My husband has had OCD for 5 years now almost 6. He has fears his actions will cause harm on another person. He does not drive and walking thru a store is a big challange. Its almost to the point he is becoming a gloraphobe. (sp) I am getting scared and frustrated.
Have you heard of rsponsibility oc? Are you or your husband aware that this is
the type of ocd he has? There aren’t many cbt therapists who are knowledgeable
on this type of ocd, and very little about it can be found in any books on the
subject of ocd because it is the rarest form of the disorder there is. If
you’re not aware of it, I can give you a website:
www.ocdonline.com/articlephillipson2.php
I am 46 y/o and can trace my ocd back to when I was 9. Mostly it's been
pure obsessional and also responsibility oc. I’ve been through several
extensive therapies and was under psychiatric care from '96 to '02 and none of
these pompous asses was educated or knew how to treat ocd. I was over medicated
to a point of barely being able to function and this 6 year period was the
absolute worst time of my life. During this period I was dealing with what your
husband has.
I remember having an obsession with power lines and always thinking I saw a
down power line in all these different places while walking or driving somewhere
and thinking peoples lives were in my hands and I had to call the power company
or people would get electricuted and die. It was so crazy and I even knew it
was at the time but in my mind it just felt so real. I called the power company
so many times they must’ve had my name and number and thought I was a nut.
And there was a fuse box in this old duplex I lived at years ago and one
time the power went out and I had to change a fuse there and while doing it I
saw a spark and felt a slight jolt. You probably already know where this is
going. I don’t know how many times I told the landlady about it because I could
picture another resident there changing a fuse and getting electricuted. But she
just wasn’t worried about it and didn’t do anything. So it became my sole
responsibility(in my ocd mind frame)to fix that problem. But no matter what I
did, it was never good enough and the excessive guilt and self torture just
went on and on. And there were several other obsessions I had that were just
like these two.
I never knew this thing had a name. I always just figured it was my mind
just creatively manifesting my ocd. I always referred to it as “my ocd” and
figured I was all alone with this one. So you can probably imagine my reaction
to this article I’m giving you the website to. I came across it just last
February purely by chance while just surfing the net. I literally fell off my
chair while reading it and had to compose myself afterwards. It’s a wonderful
feeling to find out you’re not alone with something you always thought you
were.
And to find out it even has a name.
Dr. Phillipson has devised an exposure/response prevention therapy tailored
specifically to this type of ocd. It’s all in the article. So there is hope for
your husband. I certainly do emphathize with what he’s going through and he
will be in my prayors. I also emphathize with you and what you must be going
through being exposed to all of this. I know how crazy it all seems. I hope
I’ve been of some help to you. Good luck.