galen

OK, maybe my last post sounded a bit harsh, but I've found people somehow understand better when they're yelled at. To say it in a softer way - I am certainly in no position to give such sound advice, having, thank goodness, no experience with the treatment and not coming from a medical profession. However, I heard therapists say that EST is used in EXCEPTIONAL cases, such as VERY severe forms of schizophrenia, where the person might be dangerous to themselves or others - NOT FOR DEPRESSION!!! And, adding my own thoughts, I believe it would alter your personality and life irreversibly. It will cause more damage than you could ever imagine. Have you read/watched "One flew over the cuckoo's nest"? Please take my advice and DON'T GO FOR IT!!! galen.

if you go for it, you really are crazy! DON'T YOU ###### DARE!!!!!!!!!!!

Hi Giselle, thanks for the greetings. I do not remember allergy tests being done in my childhood. As far as I can recall, I never had any allergic reactions (rash, etc) to any sort of food; although at one point my grandmother said that I had a reaction to honey in infancy, I don't remember that, and I eat honey just fine now. I had a scratch test done in my teenage years to rule out allergies as the possible cause of a persistent cough I had, and the only issue discovered was a little sensitivity to the dust mite -- which does not bother me at all right now, and my cough is gone. Any tests (blood, urine, thyroid) that I do now come out perfect. Perhaps you could you tell me about this delayed allergy test, please? Thank you, and thanks again for the welcome.

My mother breastfed me till I was a year old. I was hospitalized with life-threatening pneumonia at the age of 2 months, and Mom breastfed me throughout my hospital stay. I have a moderate case of TS and OCD, started showing signs and tics in childhood, they aggravate following major stress. Never fed on any formula and no food (or other) allergies whatsoever; lactose tolerant.

Sorry, made this post by accident! Is there a way to delete posts?

Hi, Many people nowadays are not very successful in relationships; OCD makes things a lot harder. However, it's not just you and not just OCD: too many people, who DON'T have OCD, lose their relationships because they behave just like you do, and they make the exact same mistakes in the absence of OCD. OCD does make matters worse, as it aggravates the usual negative emotions, such as anxiety and jealousy, and you end up blowing things out of proportion. BUT: it also occurs too often in people WITHOUT OCD, and medication would NOT solve things here. You need to adjust your behaviour. A great book on this issue (the best, in fact) -- is called "The Rules", by Ellen Fein and Sherrie Schneider (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/044660274...5Fencoding=UTF8). Make it your desktop reference, and see if that helps.

Tom, I think there's NOTHING wrong with your son. He's a normal, curious, witty and bright little boy, who seems to have an advantage, rather than disadvantage, being able to identify letters and numbers, tending to exactness, and having a keen sense of observation (most adults wouldn't even notice the missing duck). He's at the age when kids begin exploring the world, and I think it's WONDERFUL that he's paying attention to details and is ahead of his peers in development (many 2-year olds can't comprehend letters or numbers). It will help him do well in school and maybe even beyond (attention to details is valued everywhere, and blessed is he who is born with it). Don't introduce real problems into the child's life by trying to correct non-existent ones. If you put him on OCD medications (on what ground??!!), then he will for sure develop learning disabilities, behavioural changes or even physical ailments (such as liver disease). It often becomes a problem when people start applying the general symptoms of an illness to themselves, without knowing the specifics of the disease, and then they end up "diagnosing" a condition they never had. If you have real reasons to be concerned about your son's well-being, consult a pediatrician or a child psychologist (but NOT A PSYCHIATRIST) to get competent advice. (I've discovered mental health specialists in North America like to make a lot of money by treating those non-existent symptoms - which in their vast majority are attributes of normal human behaviour - with extremely aggressive means that later require medical intervention to treat the real problems they've caused.) It's perfectly normal to be a "worried dad", but make sure your worries do not cross the boundaries of reason. As one journalist had pointed out - "pathology begins where common sense ends". Best of luck to you.

Thank you, Chemar. You are very wise. Sorry if I sounded aggressive or touched a subject I shouldn't have. Guess it's really time for me to grow up. I greatly appreciate your help and support and send my best wishes to your son.

Thanks, Chemar. You obviously have to put up with a lot b/c of your son's illness. But at least he's not terrorizing you with his obsessions! Are there any other mothers/relatives/spouses/caregivers here, who've been thru what my mom had with me - being driven out of their minds and their will to live?? I've just tested it - I tried expressing my grief to an ex, manifesting aggression - and they just shut me out, refused to talk to me, blocked me! Mom couldn't do it. So is it really true what I say?????????!!!!!!!!!!!

You want a good advice? RUN FOR YOUR LIFE, and I mean, your life, before you get sick because of this crazy bastard. Don't sacrifice yourself for his sake. Don't make the same mistake my mother did. She couldn't leave me with my OCD (a beloved, only child), and now she's dead from the cancer she got at that time. Mind you, for me it started just the same - obsession with a soap opera and its actors. Those crazy, sick XXXX like your husband and I, who are afraid of reality and hide in fantasies like cowards, live to a 100, while their most loving, amazing people die. I'm a waste anyway, but my mother could have lighted up the world for another 50 yrs. Moreover, he seems to have a MUCH BIGGER ISSUE than I did. If, for me, those were childish fantasies, he sounds like he might have schizophrenia or something of that kind, which requires his hospitalization for his own safety, not mentioning you and your kids. The best way for you to get rid of him without pangs of remorse afterwards - lock him away in an institution - he'll be fully waited on hand and foot there, and finally get into that wonderful, cozy coccoon he's striving towards. Maybe then you'd have a final chance for a good life. P.S. Please tell me if you get cancer someday - it will finally settle my doubts "did I or didn't I" drive my mom to her grave, and serve as a lesson to other poor families, who never know what they might have done to deserve that grief. (Sorry, I need to vent too - it's only been a month since I lost my mother, I'm very young and taking it really hard)

When I was diagnosed with OCD and experienced its worst manifestations, (I've seen that some people here are not sharing their disease with their family members b/c they don't want to hurt them), but I, on the contrary, felt compelled to share everything with my mother, and I drove her insane with it, accusing myself of committing hideous crimes and demanding Mom believe and forgive me - while she was struggling to convince me that I was making those stories up and they were not actually happening. It was a shock and great pain for her - even though I've had various OCD-related symptoms following a childhood trauma, it was never officially diagnosed until that time - and it was precisely then that she discovered a breast lump, which turned out to be cancer, but not age-related (not hormonal) and not hereditary (she had no family history of cancer whatsoever), a form doctors found incurable. She kept telling me during our fights (she got desperate and even kicked me out of the house once when she could take no more of my insanity - I'm an only child btw, was very close to mom and very good and obedient until OCD hit its hardest) - she kept saying "you'll drive me to my grave, your behaviour will kill me". Mom passed away from her cancer almost a month ago, and I cannot forgive myself - I firmly believe it's my fault, my illness and especially behaviour during the illness that caused her incurable cancer and her death. a) Do you agree it was my fault? How can I cope and live on?