help ocd question?

Question

I have ocd, but not medicated, and i get on these kicks of buying things. These are things that I don't need at all, but really just can't stop from buying, and I buy the same thing over and over, and I think I'll loose it sometimes and I'm not sleeping well...any thoughts or ideas?

Answer 1

i used to work with ocd adolescents and adults...what you're describing is very common among ocd suffers. my best advice to you is to seek psychiatric care so you can get on some meds that will greatly help you. there are also support groups that will be beneficial with learning behavioral modification techniques. a lot of ocd folks think they can handle it on their own...they usually end up self-medicating by way of drugs and/or alcohol use, and extensive hoarding and shopping behaviors. you owe it to yourself to at least try medication and therapy so you can live a more normalized life. best of luck to you.

Answer 2

Hi. I had this too when I was about 21... not OCD because I still have THAT, but the shopping thing. I was addicted to buying books, underwear, socks, and movies. I maxed out three credit cards buying these items (and much more!). For this addiction, it is best to understand why you are buying. Is it to get out of the house? T oescape your problems? OCD is often a part of having anxiety and/or depression. Is this perhaps a problem?? So now I have to ask you... how do you know you have OCD? If you self-diagnosed yourself, you may be wrong. Think about why you shop and go from there.

Answer 3

I think you need to replace this"dangerous" activity with a "benign" one.
I mean instead of going shopping all the time you could go for walks. Try
to explore as much of your hometown as you safely can. Take notes on
different spots. Compile a complete outline of scenic or historic spots.
Writing is a good way for me to handle my problems. It gives my hands
and mind something to do and when I'm done, if it's good enough, I can
make some money on it. Maybe you could make a pamphlet and sell
it. Put that ocd to work for you instead of against you. There are lots of
ways to do that.

Answer 4

Treatment for OCD
You are in "Disorders"

Other pages in this section: Panic Disorder Facts What is PD? Find Treatment for PD Generalized Anxiety Disorder What is GAD? Find Treatment for GAD PTSD What is PTSD? Find Treatment for PTSD Phobias Social Phobia Specific Phobia Agoraphobia Find Treatment for Phobias OCD What is OCD? Find Treatment for OCD

Many people with obsessive compulsive disorder can be helped with treatment. Therapy for mental illness often involves medication or specific forms of psychotherapy.

Medications, although not cures, can be very effective at relieving obsessive compulsive disorder symptoms. Today, thanks to research by scientists at NIMH and other research institutions, there are more medications available than ever before to treat anxiety disorders. So if one drug is not successful, there are usually others to try. In addition, new medications to treat anxiety symptoms are under development.

For most of the medications that are prescribed to treat obsessive compulsive disorder, the doctor usually starts the patient on a low dose and gradually increases it to the full dose. Every medication has side effects, but they usually become tolerated or diminish with time. If side effects become a problem, the doctor may advise the patient to stop taking the medication and to wait a week—or longer for certain drugs—before trying another one. When treatment is near an end, the doctor will taper the dosage gradually.

Research has also shown that behavioral therapy and cognitive-behavioral therapy can be effective for treating obsessive compulsive disorder.

Behavioral therapy focuses on changing specific actions and uses several techniques to decreases or stop unwanted behavior. For example, one technique trains patients in diaphragmatic breathing, a special breathing exercise involving slow, deep breaths to reduce anxiety. This is necessary because people who are anxious often hyperventilate, taking rapid shallow breaths that can trigger rapid heartbeat, lightheadedness, and other symptoms. Another technique—exposure therapy—gradually exposes patients to what frightens them and helps them cope with their fears.

Like behavioral therapy for mental illness, cognitive-behavioral therapy teaches patients to react differently to the situations and bodily sensations that trigger panic attacks and other anxiety symptoms. However, patients also learn to understand how their thinking patterns contribute to their symptoms and how to change their thoughts so that symptoms are less likely to occur. This awareness of thinking patterns is combined with exposure and other behavioral techniques to help people confront their feared situations. For example, someone who becomes lightheaded during a panic attack and fears he is going to die can be helped with the following approach used in cognitive-behavioral therapy. The therapist asks him to spin in a circle until he becomes dizzy. When he becomes alarmed and starts thinking, "I'm going to die," he learns to replace that thought with a more appropriate one, such as "It's just a little dizziness—I can handle it."

Answer 5

even i think so i just can't stop washing my hands!!!! i try to do the opposite (keeping hands dirty)consciously u try not buying anything,block u'r credit card or try sending someone else to shop in u'r place