OCDOCDOCDOCDOCDOCDOCDOCD o.c.d help

[mindcrimes]

My daughter has ocd and her mother and I feel like we are loosing our MINDS.... We have been dealing with this for about 5 years and are at wits end.... need support, help, inspiration, guidance, direction or anything that can help us keep our 20 year old wonderful daughter safe and happy. Her affliction makes her feel that she has to turn the car around to make sure
she didn't hit or run over anybody. she will even get up out of bed to go for a drive to double, triple, 5iple, 12iple times to make sure and with the current gas prices !@##*$&&$%& I think you know what i mean.

any information would be greatly appreciated.........


yours truly,
Hurting Dad.

 

[Zipper]

I am so sorry for you, your wife, and your daughter. This is certainly a very hard thing to deal with. I am sure you would be able to have a long talk with my parents about the similar things you guys have had to deal with. It demonstrates a lot about you that you have come here to find support for your daughter. I'm sure you love her very much and she is lucky to have a father like you.

Is your daughter seeing a psychologist? Does she have a prescription for Seratonin drugs (e.g. Paxil, Lexapro, Cimbalta)? Has she read self-help books on OCD? I would recommend these things first. Does she understand the nature of her emotional disorder? Good luck, and may Apollo the Healer be with your family.

 

[Snerkable]

I have had OCD in which I would worry for ...months about having debilitating illnesses such as brain cancer or H.I.V. or COPD... stuff like that. I drove my parents insane with constant asking for reassurance, and this is one thing I bet she's asking you all the time.. it may seem counter-intuitive, but the best thing is to not "feed" her compulsion by reassuring her even once. This is the best thing to focus on, is to eliminate her ability to carry out her compulsions... don't let her turn around etc. etc. Have her actively challenge her irrational thoughts.. ALL THE TIME! like ALL THE TIME! EVERY TIME! otherwise, she won't make progress... what worked for me was focusing in on and "tagging" what were my obvious OCD thoughts...

Also, medicine is what REALLY helped me. Of course, I was younger (around 14) so at that age relatively low doses went a long way, she may need slightly higher dosages and the right combination of medicine... my first SRI was horrible, Zoloft did nothing for me and made me feel all ...bleh.. but prozac, was great... it totally got rid of my desire to have obsessive thoughts, and in conjunction with active CBT I was finally able to conquer it.

It's going to be a tough battle... but don't listen to what doctors say in the whole "she's going to have it for the rest of her life" I'm standing now, 4 years removed from my last obsession...

Definitely seek a psychiatrist for her... OCD warrants a psychiatrist not a psychologist.. as often times psychologists don't have the training adequate to treat mental illness... it'll be tough, but it's definitely a winnable battle.

 

[Vancouver]

I used to have bouts of OCD when I was like... anywhere from 8 to 12. They of course, weren't this extreme because I couldn't drive and I didn't have any real responsibilities; however, I had a good, long chat about it with my parents (once they figured out what was going on), I explained to them honestly why I felt like I had to keep doing these things, and for some reason they haven't come back since. It's pretty weird, but I think if you have compassionate parents (and you sound like the kind of dad your daughter could come to for this sort of thing), and if you guys get along OK, maybe you could try to get her to open up about the whole situation and see why she feels the way she does.