Posted by Racer on October 13, 2007, at 11:58:40
In reply to Obsessive thoughts about the world and panic, posted by wisekaz on October 13, 2007, at 4:23:31
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>They range from how big the world is, to trying to work out which way the world is spinning, feelings that everything to do with the world is fake and on and on it goes. Does anyone else out there get anything similar?Ironically, those are the sorts of obsessive thoughts I rather welcome! The worst of my intrusive-obsessive thoughts are about me, and my own worthlessness. Sometimes I recognize that these are thoughts I've internalized from things I have been told all my life by my family -- I'm in my mid-40s and many of them still feel entitled to tell me how little value I have. Most of the time, though, when I'm in a cycle of this sort of worthlessness, I just cry. That's not very helpful, though, is it?
Unlike some of the others here, I have found television helpful to distract myself. Then again, I do not live alone, my husband has us signed up for approximately sixteen bejillion cable channels, and I have the complete first season of "Rocky and Bullwinkle" on DVD. I'm not limited to what's on networks. Distraction helps me a lot. Books are also good -- sometimes. Sometimes they help provide other grist for the obsessive mill...
Meditation may help, along with cognitive behavior therapy, which teaches you to replace problematic thoughts with more beneficial versions. (I'm not a big fan of CBT, by the way, but a lot of people here have found it helpful.) Activity may help. A whole host of medications can help.
Medications: SSRIs, anxiolytics, anti-psychotics, and no doubt other drugs I'm not thinking of right now. SSRIs have helped me with the obsessions, but they've also caused too much apathy for me to be willing to stay on them. I'm treatment resistant, though, with a lot of weird reactions, so that's not necessarily going to apply to anyone else. Some anxiolytics may help, although I've not had much luck with them, so I'll leave that to someone else. Anti-psychotics sound much more frightening than they are -- most are also used as anxiolytics, and they can be wonderfully effective. I've heard really good things about Seroquel, as being low in side effects.
Hope that helps.
poster:Racer
thread:788898
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20071009/msgs/788941.html