Posted by freedom2001 on June 26, 2002, at 22:27:58
In reply to Re: HELP NEEDED IN TACKLING OCD PROBLEM!!, posted by Kat26 on June 26, 2002, at 17:49:31
> Hey Freedom,
> as a fellow OCD sufferer I can understand very well how ANNOYING these thoughts can be. Hey, I think it is great that you feel better when you pray. I pray a lot too.
> I have really been helped by Prozac, but I think cognitive/behavioral techniques are good too.
> Have you ever noticed that what you obsess about changes over time? Like, right now it might be your walking style, but maybe a month ago it was something completely different?
> It has sometimes helped me to remember that WHATEVER I OBSESS ABOUT AT THE MOMENT, SOME DAY IN THE FUTURE IT WILL BE NOTHING BUT ANOTHER OBSESSION OF THE PAST. You knw what I mean?
> My psychiatrist has shown me that when you resist the compulsions, anxiety increases. When we do the compulsions, the anxiety is gone for the moment - but just to come back with a vengeance. What we really need to do is LET THE ANXIETY INCREASE (by not doing the compulsions) until it reaches the point WHERE IT LEVELS OFF AND FINALLY GOES DOWN AGAIN by itself. And that will ALWAYS happen. If we do the compulsions, we cut that off from happening, and the anxiety can make its painful comeback.
>
> Hope this helps a bit,
>
> Kat26Hi kat, true, what I obsess changes.....a few years back, i would try to pronounce words the perfect way......that drives me crazy then. Now I actually have 2 obsessions, the location of the hole on my belt as well as my walking style.
thanks for the advice. It seems you are teaching me exposure and prevention. But it can be difficult at times....i agree with you that the anxiety will increase when we don't ruminate and after a while, it will decrease and disappear.
I'm now on 4 fish oils to see whether my 'will power' to resist the compulsions and be improved... i remembered that when i was on 2 fish oils, my condition seemed to be the same. when i was on 3 fish oils (equivalent to 2.4g of EPA and DHA), my condition SEEMED to stabilize a bit. So I'm now taking 4 fish oils (equivalent to 3.2g) to see how it goes.
I'm taking out the tianeptine as it is a serotonin reuptake enhancer. I suppose it makes serotonin LESS in the sypnase. How does it work actually? Why does it heal depression when it decreases the amount of serotonin in the sypnase??
I'm going to eat 4 bananas a day as well to increase my 5HT.....
poster:freedom2001
thread:110808
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020617/msgs/110884.html