schmoopy
Active member
OCD ran my life. Really, it controlled every aspect of the day. I would constantly check the door knob when leaving my house just to make sure the door was locked. Of course that was after already checking it 5 or 6 times.
It's not the easiest disorder to describe to someone. OCD affects everyone differently. Ultimately though, I think it comes down to worry. You worry about whether or not your alarm clock is set. You worry about whether or not you left the stove on. You worry about the slightest germ or miniscule piece of dirt on anything you own.
Sooner or later all this worry builds up and leaves you feeling helpless and victimized by your own obsession with perfection.
OCD has innocent victims as well. Your co-workers, family and loved ones around you all suffer from your problem. They're all affected by your quirks. It could be as simple as making them late for meetings, dinners, outings or special events with time consuming compulsions to quadruple check things around you.
You may avoid physical contact with those you love out of your own discomfort towards germs or uncleanliness. It's possible you're losing touch with friends and family around you due to your fear of driving. Perhaps your work is suffering due to your inability to stay focused on anything other than your own OCD tendencies.
These are just a few random scenarios that OCD can create. Whatever degree of OCD you suffer from, you NEED help and the fact is the only one who can save you is yourself.
The good news is... you're not alone.
Did you know that Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects 2.2 million Americans or 1.0% of the U.S. population from ages 18 and older?
To get a better idea of the definition of OCD...
OCD is characterized by unwanted, recurring, disturbing and uncontrollable thoughts called obsessions and/or repetitive and habitual behaviors called compulsions.
Among the most common obsessions are fear of being contaminated with germs, sexual or violent images, excessive orderliness and excessive attention to superstitions.
On the other hand, symptoms might be milder like repeatedly washing hands, obsessively worrying if doors are left unlocked, counting and silent repetition of words, etc.
If you have any of the above signs, it is necessary to take action now. You may think these innocent habits aren't such a big deal but their long-term effect becomes degenerative. Once you think it's ok to obey one particular superstition, your mind will create all sorts of new rules to follow. Make the responsible decision to nip this problem in the bud now.
The fact of the matter is that there is no cure for OCD. It's not like you get a shot in the arm from some doctor and your obsessive habits cease to exist. A habit is both broken and created within 90 days. Some people will argue that you can create and break a habit every three weeks, but honestly - I've seen this theory in action.
In order to break your OCD habits, you've got to engage in "normal" behavior and responses for 90 days. That kind of habitual training conditions you for a permanent solution.
You do have to go through some rite of passage through. You’ll need to expose yourself to the triggers of your compulsion in order to overcome the relentless urges to engage in the compulsive OCD behavior. This particular strategy is known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
It’s not a guaranteed fix though. Effective treatment of OCD anxiety may or may not widely reduce the repetition of your obsessions and compulsions. YOU decide whether or not this works. There's no one to blame but yourself. Let me give you a little example to illustrate my point.
When I was a younger I bit my nails terribly. Really it was quite gross. This was long before my OCD really became prevalent in my life. I was about 16 or 17. BTW - I don't consider nail biting OCD. That is, unless of course you meticulously bite your nails in a compulsive or repetitive nature. However, for the sake of this story nail biting is just a bad habit.
Anyway, I was a young, shy guy in high school and a very significant time was right around the corner.
Prom was coming up and I really really wanted to look great for my date. She wasn't a girlfriend or anything. I was just going to prom with a really nice girl that I liked for a while.
So, anyway...
Here I was about 3 months before prom and I had these disgusting bloody fingers from all the terrible biting. I REALLY wanted to make a great impression on Jill (my date), so I swore off the nail biting and proceeded to try every remedy under the sun to end the habit.
I tried using that nail polish that tastes terrible - I just bit them anyway and cringed every time. It didn't work.
I tried putting strings around my wrists to remind me that I was specifically trying not to bite them. This tactic failed quickly. I just ignored the rules whenever I felt stressed and started chomping away.
Then I put band-aids on all my fingers. I must have looked so silly. For weeks I showed up at school with ridiculous band-aids on my fingers. It was just as well. At the time I was a very shy kid and didn't have many friends anyway.
This worked for the remaining 8 weeks (mainly because I never took the band-aids off long enough to go at it.) and when Prom came around, my hands looked great for Jill. I remember feeling so proud of myself.
Now the few days following were fairly good. After all, I was out of the habit. I didn't need to bite my nails right?
Not quite. Can you guess what happened the week after prom?
I was so ravenous for nail biting that I chewed my fingers worse than ever!
Eventually I learned to control the habit with a combination of the band-aid treatment for a couple more months and some SERIOUS conscious effort but this lesson isn't so much about nail biting.
Any habit can be broken on the surface for a short period of time. However, you've got to really WANT to resolve a problem permanently to put forth the effort it takes to extinguish subconscious tendencies.
You can avoid OCD habits for any length of time but until you monitor yourself nonstop for an extended period of time (and I mean 90 days or more), you'll never be able to train your brain away from these damaging compulsions.
If this doesn't sound like it's for you, that’s okay. There are more conventional ways to get relief.
Among the known procedures that help in OCD anxiety relief are behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy and pharmacotherapy. There are also more general anxiety reducing strategies.
Psychotherapy
The first line in OCD anxiety relief is psychotherapy or behavioral therapy. With the assistance of your physician, you will undergo an exposure treatment and response prevention. The doctor will expose you to the source of your obsession and/or compulsion and you must prevent yourself from engaging the repetitive thoughts, ritual or habit you usually do under such circumstances. This method as an OCD anxiety relief has in fact found to be effective by 75% of patients who underwent this therapy. Cognitive therapy is also another way to relieve OCD anxiety. This approach will let you address the source of your compulsion and/or obsession and challenge them. When cognitive and behavioral therapies are combined, it is more effective as an OCD anxiety relief and is called cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Pharmacotherapy
Pharmacotherapy or the use of medication is another common method used as an OCD anxiety relief. Medication prescribed for patients with OCD anxiety helps in the reduction of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. Among these medications are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) such as include Celexa, Luvox, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft. Another group of medicines, which was declared by one university as more effective is called Clomipramine like Anafril. At the speed medications are being distributed, by the time this article reaches you, I’m sure there will be an array of difference medicinal names synonymous with OCD relief.
Support
For you to have effective OCD anxiety relief, seeking support is a must. Your family is instrumental to the success of your treatment so it is best if you make them a part of your recovery. Families and relatives, in most cases, do not understand the plight of patients with OCD anxiety when they are forced to deal with the patient’s obsessions and compulsions and your family may be the same. To minimize this, it is best if they come with you during your consultation with your doctor so that the latter may explain to them your predicament. If you do not have a family or live far from them, you can engage in support or self-help groups, talk to a trusted friend or seek spiritual advice from your church minister or priest.
Get relief today. Don’t put it off. Every day you live with your OCD is a day spent trapped in a cage. Break free with tactics that work! Start right now by learning to end the anxiety and feel better fast!
It's not the easiest disorder to describe to someone. OCD affects everyone differently. Ultimately though, I think it comes down to worry. You worry about whether or not your alarm clock is set. You worry about whether or not you left the stove on. You worry about the slightest germ or miniscule piece of dirt on anything you own.
Sooner or later all this worry builds up and leaves you feeling helpless and victimized by your own obsession with perfection.
OCD has innocent victims as well. Your co-workers, family and loved ones around you all suffer from your problem. They're all affected by your quirks. It could be as simple as making them late for meetings, dinners, outings or special events with time consuming compulsions to quadruple check things around you.
You may avoid physical contact with those you love out of your own discomfort towards germs or uncleanliness. It's possible you're losing touch with friends and family around you due to your fear of driving. Perhaps your work is suffering due to your inability to stay focused on anything other than your own OCD tendencies.
These are just a few random scenarios that OCD can create. Whatever degree of OCD you suffer from, you NEED help and the fact is the only one who can save you is yourself.
The good news is... you're not alone.
Did you know that Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder (OCD) affects 2.2 million Americans or 1.0% of the U.S. population from ages 18 and older?
To get a better idea of the definition of OCD...
OCD is characterized by unwanted, recurring, disturbing and uncontrollable thoughts called obsessions and/or repetitive and habitual behaviors called compulsions.
Among the most common obsessions are fear of being contaminated with germs, sexual or violent images, excessive orderliness and excessive attention to superstitions.
On the other hand, symptoms might be milder like repeatedly washing hands, obsessively worrying if doors are left unlocked, counting and silent repetition of words, etc.
If you have any of the above signs, it is necessary to take action now. You may think these innocent habits aren't such a big deal but their long-term effect becomes degenerative. Once you think it's ok to obey one particular superstition, your mind will create all sorts of new rules to follow. Make the responsible decision to nip this problem in the bud now.
The fact of the matter is that there is no cure for OCD. It's not like you get a shot in the arm from some doctor and your obsessive habits cease to exist. A habit is both broken and created within 90 days. Some people will argue that you can create and break a habit every three weeks, but honestly - I've seen this theory in action.
In order to break your OCD habits, you've got to engage in "normal" behavior and responses for 90 days. That kind of habitual training conditions you for a permanent solution.
You do have to go through some rite of passage through. You’ll need to expose yourself to the triggers of your compulsion in order to overcome the relentless urges to engage in the compulsive OCD behavior. This particular strategy is known as Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.
It’s not a guaranteed fix though. Effective treatment of OCD anxiety may or may not widely reduce the repetition of your obsessions and compulsions. YOU decide whether or not this works. There's no one to blame but yourself. Let me give you a little example to illustrate my point.
My Totally Embarrassing Nail Biting Story...
When I was a younger I bit my nails terribly. Really it was quite gross. This was long before my OCD really became prevalent in my life. I was about 16 or 17. BTW - I don't consider nail biting OCD. That is, unless of course you meticulously bite your nails in a compulsive or repetitive nature. However, for the sake of this story nail biting is just a bad habit.
Anyway, I was a young, shy guy in high school and a very significant time was right around the corner.
Prom was coming up and I really really wanted to look great for my date. She wasn't a girlfriend or anything. I was just going to prom with a really nice girl that I liked for a while.
So, anyway...
Here I was about 3 months before prom and I had these disgusting bloody fingers from all the terrible biting. I REALLY wanted to make a great impression on Jill (my date), so I swore off the nail biting and proceeded to try every remedy under the sun to end the habit.
I tried using that nail polish that tastes terrible - I just bit them anyway and cringed every time. It didn't work.
I tried putting strings around my wrists to remind me that I was specifically trying not to bite them. This tactic failed quickly. I just ignored the rules whenever I felt stressed and started chomping away.
Then I put band-aids on all my fingers. I must have looked so silly. For weeks I showed up at school with ridiculous band-aids on my fingers. It was just as well. At the time I was a very shy kid and didn't have many friends anyway.
This worked for the remaining 8 weeks (mainly because I never took the band-aids off long enough to go at it.) and when Prom came around, my hands looked great for Jill. I remember feeling so proud of myself.
Now the few days following were fairly good. After all, I was out of the habit. I didn't need to bite my nails right?
Not quite. Can you guess what happened the week after prom?
I was so ravenous for nail biting that I chewed my fingers worse than ever!
Eventually I learned to control the habit with a combination of the band-aid treatment for a couple more months and some SERIOUS conscious effort but this lesson isn't so much about nail biting.
Any habit can be broken on the surface for a short period of time. However, you've got to really WANT to resolve a problem permanently to put forth the effort it takes to extinguish subconscious tendencies.
You can avoid OCD habits for any length of time but until you monitor yourself nonstop for an extended period of time (and I mean 90 days or more), you'll never be able to train your brain away from these damaging compulsions.
If this doesn't sound like it's for you, that’s okay. There are more conventional ways to get relief.
Conventional OCD Therapy
Among the known procedures that help in OCD anxiety relief are behavioral therapy, cognitive therapy and pharmacotherapy. There are also more general anxiety reducing strategies.
Psychotherapy
The first line in OCD anxiety relief is psychotherapy or behavioral therapy. With the assistance of your physician, you will undergo an exposure treatment and response prevention. The doctor will expose you to the source of your obsession and/or compulsion and you must prevent yourself from engaging the repetitive thoughts, ritual or habit you usually do under such circumstances. This method as an OCD anxiety relief has in fact found to be effective by 75% of patients who underwent this therapy. Cognitive therapy is also another way to relieve OCD anxiety. This approach will let you address the source of your compulsion and/or obsession and challenge them. When cognitive and behavioral therapies are combined, it is more effective as an OCD anxiety relief and is called cognitive-behavioral therapy.
Pharmacotherapy
Pharmacotherapy or the use of medication is another common method used as an OCD anxiety relief. Medication prescribed for patients with OCD anxiety helps in the reduction of obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors. Among these medications are Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitors (SSRIs) such as include Celexa, Luvox, Paxil, Prozac and Zoloft. Another group of medicines, which was declared by one university as more effective is called Clomipramine like Anafril. At the speed medications are being distributed, by the time this article reaches you, I’m sure there will be an array of difference medicinal names synonymous with OCD relief.
Support
For you to have effective OCD anxiety relief, seeking support is a must. Your family is instrumental to the success of your treatment so it is best if you make them a part of your recovery. Families and relatives, in most cases, do not understand the plight of patients with OCD anxiety when they are forced to deal with the patient’s obsessions and compulsions and your family may be the same. To minimize this, it is best if they come with you during your consultation with your doctor so that the latter may explain to them your predicament. If you do not have a family or live far from them, you can engage in support or self-help groups, talk to a trusted friend or seek spiritual advice from your church minister or priest.
Get relief today. Don’t put it off. Every day you live with your OCD is a day spent trapped in a cage. Break free with tactics that work! Start right now by learning to end the anxiety and feel better fast!