Rapid Decline In Mental Health

[boogie_down77]

I have been biting my knuckles for over 15yrs now. It never dawned on me that skin picking would be considered anything other than a bad habit. Over the years I have met people who bite there finger nails or who bite the skin surrounding the nail but never I have I met anyone who destroys there knuckles like I do. I always joked about having OCD, but the stupid rituals I perform have always seemed harmless. It wasn't until I did an internet search, that I came across the disorder known as "Dermatillomania." For those of you who are curious, if you type Dermatillomania on wikipedia they provide a picture of someone who has obviously been biting there knuckles similarly to how I have. Every website I came across associates Dermatillomania or skin picking with OCD.

This year has been an amazingly stressful one for me in both my personal and professional life. Consequently, the chemical imbalance in my brain has apparently gotten worse. In addition to my rituals and skin picking, which by the way have seen an exponential increase, I now have new things that are popping up. I have noticed that I have an impossible time concentrating and staying on topic at work. My 40-50 hour work weeks have become 60-70 hour work weeks. The long work weeks provide an added strain on my marriage which makes my stress level go up and make my disorder worse.

Over the past two months I noticed that I kept having thoughts of getting into car accidents, choking, drowning, falling and breaking my neck, etc. Even more disturbing are the thoughts I have about my wife and daughter. In none of my 'day dreams' do I initiate any pain in either myself of my family. I am not suicidal nor do I consider myself a threat to my family but, I am especially worried about the bad things that I imagine happening to my family. I know that when I have a feeling of falling down a flight of steps and breaking my neck that I can tighten my grip on the railing and prevent myself from falling, however, I can't control how tightly my wife or daughter hold onto the railing when they walk down a flight of steps. Not being able to control the situation drives me crazy.

I have recently talked to my PCP about the problems I am experiencing and he has suggested that I start taking Prozac. At first I was strongly opposed to taking any medication but after some soul searching I have decided to start taking the Prozac. I am optimistically but cautiously proceeding forward. Has anyone experience a rapid degradation in there mental health in a similar way that I have? Does anyone have any words of advice for someone starting a trek down the Prozac highway?

 

[sleepysparrow]

Hi

I can't relate to everything you say here, but I have very similar issues with hair pulling and teeth grinding. I also have thoughts that you have about horrible accidents happening to myself and my family. I constantly think about my family or myself dying tragically or being seriously hurt -- falling, choking, disease, murder, rape --by something I can't prevent and I can't force these thoughts out of my head, these thoughts happen daily and seem to be getting worse with age. I have nightmares about it. I am terrified of heights, seriously terrified, and by heights I don't even mean very high, like walking up a flight of stairs, or escalators, if my son is walking with my I panic and can't breathe thinking that he's going to fall and I can't prevent him if he does, so I hold onto him so tight, i'm afraid as he gets older I won't want him to do anything on his own. I never think of harming myself or others, I am seriously terrified of violence and death, but I think of things happening to them that are out of my control, which makes it even worse. Have you been diagnosed with OCD? That's definately what it sounds like. Intrustive thoughts, and obsessive ritualistic behaviours. I have been diagnosed mild OCD, but i'm worried it's going to get worse. Sorry I can't be of more support, i'm not sure what Prozac is like, i've refused all medication. I hope you figure things out and work things out. I wish you and your family well.

 

[boogie_down77]

I have never had any interest in an official diagnosis of OCD. The rituals have never bothered me, and I have been able to bypass them for a short duration is I really had to. My PCP wants me to meet next week to discuss how I am handling the Prozac. The reason I have sought help is to help with the disturbing thoughts and with the inability to concentrate. I can live with being "quirky" but I have not learned how to handle the constant thoughts of disaster striking. How have you been able to cope with your thoughts?

 

[sleepysparrow1]

Honestly I don't cope well at all. I wish I could be more help and support to you and say that I am overcoming it, but i'm not. My refusal to be on medication could have something to do with the fact that i'm not getting better, i've heard that for some people it really helps with OCD, but I think a part of me wants to believe that I can get better on my own, and heal myself eventually - through therapy. My Anxiety disorders, emotional disorders, depression and OCD are all related, one triggers the other and sets off another and it just never ends, sometimes i'm just a complete mess. The thoughts and behaviours are so frustrating because I can't control them, but I want to, my brain just starts going and it won't stop, it's scary. OCD is just something i've been diagnosed with in the past year, so it's something still new to me. I've always had severe anxiety and depression, it seems as if it's triggering different problems and nothing is getting better. Maybe I am just naive to think that I can get better on my own, I don't know. I'm probably making myself worse. I wish I could be more help to you, I hope you take advice from your PCP, and do what you feel is right and best for you and your family.

 

[jennismortal]

You'd need a doctor to answer this appropriately, but if she is stage 6, and sleeping most of the time, I'd say organs are "forgetting" how to function and her body is naturally shutting down. Again, this is just a layman's idea. The doctor should be able to give you a better answer. But this is late stage, and anything can happen.Be grateful for that.You can ask the doctor if there is any problem like medications. Also, you can check to see if there is anything dramatic happened in the daily life that made her emotional or upset. A small cause could make it worse in a few days.We are not there yet for real late stage, so we will wait to see what is going to happen.Blessings to you,