im new please help
- Thread starter slambrini
- Start date
TAMPA-BAY
Well-known member
ocd relapse
I dont know if this reply will be any help to you since iam a SA person. Anyway i have the exact same problem of taking two steps fowards then all of a sudden i end up taking 1 step back wards.
But i think the main goal to have is an overall foward progress.
Oh by the way. WELCOME NEWBIE! theres got to be some one here who is an OCD sufferer that can point you in the right direction.
I dont know if this reply will be any help to you since iam a SA person. Anyway i have the exact same problem of taking two steps fowards then all of a sudden i end up taking 1 step back wards.
But i think the main goal to have is an overall foward progress.
Oh by the way. WELCOME NEWBIE! theres got to be some one here who is an OCD sufferer that can point you in the right direction.
Mustang6767c
Member
slambrini said:
Hi,
First off, I'm sorry to hear that it has come back. But, no sense in dwelling on whats done. Can you be a little more specific about what problems you have right now? (Germs, driving, kids, etc.) I have had OCD for about 5 years and I have been able to control pretty much everything on my own without any outside help. I might be able to give you some ideas. Please feel free to ask me anything, and I'll do my best to help.
Mustang6767c
LittleMissMuffet
Well-known member
You wrote that 'every waking session is spent trying to resist my OCD thoughts'
...you used the word 'resist'. Can I ask you what method of treatment you previously used -was it Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
It may interest you to know that a new method for dealing with many mental and emotional problems is gaining popularity in the West. It is the Buddhist practice of Mindfulness.
It is completely removed from resisting any thoughts at all. A person simply practises being "the Impartial Observer". Instead of identifying "wrong" thoughts and replacing these with "right" thoughts (the ususal CBT method) Mindfulness acknowledges all thoughts without prejudice. It is completely opposite to resistance and instead is based on acceptance. ...even immediately, people find that the thoughts that overpower them begin to diminish and lose their hold.
Mindfulness is based on accepting having thoughts in stead of believing that a person needs to 'be rid of them' in order to be balanced. Resist thoughts and they come back more strongly. Mindfulness accepts thoughts, gives them room to be and these thoughts lose their significance and balance and peace of mind are gained in this way.
If you look up "mindfulness" and "Mindfulness based cognitive Behavioural Therapy" (MCBT) on google, you will find mental health professionals' opinions. Generally the consensus is that for more entrenched depression or anxiety (etc) CBT is likely either to wear off with time or to in fact exasperate the person's problem. They believe that for cases in which a person has relapsed and had more than one episode of anxiety/depression etc, that Mindfulness is what is needed. (They combine CBT with Mindfulness -ie: "MCBT"; and this is reminscent of Buddhist meditation techniques which involve both Stabilising meditation and Analytical meditation in order to most effectively solve problems. -At least this is my understanding so far. And it is understood that there are two basic skills of the mind - "mindfulness" and "concentration". Mindfulness is the basis of stabilising meditation, and is all about being able to allow yourself the ability to choose what to focus on and this is created through an acceptance of ALL choices or all thoughts, which involves the attitude of 'the Impartial Observer'. 'Concentration' is the degree of focus a person has. And together, Mindfulness and concentration are complementary. -We need both skills to be working well in order to think clearly and be happy.
My understanding is that with obsessive or compulsive thoughts and emotions, that Mindfulness gives a basic grounding -it stabilises emotions and stills the mind. This is why CBT may not go far enough, and may sometimes make a problem worse; and that Mindfulness needs to be developed according to how deep the thoughts/emotions are, how locked away in our unconscious.
So, my advice is that you check-out "Mindfulness".
Google it and you may want to check out these sites that I've found useful...
It is probably easier to start with....
www.budsas.org
-here, search for "Mindfulness in Plain English" by Gunaratana Mahathera, and look specifically at chapter 12 "Dealing with Distractions 2" for a good explanation of how to practice Mindfulness
-that way, if you are impressed upon having tried Mindfulness for yourself then you can take it further and check-out this site, which caters specifically to anxiety disorders (which may help also with your OCD)...
www.mindfulrecovery.org
-and also, you could look for therapists or groups in your area that use this therapy - Mindfulness Based therapies (I'm not sure whether there is one specifically for OCD or whether this would fall under a treatment that caters to OCD and a few other conditions). -I haven't had much luck yet finding a therapist who deals with Mindfulness in my own area. Unfortunately, not enough know about this as Mindfulness based therapies have only started to emerge in the West this decade.
...you used the word 'resist'. Can I ask you what method of treatment you previously used -was it Cognitive Behavioural Therapy.
It may interest you to know that a new method for dealing with many mental and emotional problems is gaining popularity in the West. It is the Buddhist practice of Mindfulness.
It is completely removed from resisting any thoughts at all. A person simply practises being "the Impartial Observer". Instead of identifying "wrong" thoughts and replacing these with "right" thoughts (the ususal CBT method) Mindfulness acknowledges all thoughts without prejudice. It is completely opposite to resistance and instead is based on acceptance. ...even immediately, people find that the thoughts that overpower them begin to diminish and lose their hold.
Mindfulness is based on accepting having thoughts in stead of believing that a person needs to 'be rid of them' in order to be balanced. Resist thoughts and they come back more strongly. Mindfulness accepts thoughts, gives them room to be and these thoughts lose their significance and balance and peace of mind are gained in this way.
If you look up "mindfulness" and "Mindfulness based cognitive Behavioural Therapy" (MCBT) on google, you will find mental health professionals' opinions. Generally the consensus is that for more entrenched depression or anxiety (etc) CBT is likely either to wear off with time or to in fact exasperate the person's problem. They believe that for cases in which a person has relapsed and had more than one episode of anxiety/depression etc, that Mindfulness is what is needed. (They combine CBT with Mindfulness -ie: "MCBT"; and this is reminscent of Buddhist meditation techniques which involve both Stabilising meditation and Analytical meditation in order to most effectively solve problems. -At least this is my understanding so far. And it is understood that there are two basic skills of the mind - "mindfulness" and "concentration". Mindfulness is the basis of stabilising meditation, and is all about being able to allow yourself the ability to choose what to focus on and this is created through an acceptance of ALL choices or all thoughts, which involves the attitude of 'the Impartial Observer'. 'Concentration' is the degree of focus a person has. And together, Mindfulness and concentration are complementary. -We need both skills to be working well in order to think clearly and be happy.
My understanding is that with obsessive or compulsive thoughts and emotions, that Mindfulness gives a basic grounding -it stabilises emotions and stills the mind. This is why CBT may not go far enough, and may sometimes make a problem worse; and that Mindfulness needs to be developed according to how deep the thoughts/emotions are, how locked away in our unconscious.
So, my advice is that you check-out "Mindfulness".
Google it and you may want to check out these sites that I've found useful...
It is probably easier to start with....
www.budsas.org
-here, search for "Mindfulness in Plain English" by Gunaratana Mahathera, and look specifically at chapter 12 "Dealing with Distractions 2" for a good explanation of how to practice Mindfulness
-that way, if you are impressed upon having tried Mindfulness for yourself then you can take it further and check-out this site, which caters specifically to anxiety disorders (which may help also with your OCD)...
www.mindfulrecovery.org
-and also, you could look for therapists or groups in your area that use this therapy - Mindfulness Based therapies (I'm not sure whether there is one specifically for OCD or whether this would fall under a treatment that caters to OCD and a few other conditions). -I haven't had much luck yet finding a therapist who deals with Mindfulness in my own area. Unfortunately, not enough know about this as Mindfulness based therapies have only started to emerge in the West this decade.