OCD?

Hey this isnt really 'sadness etc' but i was just wondering if anyone could tell me if there is a way to cure or help an obsessive compulsive disorder. i have been thinking for the last 2 years at least that i have a form of this-mildly. it gets better and worse in cycles. i thought i would grow out of it but that doesnt seem to be the case. i dont know anyone who can help me as no-one i know can understand. I think this in turn has lead to depression and i really hope it doesnt get any worse. If anyone can give me any advice it would be greatly appreciated. Thanks x x x

Elaborate please...

OCD is Obsessive Compulsive Disorder - I think.
I saw a programme about it on the tele where they managed to cure some people who had it. They basically took about five people with OCD and they lived in a house together for a few weeks. Over the time they were there they were made to face their fears. For example the person who couldn't stand glitter to the extent that she checked everything in her house for it and wouldnt touch anyone (incliding her husband and children), was made to touch it, and eventually she got used to it. The woman who washed her hands/face/cleaned her teeth about 10 times at night and 10 times in the morning, was simply made to reduce the time she had to clean herself etc.
I haven't explained it very well, I know. I think the way they cured it was just making them come to terms with whatever it was they had a problem with, and trying to reduce the problem bit by bit. It is very hard to get rid of OCD yourself if you have it, so I advise you to go to a councellor or doctor to help you.

http://www.ocdaction.org.uk/ocdaction/index.asp

- Polly

No Polly, I think they were asking what she actually does, she stated in her original post that she has Obsessive compulsive Disorder.

But thanks for the article thingy anyway!

Obsessive Compulsive disorder. Okay, well there is no cure for it, i did this whole psychology report on it, i can probably find the report again, and send it to you, if you'd like, it was An A+ paper, if you want a look at it

Thanks for your help.
Yes I think you can have OCD in many different ways. It can be cleanliness, fears or patterns in what you do. For me it is cleanliness and routines. It sounds so crazy but for example no-one can touch my bed otherwise I have to change the sheets, my hands have to always be completely clean and I have a set routine I have to follow every night. Its all sorts of things I have to do or my own rules i have to follow and if i do not do them then it really upsets me.
My friends realise something is wrong and try to understand but it really puzzles them and many of them just end up teasing me about it. My mum is worse though, she gets really angry with me for thinking everything is germy and for me wanting to change the bed all the time. She just believes i am being dramatic. I would like her to believe otherwise.
I know i am very lucky that i do not have severe OCD like the people in the program you describe-which i think i saw a bit of-but i would quite like to know if that is definitely what i have got.
If anyone else can give me advice or can understand i will be grateful.
Thanks

Charlie

i also have ocd but i don't think that what you have written is gonna be the type of stuff that would help me. on of my obbsesions is that i pick fleas off of my dog and cats and squish them. i don't know wether anyone would consider this ocd but i do.

for me it comes in how I do certain things, like I can't just do something quick and simple, it's gotta be perfect down to everylast detail. I can't do anything else, until, it is completely and perfectly by alphabetical and numerical order(this is at work, and when doing things on my computer like music downloading). Also eating colored candy, I have to eat a different color each time, and if I have odd amounts, I have to even them out by eating the odd amount to make it even. It's weird, my friend is all numbers, he hates off numbers, nothing can be an odd number, unless it's 11. OCD is just different to different people.

Kim - Lol sorry for rambling on I was just trying to explain what little I know about it!! I think it is curable, but only with a lot of help from proffesionals.

okay sorry i really doubt its anything serious we are talking about here, I mean if you have OCD it literally takes over your life, you just arent gonna say there my hands are clean, you ALWAYS think they are dirty, and you will scrub till your hands are raw. so why is anyone freaking out? OH yeah, once again OCD is not cureable but it is Treatable. by going to a professional. its a disorder, just like depression is a disorder, and depression is not curable, but it is treatable

Your hands are never completely clean.

It is simply a disorder that must be overcome; mind over matter, if you will.

Kalika

well, let's put it this way, if it goes un-treated,

there's a reason it was recently added to the list of psychotic disorders.

& I think one of them was Eric Harris.

he had ocd. he stopped taking his medication about a year before columbine.

I've gone off my medication for about 9 months at most, and really f-ed things up, nobody died though, but I can't imagine a year of that..but, yeah, shooting up your school..given the opportunities..I can't say I'm suprised.

You can't really 'cure' ocd. it's a genetic, psychological disorder. You can only treat the symptoms. Develope coping mechanisms. deter the 'destructive' thoughts and compulsions (actions).

because it's not all bad. quirky, maybe. like Monk. or Larry David.

talk to sumone who knows whats they are tlaking about not anyone in here ....ask your parents....or a school counceller

XoX 2moroNEVAcame

Talk to a free couselor like one at school or something and explain your concerns. She will be able to help you out and if there is a worry that you have OCD she will help you know what action to take next, that is what they are there for, to be the ones trying to understand when the rest just think we are wierdos.

-Tainted Mikochan

I have severe OCD... I take medication to help. My OCD came as a result from abuse and an eating disorder. Quiet annoying, eh? If you find a simple solution please let me know.

-Catie

simple solutions..obsessive compulsive disorder..kinda anti-thetical..

but trying to keep things simple, not sweating the small stuff, that's the first step.

I've always heard that OCD was a genetic disorder (as in you're born with it), not something that results from trauma. I guess it could be possible...

but who knows. maybe OCD's gonna become that new disorder that everyone gets diagnosed with now that everyone has a general knowledge of what it is.

sorry. i get defensive about my disorder.

That was interesting. My mom has that disorder and it is pretty crazy. Nothing is clean enough, and if something seems dirty (it always does) then she will yell, expect us to drop everything we are doing and clean it up right then. If we don't. more yelling. Plus half the time when we clean something, she will clean it again, or inspect it like crazy, so sure that we didn't do it right. It is crazy! It's like perfectionism gone to the extreme.

-Tainted Mikochan

perfectionism is a common trait. cleanliness is not so universal. sometimes my mom wishes i got the cleanliness type, but alas, I'm a pack rat.

i probably got it from my dad, who is a neat freak (which is probably another reason why i try not to be), and he thinks (if he thought he had it, though he was never diagnosed) he would've gotten it from his grandfather, who was apparently so obsessive-compulsive, his wife needed EST. the psychologist couldn't find out what was wrong with her. the doctor finally called in couples' therapy and after one session realized the problem.