Just joined, want to get something off my chest

Obsessive-compulsive disorder
#1

So, if you told a Therapist you had been told 13 years ago by a Psychiatrist that you had OCD and then the Therapist asks what you do and proceeds to make excuses why you don't have OCD and asks "Have you ever seen Monk?"  Would you want to slap them and scream "It's a TV show and you should know better" ?

Anyway, that was a couple sessions ago and I'm still agitated about it, so I'm taking in reading material for the therapist. How backwards is that???

Also, how is someone supposed to find a therapist that doesn't just practice talk therapy? Talk therapy doesn't work for me, I want to get better not rehash my past. 

#2

Yeah, talking about television shows probably isn't going to help.  I've watched monk a few times, but it's no substitute for a PhD!

 As for your therapy, I suggest you take control.  If you feel the talk therapy is too general and isn't helping, definitely speak up to your current psychiatrist and ask if someone else affiliated with the hospital (or someone with whom you will also be covered by insurance) specializes in Cognitive Behavioral Therapy.  I know that Cognitive Behavioral Therapy works very well for OCD. 

Depending if the OCD is brought on by a specific phobia or severe anxiety, there are immersion techniques and desensitization techniques that are very helpful and often help immediately!

best of luck to you!   

 

#3

One thing I have learned in all the years I have had OCD, which is most of my life, is you have to have a therapist who knows about ocd.  I didn’t get the right therapy til I did.   I also went to a very good OCD group which really helped just knowing I was not alone.    CBG therapy is the best (cognitive behavior therapy)  You should have a therapist who gives you reading material on ocd not he other way around.   Don’t blame you for being upset and if your ocd mind is anything like mine it replays this over and over again.   Ocd is so complex it can be hard to make others understand.    Monk is a good show but what has that got to do with your needs?   Good luck with therapy.    mem

#4

Thanks for the messages. I saw the therapist again and told her how I felt about the "Talk Therapy" and comments about Monk. She shifted gears, explained better about how it sounds more like what has been labeled as OCD in me is an aspect of BiPolar. She talked a bit more about like you would in a discussion and that helped a lot. The only thing I'm doing that sounds anything more than habits formed over years is skin picking. That part is bad and I've done it all my life, so she made a note of it. As far as CBT. Yes I know about CBT. No I haven't seen a CBT therapist becauase the therapist I have seen all say I already know what they are going to tell me. I don't know. My ex-husband did CBT and it helped him a lot, but I tried using Mind over Mood and doing thought records and all it would do is piss me off. But again.... BiPolar.... For the first time in my life I'm actually on medication for it so as things progress maybe CBT will begin to be more effective for me. At present my best coping mechanisms are writing, audio-tapes and being around people who can deal with me talking constantly and gently discourage me from mutilating my skin. :-/

So, OCD? BiPolar? I guess it's all still early days because of the new diagnosis.

#5
#6

I have undiagnosed OCD and I constantly pick at my skin, any bumps or scabs, I pick until they bleed and get worse. My bf has to tell me to stop cuz he’s seen me do it more often than not. Also, picking at my fingers and fingernails. I constantly clean the underneath of my fingernails. It sickning. He has pictures of me doing that…he took three pics of me in a row doing that…and i didnt even know it!

#7

Have you checked out any of the other ocd sites like the OCFOUNDATION? They have a lot of info about all kinds of ocd symptoms.

Mary

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#8

its not us its them . my sister just related to me the horrors of a child’s birthday party she attended . a sizable percentage of the children were sick they coughed and sneezed on everything . and wouldn’t you know the birthday boy had a goose like honking cough that he used to great effect to cough out his candles . then everyone had cake . and the double dipping low the double dipping grubby fingers plunged again and again and again into the dip then they wiped their runny noses then dipped again . but that was not the worst . the home owner had a dog it was confined to the backyard. it pooped in the backyard . so in walks a child . my sister informs the mother of the large chunk of dog poo that has just fallen off the kids shoe . the exasperated mother takes out a plastic bag picks up the feces with the bag on her hand and drops bag and poo in trash . she then without washing her hands begins filling a bowl of potato chips . i know the poo never touched her hand but the sink was right there . that’s not the worst though my sister brings the fact that poo smears remain on the floor to the attention of the hostess . she responds by taking the whole roll of paper towels pressing it to the floor and wiping. when she is satisfied the poo is gone she peels off the soiled layers of paper towel and places the roll back on the counter . there are valid reasons to not trust the cleanliness of other peoples homes. stay clean . i think people who don’t wash their hands 25 times a day have the problem .

#9

I was reading the story about the party, I found it funny but very true. My 8 year old has OCD and I must live with it. But know in my heart I my have caused it just by my own ways fo being a germ-a-phob. Must people are gross and there is a really fine line we must walk.

#10

I am borderline OCD, if there is such a thing. During childhood, I had a very specific skin picking phase that was quite damaging to a preteen. It was during a hugely stressful period when my dad was drinking heavy. I also have acquiring/hoarding issues I battle with constantly. My brother is a full blown stereotypical hoarder and it has affected his marriages (3) seriously. He doesn't think he has a problem!

BTW, Howie Mandel has OCD and is very open about it. I always liked him, from years ago. And I thought he was just being cool with his new "do"!! He says he just feels cleaner. Also orders mega towels in hotels to make his own walkway. Nor, will he shake hands on his show or elsewhere.

So, Deal? OR NO DEAL???? For Real??? ; )

~P 

P. S. I would a dropped that therapist like a hot potata! But, you guys are right --education is key. Still . . . you wouldn't think you'd have to educate a professional. I hope she was appropriately chagrined! And good for you!

#11

i am curious to know how many fellow OCD’s out there also have the ability to pick things up with their feet . i am wondering if our fear of touching all things dirty with our hands has caused us to develop a higher percentage of toe dexterity than normals , or if being able to grasp things with your toes is an inherited trait. my sister and i both share a fear of all things ookey , and tainted, as well as the ability to grasp with our toes . my other siblings who have no fear of germs, etc do not share our ability.

#12

WOW!!!

this feels “so much” like i WANNA BE PART OF THIS!!!

EVERY therapist that i’ve EVER GONE TO… i’ve HAD TO “EDUCATE” about OCD… and, how it’s NOT LIKE… but DIFFERENT… from OCD!!!

and, GIVE THEM COPIES OF: THE BOY WHO COULDN’T STOP WASHING by Dr. Judith L Rapaport, Ph.D, and THE SKY IS FALLING by Raeann Dumont… and, ANY CURRENT ARTICLES on the SUBJECT OF OCD, and ALTERNATIVE MODES OF THERAPY to “TALK” and “MEDS”!!!

before, i COULD “GET THEM” to “UNDERSTAND” what i NEEDED HELP WITH… (their SIMPLE ANSWER TO “HOARDING” was always: "JUST THROW IT AWAY’!!! talk about BEING CLUELESS!!!)

and, that TALK THERAPY ALONE, or even, in CONJUNCTION WITH meds… WASN’T ENOUGH… BECAUSE… i also have ADD, in along with my OCD; and, ADD… ISN’T JUST “BI-POLAR” behavior… in a "DIFFERENT DRESS’!!!.. thank you very much!!!

and YES!!! i’ve watched MONK… once or twice… (the character’s TOURETTE’S behaviors (in addition to his OCD), TRIGGER MINE… and my ANXIETY/PANIC DISORDER… MORE, than his OCD stuff… so, I’M A TOTALLY EXHAUSTED MESS… at the END OF THE SHOW)!!!

so… NO THANKS… i DON’T NEED to WATCH MONK!!!

as to the “party” story… i’m FORTUNATE… as a HOARDER… that CONTAMINATION ISSUES… aren’t A PART OF MY LIFE… but, I DO HAVE SYMPATHY… i’m DATING someone, WHO DOES have THOSE ISSUES… as, PART OF HER OCD!!!

as to Howie Mandel… the “baldness” HELPS with his TRICHOTILLOMANIA (hair pulling)!!!

i fell GLAD to be here… and, I HOPE… that I CAN BE of SUPPORT to THOSE ON HERE… who are STRUGGLING with THEIR OWN OCD… but, ESPECIALLY HOARDING!!!

in understanding and support,

zed null

#13

I’d like to know more about “HOARDING” and what it consists of. I am not very educated on OCD, as it is an undiagnosed condition. But I do very much want to learn about it.

Any information would be greatly helpful in my quest for knowledge, and much appreciated.

Take care,
~Angela

#14

hoarding… is simply, the “inability” to “throw anything away”… from: old food containers and wrappers, to old clothes, to shopping receipts… because, “everything” is “connected” to a “special event” or “memory”… from the past to the present… sort of like, a “physical, 3-demetional journal”!!!

the “latest” thoughts/research… points to: “the hoarder”, being “extremely intelligent”, and “having a different connection to things”, than “regular” society… in “the way” that "the hoarder’s… “memory” operates/gets categorized and stored!!!

there “are those”… so say, that “hoarding” is a “separate form of mental illness”, from OCD… (similar to, OCPD)… and “others”… who say: “hoarding” is STILL a “part of OCD”, but, is “complicated” and “compounded” by “the hoarders” also having ADD as a co-occuring mental illness!!!