response for Sheila

[Guest guy]

Hi Sheila-

 

I am glad to have been diagnosed with this disorder, but my psychiatrist only prescribed me medication-he doesn't do therapy. As such, I was wondering if you could shed light on some aspects of my disorder. Firstly, it seems as though my obsessions/compulsions change from time to time. For example, when I was younger I use to turn light switches on/off a fixed number of times (usually 7) but I no longer have the need to do so. On the other hand, obsessions that never bothered me before-such as loosing my mind at any moment-have appeared out of the blue. Is this normal? Also, some of my obsession that occur are outright bizzare, sometimes lacking sense. To better explain this, I will give you an idea of what goes in my mind on a pretty regular basis. Please don't laugh... . As a general rule, I have about 10 obsessions that regularily plague my mind. I have been doing reasearch on OCD, and most sites have "OCD is an anxiety disorder". This stupid line now plays in my mind at least 100-200 times in my mind everyday.. the line plays intensely while I take a shower..and each time it plays, I shampoo my hair vigorously....my shower usually takes 30 minutes-1 hour during the course of which I usually use up an entire bottle of shampoo...not to mention that I lather my body with soap 4-5 times. Other obsessions that plague my mind constantly involve former events that I had experience. These events, I think there are 7-8 of them, are all events that were embarassing for me...example someone laughing at me. One will play for sometime, then another one will take over for sometime longer...occaisonally they are intertwined...one thought will go through my mind, then other, then the former and so on... The problem is that these thoughts make me want to laugh because they are so silly and annoying. It is hard to restain myself, and will chuckle in public...then everyone stares at me...certain buildings that I see, certain songs I hear trigger these obsessions. What is up with this????? I thought OCD ideas are suppose to make you intensely anxious, while mine are making me laugh...the shrink told me that it is still a manifestation of OCD, but I haven't read anyone elses responses in which their obsessions make them laugh. Have you heard of this before???? Other obsessions that plague my mind regard studies, and more "traditional OCD" problems such as avoiding cracks on the street. The "traditional OCD" symptoms occur daily but are mainly confined to certain stimuli...they bother me for maybe 2-5 minutes, and are gone once the problem is gone. As a general rule, my mind plays "OCD is an anxiety disorder" followed by a series of embarassing events through my mind in a repetitive basis. School concerns, actually cause more compulsive behavior patterns -such as studying a fixed number of hours...studying same material over again-but the associated obsessions only occur when say I am studying, or thinking of school....can you make some sense of this??

 

Thanks

 

Chris

[Sheila]

Chris, I think there is a range of experiences possible that would include the laughter. It's basically just different parts of the brain responding. Have you started on your medication yet?

 

As for therapy, there is a good book by Tamar Chanksy

http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0812931173/qid=1103067778/sr=2-2/ref=pd_ka_b_2_2/002-1040200-7407238

 

The title says for children and adolescents, but the subject would be applicable for you also. There are helpful ideas for working with your thoughts (not therapy per se.) She has another book on anxiety that has similar ideas and could be good also. But until your mind settles down a little you might need someone to help you work through the ideas.

 

Have you read any of the topics under Tourette Syndrome on this forum to see if any of them might help you? Someone once contacted us who had serious OCD and she found out that dairy (mostly) and other foods were causing it. She was so surprised and happy because when she eliminated them she was OK--she was almost 30 at the time when she discovered this, as I recall. Have you ever noticed if something makes things worse--something you ate or experienced (like a toxic exposure, bright lights, scented candle shop, fresh paint, etc?)

 

There are also some nutrients that might help you. Are you interested in that type of approach? I think you must do something. . . you are having to cope with much more than you should have to. You must be very bright to be able to juggle all this and perform in class also. If you are trying medication, it should help fairly quickly if they can find the right one. What are you doing about the recommended meds?

 

Sheila