can
override even the keenest intelligence. It is a doubt that cannot be
quenched. It is doubt raised to the highest power. It is what causes
sufferers to check things hundreds of times, or to ask endless questions of
themselves or others. Even when an answer is found, it may only stick for
several minutes, only to slip away as if it was never there. Only when
sufferers recognize the futility of trying to resolve this doubt, can they
begin to make progress.
Guilt is another unbearable
part of the disorder. It is rather easy to make people with OCD feel guilty
about most anything. Many of them already have a surplus of it. They
often feel responsible for things that no one would ever take upon themselves.
7.
While medication is a help, it is not a complete treatment
in itself: It is human nature to always want quick, easy, and simple
solutions to life’s problems. While everyone with OCD would like there to
be a magical medicinal bullet to take away their symptoms, there really is no
such thing at this time.
Meds are not the perfect treatment; however, they are a “pretty
good” treatment. Generally speaking, if you can get a reduction in your
symptoms of from 60 to 70 percent, it is considered a good result. Of
course, there are always those few who can say that their symptoms were
completely relieved by a particular drug.
They are the exception rather than the rule. People are
always asking me, "What is the best drug for OCD?" My answer
is, “The one that works best for you." I have a saying about
meds: "Everything works for somebody, but nothing works for everybody."
Just because a particular drug worked for someone you know, does not mean that
it will work for you.
8.
You cannot and should not depend upon the help of others
to get well: If you come to depend upon others to manage your anxiety, what
will you do when they are not around? My guess is that you will likely be
immobilized and helpless. No one can want you to recover more than you do. If
your motivation is so poor that you cannot get going on your own (assuming that
you are not also suffering from an untreated case of depression), then you will
have learned nothing about what it takes to recover from OCD.
9.
You cannot rely upon your own intuition in deciding how to
deal with OCD: In using your intuition to deal with what obsessions may be telling
you, there is one thing you can always count on being lead in the wrong
direction. It is only natural to want to escape or avoid that which makes
you fearful. Since the fear in OCD results from recurring thoughts inside your
head, it cannot be escaped from.
The momentary escape from fear that compulsions give fools
people into relying upon them. While compulsions start out as a solution,
they soon become the main problem itself as they begin taking over your life.
People with OCD never stay with what they fear long enough to find out that
what they fear isn’t true. Only by doing the opposite of what instinct tells
you will you be able to find this out.[i]
“Imagine all your worst thoughts as a
soundtrack running through your mind 24/7, day after day.” (Adam
Walker Cleveland)
 |
| Cartoon of my family |
[i] Sources used:
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