Being obsessive compulsive is not a kind disease or disorder to have.
Mental illness appears to be a very devastating problem in the world today. No matter where I look they're talking about the problems with mental health. All you have to do is look around on this forum to see that people are struggling in the area of anxiety and what is causing the anxiety.
OCD is a monster all on it's own. Suffering with a problem that really isn't there but our brain is telling us that a problem is there. There are so many different avenues of OCD as well - Germs, Going Outside, Fear of Driving, Fear of killing someone, Fear of dying, Fear of making mistakes, Fear of being...whatever. I could spend the next two hours typing out the different kinds of OCD because it really can go whatever direction when it comes to have anxiety and even how the brain works.
If there's anyway that I can help someone gain some peace through what I've went through and what I'm still going through, that would be awesome.
To break down OCD and how the obsessive thoughts work and the compulsive rituals happen (taken from own experience)
Step One - I start having obsessive thoughts (urges or what I call now 'My Chaos') that go through my mind that tell me that something is wrong.
Step Two - My brain then spins counterclockwise and begins trying to process the obsessive thought and tells me that something is wrong and that I have to fix it. There may not be anything wrong but the brain is trying to tell me there is.
Step Three - The brain creates a ritual that I can do to solve the problem and what's frustrating is that when there is not a problem then that becomes the battle back and forth between the counterclockwise thinking (the OCD) and the common sense thinking (the Normal).
Step Four - Temporary Relief is found and after a few minutes or hours the cycle begins again.
Now this is the cycle that I go through and this is how I explain what OCD is to people that don't understand what it really is. I think some people say that they are OCD but they don't really know what they're talking about, but I do believe that there are tons of people that have it but in different degrees.
Mine personally, (Tongue Chaos, obsessing with areas in my mouth with my tongue, and Verbal Chaos, obsessing with how I say stuff and what I hear when I say stuff). I haven't been able to find someone that has experienced mine and it kind of frustrates me because I don't have any victory statements except for seeing that people that suffer with other kinds have found victory...and that's good to always read.
I've learned very slowly that the above steps are not the right steps to be bothered with and the victory comes from reprogramming the brain (CBT treatment).
Is this a lifetime journey? I hope that victory can be found while I'm still alive and that my only peace will not be when I die. I suffer with a deep sinking depression that makes this even harder to deal with but I'm trying to slowly rise above the darkness and start to see a light of hope.
I believe it takes - as a Christian - to make God the center of your life (my life). To make him the refuge that he can be and no one else can. When all the chaos is storming against my life and it feels like there is no happiness at all with my current situation - Where do I go? Where do I find enough strength to get up each day and not be faced with my OCD fears? How do I point my finger at my obsessive thoughts and say that it doesn't belong - and believe it.
As always - Ephesians 3:20
Mental illness appears to be a very devastating problem in the world today. No matter where I look they're talking about the problems with mental health. All you have to do is look around on this forum to see that people are struggling in the area of anxiety and what is causing the anxiety.
OCD is a monster all on it's own. Suffering with a problem that really isn't there but our brain is telling us that a problem is there. There are so many different avenues of OCD as well - Germs, Going Outside, Fear of Driving, Fear of killing someone, Fear of dying, Fear of making mistakes, Fear of being...whatever. I could spend the next two hours typing out the different kinds of OCD because it really can go whatever direction when it comes to have anxiety and even how the brain works.
If there's anyway that I can help someone gain some peace through what I've went through and what I'm still going through, that would be awesome.
To break down OCD and how the obsessive thoughts work and the compulsive rituals happen (taken from own experience)
Step One - I start having obsessive thoughts (urges or what I call now 'My Chaos') that go through my mind that tell me that something is wrong.
Step Two - My brain then spins counterclockwise and begins trying to process the obsessive thought and tells me that something is wrong and that I have to fix it. There may not be anything wrong but the brain is trying to tell me there is.
Step Three - The brain creates a ritual that I can do to solve the problem and what's frustrating is that when there is not a problem then that becomes the battle back and forth between the counterclockwise thinking (the OCD) and the common sense thinking (the Normal).
Step Four - Temporary Relief is found and after a few minutes or hours the cycle begins again.
Now this is the cycle that I go through and this is how I explain what OCD is to people that don't understand what it really is. I think some people say that they are OCD but they don't really know what they're talking about, but I do believe that there are tons of people that have it but in different degrees.
Mine personally, (Tongue Chaos, obsessing with areas in my mouth with my tongue, and Verbal Chaos, obsessing with how I say stuff and what I hear when I say stuff). I haven't been able to find someone that has experienced mine and it kind of frustrates me because I don't have any victory statements except for seeing that people that suffer with other kinds have found victory...and that's good to always read.
I've learned very slowly that the above steps are not the right steps to be bothered with and the victory comes from reprogramming the brain (CBT treatment).
Is this a lifetime journey? I hope that victory can be found while I'm still alive and that my only peace will not be when I die. I suffer with a deep sinking depression that makes this even harder to deal with but I'm trying to slowly rise above the darkness and start to see a light of hope.
I believe it takes - as a Christian - to make God the center of your life (my life). To make him the refuge that he can be and no one else can. When all the chaos is storming against my life and it feels like there is no happiness at all with my current situation - Where do I go? Where do I find enough strength to get up each day and not be faced with my OCD fears? How do I point my finger at my obsessive thoughts and say that it doesn't belong - and believe it.
As always - Ephesians 3:20