Ocd?

[MotherHeart]

I guess I get the basic idea but still not sure I get it. I haven't been actually diagnosed as of yet but psyciatrist and primary Dr have suggested that there is a high probability. Some of what I read on others though doesn't seem to match up to me. (and they have a list of 5+ disorders they are suggesting I might have....I am being tested for fibromyalgia and some stuff like anxiety, low stress threshold, depression...fall under that..so starting to question these dr's anyway)

I will admit I am a cleaning freak. As a mother I enjoy providing a clean home for my family and I enjoy a clean home period. Maybe it is a bit over the top for instance if we are sitting down to watch a movie and I happen to notice a piece of garbage on the floor I CAN NOT leave it there till later. I won't be able to concentrate on anything else until it is picked up and in the garbage. (I don't see this as a bad thing though). Also once I start cleaning I almost can't stop I start in kitchen and do basics dishes, counters, sweep and mop...then I notice that a cupboard isn't organized so I do that. Then I find something that belongs in livingroom and notice movies aren't in cases and put away where they are supposed to be so I do that next thing I know the house is completely cleaned, organized. sometimes furniture rearranged so I guess I almost get obsessive but I don't think anything bad is going to happen if I don't I just get carried away.

I do recheck things like if stove is off or door is locked but I don't think it is bad and depends on day as to how often I do it. I don't do it every 5 min or 10 times a day. But for me this is normal I recheck a lot of things to make sure I did it or did it right (consequenses of parents who were never pleased ingrained in me to try to be perfect)

I love to crochet but in past have gotten frustrated with projects because it doesn't matter if I am on row 200 or 10 if I notice I made a mistake on row 5 I will rip out all the stitches to fix it. I don't think something bad will happen if I don't (other than mabe someone judging my art as imperfect or ugly or that I am not good at it) I just can't help it I want it perfect.

I do have religious thoughts but am a christian so have no idea if my thoughts are abnormal or not....don't see what that has to do with OCD either....

One weird thing I do...and not all the time either only when I notice it. If I don't notice lines or patterns on the floor like I am busy or distracted with my kids etc it doesn't bother me but if I notice I can't step on the lines even on pavement or sidewalks....the only thought is the childhood refrain of stepping on a crack will break your mama's back...my mother has passed on 5yrs ago and I still do this on occasion I know it is ridiculous and that it won't hurt her (back then or now) but just the thought of hurting someone is unbearable to me. That's the only one I find ODD though and SILLY.

I have answered questionaires from dr's and online that ask some odd questions and also state there is a high probability of OCD......Is this really OCD? Or just an effect of my parents abuse causing me to try to aim for perfection constantly?

I don't think it effects my life negatively either....what is wrong with a clean house? Or taking pride in one's work/art/etc? The only one that bothers me is the thing with cracks. My best friend and hubby say I am OCD with everything.

However IMHO all these disorders from OCD, PTSD, Bipolar....it has almost become a fad for dr's and families to diagnose almost everybody with these disorders...so I guess I really just want to understand what this is really and if I really have it or not.

Thanks for your time, for reading and any thoughts/ideas.

~Blessings~

 

[annrobert]

I guess I get the basic idea but still not sure I get it. I haven't been actually diagnosed as of yet but psyciatrist and primary Dr have suggested that there is a high probability.

Hi MotherHeart,

Welcome to CF , there are many supportive and caring people here and I hope you enjoy it lots.

It sounds like you are getting good treatment from the doctors , so that is good to hear.I would keep going back to them.

They will hopefully make their final diagnosis soon and get you started with some treatment and maybe they will prescribe some medication.

blessings
annrobert

 

[annrobert]

This is from wikipedia encyclopedia
hope it helps you understand more about ocd.


Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce anxiety, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing anxiety, or by combinations of such thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions). The symptoms of this anxiety disorder range from repetitive hand-washing and extensive hoarding to preoccupation with sexual, religious, or aggressive impulses. These symptoms can be alienating and time-consuming, and often cause severe emotional and economic loss. Although the acts of those who have OCD may appear paranoid and come across to others as psychotic, OCD sufferers often recognize their thoughts and subsequent actions as irrational, and they may become further distressed by this realization.

 

[annrobert]

This is from wikipedia encyclopedia
hope it helps you understand more about ocd.


Obsessive–compulsive disorder (OCD) is a mental disorder characterized by intrusive thoughts that produce anxiety, by repetitive behaviors aimed at reducing anxiety, or by combinations of such thoughts (obsessions) and behaviors (compulsions). The symptoms of this anxiety disorder range from repetitive hand-washing and extensive hoarding to preoccupation with sexual, religious, or aggressive impulses. These symptoms can be alienating and time-consuming, and often cause severe emotional and economic loss. Although the acts of those who have OCD may appear paranoid and come across to others as psychotic, OCD sufferers often recognize their thoughts and subsequent actions as irrational, and they may become further distressed by this realization.

 

[seajoy]

I guess I get the basic idea but still not sure I get it. I haven't been actually diagnosed as of yet but psyciatrist and primary Dr have suggested that there is a high probability. Some of what I read on others though doesn't seem to match up to me. (and they have a list of 5+ disorders they are suggesting I might have....I am being tested for fibromyalgia and some stuff like anxiety, low stress threshold, depression...fall under that..so starting to question these dr's anyway)

I will admit I am a cleaning freak. As a mother I enjoy providing a clean home for my family and I enjoy a clean home period. Maybe it is a bit over the top for instance if we are sitting down to watch a movie and I happen to notice a piece of garbage on the floor I CAN NOT leave it there till later. I won't be able to concentrate on anything else until it is picked up and in the garbage. (I don't see this as a bad thing though). Also once I start cleaning I almost can't stop I start in kitchen and do basics dishes, counters, sweep and mop...then I notice that a cupboard isn't organized so I do that. Then I find something that belongs in livingroom and notice movies aren't in cases and put away where they are supposed to be so I do that next thing I know the house is completely cleaned, organized. sometimes furniture rearranged so I guess I almost get obsessive but I don't think anything bad is going to happen if I don't I just get carried away.

I do recheck things like if stove is off or door is locked but I don't think it is bad and depends on day as to how often I do it. I don't do it every 5 min or 10 times a day. But for me this is normal I recheck a lot of things to make sure I did it or did it right (consequenses of parents who were never pleased ingrained in me to try to be perfect)

I love to crochet but in past have gotten frustrated with projects because it doesn't matter if I am on row 200 or 10 if I notice I made a mistake on row 5 I will rip out all the stitches to fix it. I don't think something bad will happen if I don't (other than mabe someone judging my art as imperfect or ugly or that I am not good at it) I just can't help it I want it perfect.

I do have religious thoughts but am a christian so have no idea if my thoughts are abnormal or not....don't see what that has to do with OCD either....

One weird thing I do...and not all the time either only when I notice it. If I don't notice lines or patterns on the floor like I am busy or distracted with my kids etc it doesn't bother me but if I notice I can't step on the lines even on pavement or sidewalks....the only thought is the childhood refrain of stepping on a crack will break your mama's back...my mother has passed on 5yrs ago and I still do this on occasion I know it is ridiculous and that it won't hurt her (back then or now) but just the thought of hurting someone is unbearable to me. That's the only one I find ODD though and SILLY.

I have answered questionaires from dr's and online that ask some odd questions and also state there is a high probability of OCD......Is this really OCD? Or just an effect of my parents abuse causing me to try to aim for perfection constantly?

I don't think it effects my life negatively either....what is wrong with a clean house? Or taking pride in one's work/art/etc? The only one that bothers me is the thing with cracks. My best friend and hubby say I am OCD with everything.

However IMHO all these disorders from OCD, PTSD, Bipolar....it has almost become a fad for dr's and families to diagnose almost everybody with these disorders...so I guess I really just want to understand what this is really and if I really have it or not.

Thanks for your time, for reading and any thoughts/ideas.

~Blessings~

I don't agree that being diagnosed with the disorders you mentioned is a fad. I think more and better diagnoses are being made.

Also, people with religious OCD almost always have severe thoughts of going to hell. It's frightening beyond belief. I lived through it for 8yrs+.

If your family is saying that you have a problem with OCD, it is really something to keep looking into for you. If a wrapper is laying on the floor, one should be able to watch TV. Do you require that the rest of your family be as clean as you are? That would be a sign of OCD, I would think.

But, I'm not a doctor.....only a doctor can diagnose.

 

[MotherHeart]

Seajoy~

Thank you for responding. in regards to me saying "Fad" is the state I was previously in has very low quality mental health care and nearly everyone I met in a small small town was OCD and bipolar. They do not take any time to diagnose it takes 5 minutes. THe other part of that is that I know plenty of people just regular joes that think everybody is OCD. I am currently seeing a therapist and all so am doing what I need to take care of me. I don't really have an issue with having a disorder but do what correct diagnosis and meds.

I do not require that the rest of my family or friends do the same. And for most part can control it at someone else's home but only because I don't want to offend them by them thinking I am judging how they clean or anything. I don't want others to feel like I do.

I have had worries and thoughts about sin/blasphemy/hell throughout my life but they don't really sound like the ones people have posted here. I was only asking about the OCD cause I don't know a whole lot about it and am trying to find out more.

Thanks for replying

~Blessings~

 

[peacefruit]

I don't agree that being diagnosed with the disorders you mentioned is a fad. I think more and better diagnoses are being made.

Also, people with religious OCD almost always have severe thoughts of going to hell. It's frightening beyond belief. I lived through it for 8yrs+.

If your family is saying that you have a problem with OCD, it is really something to keep looking into for you. If a wrapper is laying on the floor, one should be able to watch TV. Do you require that the rest of your family be as clean as you are? That would be a sign of OCD, I would think.

But, I'm not a doctor.....only a doctor can diagnose.

Seajoy,
I was trying to PM you but I'm new to this site and wasn't allowed to until I make 15 posts. I have religious OCD and an desperately looking for how to deal with my thoughts. You seem to have a good understanding of OCD and would like to hear from you, can you PM me and then maybe I could respond?

 

[seajoy]

Seajoy,
I was trying to PM you but I'm new to this site and wasn't allowed to until I make 15 posts. I have religious OCD and an desperately looking for how to deal with my thoughts. You seem to have a good understanding of OCD and would like to hear from you, can you PM me and then maybe I could respond?

I'll send you a PM - I'm happy to help. Just start posting, and soon you will be able to PM also.

 

[canamer]

I think that you're going to get a variety of different thoughts on this one as we've seen already from the above. Here is my thought on this: you don't need a doctor to tell you that you have OCD. I've actually never had a doctor specifically diagnose me with OCD but of course I know that I have it. How?

Well, you just know. If you avoid doing certain things/going certain places to a point (because you feel something bad may happen) where you really notice it than you may have OCD. For example, I always worry about my garage door being shut even though we live in a pretty safe neighborhood. I hate going into the garage late at night because I might 'accidentally' open the garage door and not notice it's open and leave it that way. I come home for lunch during the work week and I don't ever use the stove (I prefer to microwave) because then I don't have to worry about leaving the stove on. That's not normal! That's crazy. The average observer wouldn't notice this 'avoidance' but I do. I consider that defective way of thinking.

If you constantly worry about having done things (i.e. locking the door, turning off the tap, leaving the car lights on, etc) to a point where you have to go back and check those things multiple times than you may have OCD. A 'normal' person might think to double check these things but 5 times later they wouldn't still be dwelling on it.

Just think about the way that you feel and think about how you react in certain situations. I think that'll help you figure out whether or not you have OCD. If you do have OCD, the good news is that it doesn't have to debilitating. We all (around here) have different ways that we've chosen to deal with our OCD. But, the reality is that we largely continue to go about our normal life despite our OCD and we trust God to help us out with the rest. In your every day life, just do your best no matter what and then let God's grace sweep you through that which you can't handle on your own. I have many moments where I just say.... God... I need your help right now - please help me! And he does help me then.

 

[Sasha37]

I always love what Caramer has to say...God's wisdom is in him for sure. So you can definitely take to heart all he has said to you and trust it.

Some of your patterns remind me of myself. I do not have religious OCD at all, but I used to have the perfectionist, everything ultra clean and organized thinking. I do not have that now much because my OCD has turned down a different path, which you may find happens with you later. Your obsessions may stop in one area, but only to be replaced with something else. For example, I remember having the same impulses as you where I would see something on floor or something out of place, and I would have to take care of it right then and there, or else it would bug the you know what out of me, and I would have a hard time concentrating on anything else. For example, I remember one time leaving the house, and I saw a pillow out of place on the couch, I seriously had to fix it before I left. I remember my husband looking at me strangely and no wonder. I still get these impulses occassionally, but they are not so in my face anymore. My mind also dabbled a little in checking my garage door to make sure I closed it. I would be driving away, and I would say to myself, "I think I remember closing it, but I'm not sure", so I would drive all the way around and back by my house to make sure. But that kind of checking never really became a huge problem for me, just that one inparticular thing. My present issue is with certain germs and the avoidance of them. But, what I have found, is that it is not the thing you are anxiety ridden about that is the issue as the enemy would like for you to believe, it is the fear anxiety itself that is the problem, that fear being rooted usually by something conditioned in you and exaggerated by your OCD if that is what you have. You mentioned your parents...their conditional acceptance of you may have colored your view of God's love and acceptance for you making it difficult for you to really trust Him with your life. If you don't trust Him, you don't know how to draw from His strength because, "In quietness and trust is your strength". And if you are not trusting him, you are taking care of yourself, and there is legitimate fear there. Ask God to show you if you are having trouble trusting in his unconditional perfect love and care of you. "There is no fear in love...perfect love casts out fear." Whether or not you actually have OCD is only part of the problem. The biggest mistake you can make is to only come at this from a physical standpoint and not address the spiritual battle going on here as well. Whatever weakness the enemy sees in you, he will exaggerate and use to his own advantage to put you in bondage somehow. You must be aware of that. Many of the thoughts that come to you are from the enemy himself disguised in a way that will make you believe they are yours and who you are. You need to pray and get in the Word and surround yourself with God's truth. It is the only way to combat the lies that he will most certainly feed to you to get you to believe what he wants you to. You may have OCD, and medication can certainly help on the physical level, but don't stop there. Engage God and other believers in this battle which is very real and very spiritual as well. The enemy will do what he can to get your focus off of God and onto whatever works. Right now, these things you describe? This is what is working for you. He's found his niche in your life, and now he will play that up to the best of his ability, which will be as much as you allow and are willing to participate in. If something stops working? he'll begin trying other things until something sticks with you, and the pattern continues. This is why it is so vital to fight this with God's truth. It is the only way to truly beat it. God bless you!

 

[VZ2011]

Extreme spiritual fearfulness (over blasphemy & going to hell) & doubting (even while you are pursing God, reading his word, and in prayer)are forms of spiritual OCD. They and other racing negative fearful thoughts are the result of a vitamin deficiency which causes a chemical imbalance in the brain and is treatable with extreme daily doses of vitamines. If you or a loved one experience extreme spiritual fearfulness, Bi-Polar, manic depression, OCD or schizophrenia tendancies (paranoia, visual hallucinations, hearing voices), depression, insomnia, racing thoughts, panic attacks, anxiety, other mental distresses, do yourself a favor and reasearch depression, schizophrenia, OCD vitamin and orthomolecular therapy and the work of a canadian doctor named Abram Hoffer. Basically he developed a treatment (that truly WORKS) with Vitamines. It's a minimal cost to incur to invest in your physical and mental AND SPIRITUAL wellness. I am not peddling anyone's vitamines. You can get any brand at Walmart or a grocery store or a vitamine store on line. These Vitamin supplements have been a tremendous help to my relative and myself who continue to experience greater and greater healing each day that we continue with this vitamine therapy. Relief comes within the first couple of days and continues as you continue to take the vitamine supplements. You must take them for the rest of your life or risk a relapse.

1000 mg niacian daily (get a combination of flush-free and regular niacin) the regular will cause you to flush--(you will get red and hot but this means it is working--the longer it takes you to flush the more you needed it. the redness goes away in about 15 minutes. The flush-free niacin will not make you flush. If you start to feel nauceaous, lower the dosage or skip a day altogether with it, then take a "normal" dosage, like 100-500 mg. An extremely high dose like 1000-2000 is for when things get extremely uncontrollable and it should only be temporary. It's too much to take regularly. After a day or two you could start to feel naucious from that much, but it will jumpstart the seratonin in your brain to help you relax and control your thoughts, then you can lower it to 500.


2000-3000 mg Vitamine C take 1000 mg 3x a day

HTP5 - At least 100 mg daily

Vitamine B 8 - (inisitol) - 10-18g per day depending on severity of your OCD (it's alot but take it)

Vitamine B combo vitamine 2 or 3 per day (with B1, B6, B12)

Essential Omega Fats (with fish oil and flax) take 2-3 per day.

Results will be notable within a day or two, with the greatest results starting at around 6 weeks of taking these.

Swear off all junk food, all artificial sweetners, all refined white sugar products, all alcohol, eat GOOD NUTRITIOUS FOOD, fresh and frozen vegetables, fruits, unsweetned fruit juice, filtered water or spring water, cut down on caffeine. Going gluetin free is also good but it's not necessary for everyone.

Please research these things on line yourself as I am not allowed to post URLs on this site. I would have posted them if I could have.

Please, also understand that you must honor Jesus Christ and trust his shed blood and ressurection fully for salvation. Read the word daily and pray, and live according to biblical principals and this along with proper nutrition, will eliminate spiritual OCD and extreme spiritual fearfulness.