questionnnn

[alison180]

Hey guys. I have a question about my OCD/social anxiety.

So, I've found that when I am in a peaceful, happy, enjoyable place in my life, I don't have OCD or SAD symptoms, which leads me to believe that my SAD is actually a form of my OCD. When I am not in a peaceful place in my life (like now, for instance), I can find ways to COPE with the symptoms of these disorders, but they never fully go away until I am at a peaceful place.

I've had these symptoms on and off throughout my life, and the pattern seems to go when I feel isolated (over the summer when I'm not in school, moving to a small town that I didn't like, etc...) I deal with OCD/SAD. When I live in a city environment, these symptoms simply disappear.

I guess my questions are 1.) can a person's enviornment, IE living in a city vs. a town really affect their happiness as much as it seemingly affects mine, and 2.) does anyone else feel SAD symptoms as a form of OCD? I know there can be social symptoms of OCD, but I don't see them being talked about as much, and when I do they seem pretty vague.

Does anybody have any info or personal experiences they can share?

Thanks,
Alison

 

[FeralMonkeyMagic]

Hi there Alison,

I am a newbie here too - but hopefully i can shed some light further to what you have already.

In answering your question, yes - in a nutshell - your condition can be worsened by your social surroundings. For example, when you are on summer holidays you are probably not studying/working everyday and you would slip into a less structured way of living for a short time.

I know for me, it is seasonal, summer is one, and really any time where the leaves change colour or fall on the ground.. hehehe

Christmas is a big one for me, which sucks and also my birthday.

I find when i am working, as i work in the centre of the city i am distracted always by noise, buildings, people . . my general surroundings, but when i have too much time on my hands on holidays.. things get worse. It's funny as i actually fear holidays..

I have OCD and depression/anxiety. Apparently they go hand in hand.

Hope that little snippet of my outlook helps.

Tchus

 

[alison180]

Thanks for your quick reply

I feel like I hate being isolated, and I'm an only child, so whenever the summer would roll around I'd usually get kind of anxious, unless I was really satisfied with everything in my life at that time. I find that when I'm in a city enviornment (not nessisarilly Manhattan, any rinky-dink city would do), that makes me feel close to people and not as isolated. I feel like I'm always a part of something. And it's strange- when I live in this enviornment, I don't have to go out. In fact, I spend a lot of time at home watching TV and I'm 100% satisfied.

Nowadays, I live with my overbearing, paranoid grandma in the sleepiest suburb of all time. I feel like if I don't go out every night, I'm going to implode. Do you see what I mean? My needs aren't being met (by livng around the action/life in the city), so I'm compensating.

I guess my personality is one that hates feeling isolated/left out/left behind. My genetics are prone to anxiety disorders anyway, so I suppose this is my body's reaction/response to being unhappy/unsatisfied in my environment.

I wish you good luck and your anxieties and depression will someday subside

-Alison

 

[sidney]

Hey,part of my SP is that im terrified of doing something wrong infront of people, cus of my OCPD im a perfectionist- im scared they'll all find out how weird i am & how perfect im NOT, so yeh some of my anxiety comes from that but the other half is something else

 

[alison180]

Thanks for replying

yeah, my therapist (and my own personal experience as well) says that if you have one type of anxiety, you can easily have another. and sometimes they fuel eachother as well

 

[sidney]

yup lol but im scared to really tell people incase they think im a hypocondriac (spelling?!) & wont take me seriously :?

 

[alison180]

Nah, that's just your anxiety talking! if you don't feel comfortable telling people, it's good that you're at least talking about it on the forums. Do you see a therapist? Cognitive behavioral therapy can work very well to help!