I think i may have OCD as i always feel compelled to pick rubbish up or wash my hands and at night i spend minutes (not too long but long enough) just trying to make sure that my closed curtains are absouletly completely closed. I know people can have little fazes or little things they have to do but i feel like mine are getting worse and i wouldnt like it to control my life....So any advice is helpful please!
2007-11-16 08:16:30 · 9 answers · asked by Hollywood Whore Boulevard Kitten 3 in Health ➔ Mental Health
I also think that if i dont do certain things (pick up clothes, wash hands, blow away stray strands of hair...) that something bad will happen or i wont be happy for some reason anymore.
2007-11-16 08:20:18 · update #1
this definatly sounds like ocd. it is just one of those things that you deal with. theres not much you can do.. i think there is some kind of medication that you can go on for it.. but for the most part its just how it is. sometimes there is just a rutien that you have to do to make you feel better.. why dont you try throwing it off... say... you go to close the curtains and...one is left slightly open... and it kind of bothers you... leave it.. see what happens.. maybe maybe you can grow out of it by changing things.. why dont you rearang your furniture or do something that your not used to.. keep making changes in your life and your house... even if it makes you feel insecure and scared.. try it.. maybe you'll get over it and you'll feel better after.
2007-11-16 08:27:22 · answer #1 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
What you describe are certainly compulsive symptoms. Whether your diagnosis would be OCD, or perhaps Personality Disorder with obsessive features, would have to be determined in a face-to-face consultation with a mental health professional. OCD is treated with a combination of medication and psychotherapy. The medication is usually an SSRI: Those are the same drugs often used for depression. For OCD, Luvox currently is the most frequently used medication, I believe.
Psychodynamically, it is believed that obsessive and compulsive behaviors are related to a (usually irrational) fear of loss of control. Also, your specific compulsions may have a symbolic meaning. For example, the need to wash your hands may represent feelings of guilt about something you did, or unconsciously wish to do. But again, you'd have to consult a mental health professional to find out what the meaning is for you, and reverse the symptoms.
2007-11-16 15:54:10 · answer #2 · answered by yutsnark 7 · 0⤊ 0⤋
By 'trying to deal with it' you are setting a self-defeating course. It is by definition impossible to 'try not to think about it'.
Distracting yourself and keeping a journal are good starts and should be used as tools for several weeks before initiating some form of therapy. My own mother could never pass through a door without kneeling in prayer for the fear that something terrible would happen to her. Certain of her OCD issues continue to this day...primarily because she was raised to believe that if a person got professional help with any issue it meant that they were mentally unstable..(can we say 'DENIAL' class?). As a counsellor I urge anyone who has such uncontrollable activities, especially if they are getting worse, to get professional help. Your minister can console you but is unlikely to understand the true dynamics of this issue. If it is something you could have prayed about and just stopped, you would have by now. Please don't be another 60+ year victim of something that can be treated. you are not abnormal, you are an individual with individual needs.
2007-11-16 08:40:22 · answer #3 · answered by Ezra W 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
dont worry i have ocd and it used to bother me.
I do everthing with my left hand first like pickng up the fone with my left evenif itts on the rong the side.or i type the first letter of each word with my left hand (well i used to) and other things of but im bored lol.
basically the best bit of advise i can give you is take i t slow and try to the target the symptoms that are the most obvious or controlling and when you do them conciously think im doing this and try to.
2007-11-16 09:01:05 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
i have OCD in the form of checking i havent forgotten school stuff and that my curtains and door is shut all the way way to many times and weighing myself over and over. at the moment i only do it 5times a day, when i get up, after breakfast, before and after dinner and before i go to bed and thats come down from literally 26times a day. the only way i got it down is by taking it one step at a time and trying to stop myself, so just do it one less time then you normally would each day eventually u should be able to stop ur self.
2007-11-16 08:30:02 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Once for an entire year every night I searched my room for mice, even though there never were any and if there was a place I missed or I just didn't do it I would suffer from cold sweats and panic but it eventually went away.
2007-11-16 08:28:59 · answer #6 · answered by Volgograd 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I have an even OCD. I have to chew the same amount of food on each side of my mouth. That is just the begining. Everything has to be even, or it annoys me. I just got used to it. Eventually you just forget you are doing it. 95% of the population has some form of OCD, it just is stronger with fewer of us.
2007-11-16 09:10:22 · answer #7 · answered by splash 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
this sounds weird but buy a little stuffed animal or childs toy to occupy your hands. it will help and you can talk to it about your issues. my son has OCD about washing his hands also so we give him hand sanitizer to use and try as hard as you can not to think about it. :)
2007-11-16 08:26:43 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Keep a notebook.When you have locked the door write down "The door is locked".It`s reassuring yourself.Plus therapy.It`s a thought in your head.You can reprogramme your mind.Good luck
2007-11-16 08:21:39 · answer #9 · answered by Elibeau 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋