OCD: General Discussion Thread

I am immensely grateful to silentmaker17 for such a thoughtful comment; I intend to weigh all these considerations carefully before making a concerted effort to reach out to a professional to inquire about potential therapeutic options. Naturally, I shall provide updates regarding my progress, which I am quite confident will be positive 😁

@virginiaclem Just smoke three joints every day, take your six Advil, and LISTEN TO MUSIC. You won't give a damn about anything else. Sure, you have depression or anxiety and spend your time overanalyzing everything, but according to Bayway, everything is curable. Too bad people actually have to live with much more severe disorders. Who cares about medication or professional help that could significantly improve your quality of life and eliminate your symptoms!

I honestly lost it laughing at this 😂 😂 😂 😂 😂 - yeah, I'm right there with number 5😍

silentmaker17 said:Let’s breathe some life back into this subforum 🙂. I was recently diagnosed with OCD and started on medication... Paxil... I don't have any obvious physical compulsions, "just" those intrusive thoughts that make it incredibly hard to function normally during the day
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How are you all dealing with this disorder? How much do the meds actually help? Sometimes these thoughts get so infuriating—and I mean, honestly, I don't know what to do with myself—that I just lose it. I get scattered, I forget things, and most of the time I'm just stuck living inside my own head
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It's like looking into a mirror where nothing exists outside of that headspace. I somehow manage to push through, but the crises definitely happen... Mornings are the absolute worst for me. Getting out of bed is such a struggle because the thoughts just come flooding in like a dam breaking—a million per hour, associations, fantasies... OCD is brutal. It gets better later in the day, though
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Does anyone have any techniques they’d recommend? Autogenic training, or something similar? Relaxation methods? What has actually worked for you? Thanks
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I'll try to give you an answer if you can write out more detail about what exactly you're struggling with.
Best,

David Nelson74 said:There's no way. I'm not taking anything else besides what I'm already on. Honestly, the OCD doesn't bother me that much. Every now and then I get caught up in some little ritual, but I usually manage to snap out of it—like if I start counting to five unconsciously, I catch myself and stop. These are minor things that don't actually ruin my life. Right now, I'm mostly just annoyed by the tangle of wires from my Max TV box and the SCART cable while I'm typing this, but I'm too lazy to get up and straighten them out. About a year or two ago, I was taking three Eli Lilly pills a day for this stuff, and I was so drowsy and had such zero libido for a month straight that my testicles actually started aching.

What on earth drives you to go fix those damn wires? What's the actual logic behind it?
I ejaculate all the time—even in my sleep—whereas I'd much rather just stop entirely and deal with the physical pain instead.

☕ Well, look at that. We even have celebrities among us 😂

Christian Castillo60 said:What on earth drives you to go fix those damn wires? What's the actual logic behind it?
I ejaculate all the time—even in my sleep—whereas I'd much rather just stop entirely and deal with the physical pain instead.

It’s OCD. It’s an absolute obsession.

If you want to dig into what that actually entails, there’s plenty of info out there; here are a few links that might help:

Wikipedia:http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Obsessi...lsive_disorder

National Institute of Mental Health:http://www.nimh.nih.gov/health/topic...cd/index.shtml

You can also toss some money toward the OCD Foundation if you feel inclined:http://www.ocfoundation.org/

General OCD information:http://www.ocdonline.com/

Hey, honestly, I’m glad there are people out here I can actually talk to, even if it sucks that anyone has to deal with this kind of mindless bullshit in the first place. For me, these thoughts have been sticking around for about six months now, and I just don't have the damn energy left to kick them to the curb—they've basically rewired my entire personality at this point. I'm constantly haunted by this loop of "did I offend someone?" or feeling like everything I do is some huge sin, or that I'm obligated to suffer, or that I have to be absolutely perfect and carry everyone else on my back... it just keeps piling up the longer I go, and man, I don't know how you're handling it, but this stuff is absolutely killing me. Anyway, I'm 23 and living in the States, so I totally feel you.🙄

Arthur Newman22 said:Hey, honestly, I’m glad there are people out here I can actually talk to, even if it sucks that anyone has to deal with this kind of mindless bullshit in the first place. For me, these thoughts have been sticking around for about six months now, and I just don't have the damn energy left to kick them to the curb—they've basically rewired my entire personality at this point. I'm constantly haunted by this loop of "did I offend someone?" or feeling like everything I do is some huge sin, or that I'm obligated to suffer, or that I have to be absolutely perfect and carry everyone else on my back... it just keeps piling up the longer I go, and man, I don't know how you're handling it, but this stuff is absolutely killing me. Anyway, I'm 23 and living in the States, so I totally feel you.🙄

So, how did these thoughts even start for you?
Did it just hit you out of nowhere, or was there some kind of trigger?

Christian Castillo60 said:I'll try to give you an answer if you can write out more detail about what exactly you're struggling with.
Best,

Just from doing my own research, I’ve picked up on the main traits and characteristics of this disorder—basically all the different ways it shows up—as well as some self-help strategies. But thanks anyway, 🙂 .. basically, .. it's hard to pin down specific symptoms, but mostly it involves obsessions with perfectionism, health anxieties regarding physical illnesses, endless overanalyzing even the tiniest details, rhetorical questions, intellectual dilemmas, anticipating future events, comparing myself to others ... it all just depends on the situation, or rather, what the "trigger" for those thoughts is 🙂

What worries me more is actually the medication itself .. even though a dose of one and a half Paxil tablets (30 mg) isn't huge, I'm still dealing with certain side effects that led me to decide on my own to stop the treatment .. I'm tapering off gradually, of course, because there are so many potential withdrawal issues if you quit cold turkey, especially with SSRIs .. while the paroxetine definitely helped, the significant drop in libido and that general feeling of being "emotionally numb" pushed me to slowly scale back the dose until I finally stopped altogether ..

However, .. I've noticed I've been incredibly irritable lately, prone to aggressive outbursts .. clearly verbal ones, and I'm agitated by practically everything .. honestly, everything is pissing me off, so forgive me .. since I can't function normally like this, I'm back on Paxil + Xanax 0.25mg .. my current goal is to develop a detailed strategy to get off antidepressants using CBT and other alternative treatments for OCD ..

And how are you feeling?

Wanna wash my hands too, haha? 😁 😉

So, I'm actually asking this on behalf of a family member of mine.
They've been seeing a psychiatrist and are currently on Faverin.
Do you think there's a way to fully recover from this? Is there a known root cause for what they're going through, and are there any other things that might help out?

I’ve been hanging around this thread for a while now. Honestly, David Nelson74 was a huge help after I basically laid out my entire life story to him. I finally went to see a psychiatrist because the depression and all that other crap started getting too heavy to handle. And yeah, it was pretty bad. The doc diagnosed me with OCD, anxiety, depression, dysthymia, blah blah...
He put me on some meds... Deprozel...
As for the depression, I guess I feel better sometimes... though I’m not even sure if it’s the pills doing the work. When it comes to the OCD, though? Total waste of time. They haven't helped at all, and I'm still dealing with the same old nonsense. I doubt I'll ever truly get over it, but honestly, it's just part of who I am now, so I stopped fighting it. While on the meds, I also tried behavioral therapy, but what a joke. You just sit there while the psychiatrist talks at you... it's useless. Plus, the guy himself is a total jerk. 😁

wanderingbadger51 said:I’ve been hanging around this thread for a while now. Honestly, David Nelson74 was a huge help after I basically laid out my entire life story to him. I finally went to see a psychiatrist because the depression and all that other crap started getting too heavy to handle. And yeah, it was pretty bad. The doc diagnosed me with OCD, anxiety, depression, dysthymia, blah blah...
He put me on some meds... Deprozel...
As for the depression, I guess I feel better sometimes... though I’m not even sure if it’s the pills doing the work. When it comes to the OCD, though? Total waste of time. They haven't helped at all, and I'm still dealing with the same old nonsense. I doubt I'll ever truly get over it, but honestly, it's just part of who I am now, so I stopped fighting it. While on the meds, I also tried behavioral therapy, but what a joke. You just sit there while the psychiatrist talks at you... it's useless. Plus, the guy himself is a total jerk. 😁

Maybe keep going to his appointments; you might still be digging through the surface layers and haven't hit the core issues yet. It wouldn't hurt to stick with him if the OCD isn't letting up—you might pick up a little bit of his optimism after a while.
I'm glad the depression has eased up for you. I'd love to grab a coffee and catch up properly, but unfortunately, we aren't living in the same part of the country, so that won't happen.
You really do have some intense OCD stuff going on. I haven't run into anyone else besides you who insists on counting everything by fives.

I've finally had enough!
Today at the USPS, the clerk actually asked me to stop fidgeting with a scrap of paper in my hand because it was DISTRACTING HER FROM HER JOB!
At first, I thought, "What a lady," then I felt like a jerk for being rude, but then it hit me—this is one of those things, like skipping lines, counting letters in a word, or tracking words in a sentence while reading subtitles...
So, I did some digging to find an actual diagnosis, and the very first result popped up on Reddit.
Now that I see the full list of symptoms, honestly, I'm starting to panic.
LOOK, I AM EVEN SMASHING THESE KEYS IN A SPECIFIC PATTERN RIGHT NOW!
Can you believe this?😕

And how about you, how are you holding up?

I might sound a bit slow here, but I was genuinely caught off guard seeing that medication could actually handle this.
I guess... I just hadn't accepted that things could get that intense.

Now, I find myself constantly on edge at the office, trying to make sure my coworkers don't catch onto my erratic behavior!
Though, let’s be real, they've probably all noticed by now—they're just being polite enough not to say anything.🙄

When you mention "alternative methods," what kind of stuff are we talking about?
Until now, I honestly thought those were the only options out there.

Honestly guys, forget all about those medications or detoxes!
I’ve struggled for as long as I can remember with stepping on those awful cracks and seams in the pavement. If I accidentally stepped on one, I’d be hit with waves of nausea and pure panic, my heart just racing out of my chest... and it went on like that for years, day after day. There were so many awkward moments, too, because I’d find myself having to back up half a mile, cross the street entirely, or even hop over a fence just so I could stay on flat, smooth ground.🤣
It actually felt nauseating just watching other people walk right over them without a second thought, and slowly, I started to realize that I was the one who had this issue. So, over the next few months, I started mentally preparing myself to finally step on one of those cracks—it took a while, but I actually did it!!🙂
Now, I can do it almost normally. I still have the occasional flare-up, but at least I’m not acting like a total maniac, trying to dodge two cars and a five-meter stretch of sidewalk just to avoid a seam.
What I really wanted to say is that you just have to face these things head-on, just like any other fear! It isn't easy at first, but anything is possible if you try!👍

stormygull53 said:Honestly guys, forget all about those medications or detoxes!
I’ve struggled for as long as I can remember with stepping on those awful cracks and seams in the pavement. If I accidentally stepped on one, I’d be hit with waves of nausea and pure panic, my heart just racing out of my chest... and it went on like that for years, day after day. There were so many awkward moments, too, because I’d find myself having to back up half a mile, cross the street entirely, or even hop over a fence just so I could stay on flat, smooth ground.🤣
It actually felt nauseating just watching other people walk right over them without a second thought, and slowly, I started to realize that I was the one who had this issue. So, over the next few months, I started mentally preparing myself to finally step on one of those cracks—it took a while, but I actually did it!!🙂
Now, I can do it almost normally. I still have the occasional flare-up, but at least I’m not acting like a total maniac, trying to dodge two cars and a five-meter stretch of sidewalk just to avoid a seam.
What I really wanted to say is that you just have to face these things head-on, just like any other fear! It isn't easy at first, but anything is possible if you try!👍

🙂 This is such a beautiful message! Thank you.😉

Caught me off guard again. 🙂

bluebison70 said:I find myself waking up maybe 30 times a night, and every single time I drift back off, I’m jumping straight into another dream. Is that... actually normal? I can't help but wonder if I'm dealing with schizophrenia or if I've just been a little bit eccentric since the day I was born.

Nah, you're just a poser. 🤣

Hey again!
I’ve decided to give Advil and a B-complex a shot. I’ve heard they can actually be quite helpful for managing OCD—apparently, the herbal extract in Advil works on serotonin, just in a much milder way than something like Zoloft or other prescription meds. I figured it was worth trying a more natural route first.