OCD: General Discussion Thread

Charles Young said:Cannabis can actually be super effective at knocking down OCD symptoms, and it’s even used in pill form right here in the United States and plenty of other places too.

Hey, don't take this as me being provocative or anything, so feel free to just hit up Google if you want to look up the actual facts.

Oh my god, please just shut it and seriously never say something like that again because that kind of talk is exactly what gets people banned on forums like this.

Look, let's get real: marijuana is an illegal drug. Just because you guys are smoking it every single day and acting like it's the most normal thing in the world doesn't mean you can just go around recommending it to everyone else!

Just because you take one little hit and feel relaxed for a split second doesn't mean you're actually managing your condition—and let's not forget that obsessive-compulsive disorder falls under psychology, meaning it's officially classified as a medical disorder.
Trying to DIY your way through this with drugs is honestly just going to lead you straight toward addiction in your misguided attempt to help yourself.

Look, I wasn't actually out there hunting for professional help or anything, mostly because I can barely find the time to swing by the dentist... but I did notice that once I finally tackled a problem that was stressing me out, things just kind of settled down. Even though my behavior still feels a bit "addictive" at times, it doesn't hit me nearly as hard as it used to.

But seriously, don't sweat it too much. I honestly think we're all a little bit OCD, whether it's a lot or just a little.

pumpkin pie said:Does that also include my situation where I just don't want to—or can't—or am actually afraid to step on those metal grates on the sidewalk?

I haven't stepped on a single one in years. I absolutely hate them.😁

Lol, jumping straight to demonizing it... easy enough.

Look, you can go ahead and fact-check the first part of my initial post anytime. Just look up the actual data on how marijuana derivatives affect people living with OCD. The science is there.

The second part was just a bad joke, considering you can't exactly walk into a pharmacy and pick up Marinol or use cannabis derivatives for medical purposes here in the States.

Lastly, I should point out that dozens of studies have already debunked the idea that marijuana acts as a gateway drug, despite what those offended conservative types want to believe.
By that logic, drinking coffee or having a beer leads straight to heroin. You start with caffeine, move to beer, then maybe some pills, then hard stuff... right?
Sorry for going off-topic, but I'm sensitive about the subject of weed and those conservative stances that just cloud the issue and disrespect a plant we all value.

Charles Young said:If we’re following that line of reasoning, then grabbing a beer or even just a cup of coffee is basically a slippery slope straight to heroin, because it starts with caffeine and alcohol and eventually spirals into synthetics and hard drugs, right?

Exactly—it’s a progression. You start with tea containing theine, move on to coffee or a caffeinated soda, then maybe reach for an over-the-counter pill with codeine for a headache, and before you know it, you're crossing over into the rest of the "-ines."😬

That’s the part that really gets me... society treats it like a total disaster when kids smoke weed, yet we act like it’s perfectly fine when grandparents spend fifteen years popping Xanax [just because they can't get to sleep...]. 🙄

Let's just be honest about it: we're all addicts in one way or another.😁

Hi everyone,
I started reading this thread with a genuine sense of optimism, especially since I’ve been away from the "psychology" subforum for a while. To be honest, I’ve started two different threads regarding my own struggles with OCD in the past, and I haven't received any actual help—just a bunch of people venting about their own issues. I end up messaging a few people privately who share similar symptoms, but here? It feels like the conversation has veered completely off course (lots of talk about alcohol, marijuana, and whatnot...).
I highly doubt that was the original poster's intention. They opened this discussion to seek advice from people who have actually faced these challenges and successfully overcome them.
Now, someone suggested we shouldn't reach out to professionals, and frankly, I don't see the logic in that. If anyone has had bad experiences with therapists or doctors, please, by all means, share those stories so we can learn. But let's be real: many of us have been battling these issues for years, and naturally, we're going to try seeking medical help. This stuff is exhausting—we need to find solutions.
As for me, I've dealt with a wide range of OCD symptoms. Once I looked them up online and realized they matched what I was experiencing, I was able to move past some of it—my compulsive rituals are pretty much negligible now. However, the constant handwashing remains an issue; even after the smallest task, I’m stuck with this nagging sensation that everything around me is filthy.
I’m asking anyone who has managed to conquer these problems to please step up and share how you did it. We need the help.
thanks

I don't claim to be an expert on this, but if I'm understanding the concept correctly, can we actually manage the progression by actively resisting that internal urge to give in to the impulse to perform xy?

don't even get me started🙄 🙄

washing my hands six times in a row with scalding hot water—thank God that part passed🙄

I'm still struggling with having to redo basically everything eight times over🙄 🙄

and then there’s the most bizarre, uncomfortable one—it hits me about every six months—this urge to rub my tongue against the roof of my mouth so aggressively with this automatic swallowing reflex that it almost makes the skin bleed🙂

poirot said:I'm still struggling because I feel like I have to redo almost everything eight times over.🙄 🙄

Ugh... 😢I'm right there with you on the number 8.

And 4, too. 😬

Since you guys seem stuck on this, let me try to clear things up for you:
Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder is basically defined by obsessive thoughts or compulsive behaviors.
Obsessions are those intrusive images, ideas, or impulses that just force themselves into your brain constantly. They’re almost always unpleasant, and even though the person knows they aren't their own actual thoughts, they try—and fail—to fight them off. It's a frustrating cycle where you recognize the thought as yours, yet it feels totally involuntary and often pretty disgusting.
Then you have compulsions, which are these repetitive, ritualistic behaviors that people feel driven to perform. And please, pay attention here: this isn't just being a neat freak who likes washing their hands after getting them dirty. Those actions aren't actually enjoyable, nor do they accomplish anything productive. Their whole purpose is to stave off some imagined catastrophe or to prevent the fear of accidentally hurting someone else. Trying to resist these rituals usually just ends up spiking the person's anxiety even higher.
Now, look, this type of disorder falls under the category of milder conditions—we're not talking about psychosis here—and it's treated through psychotherapy, most commonly behavioral therapy. You really need to see a psychiatrist for this, not just a psychologist.
That's all I've got to say.

hmm, I didn't even realize I actually had OCD until just now : )

It was maybe 7 or 8 years ago, back in elementary school. I'd wash my hands like 4 or 5 times in a row—totally knowing it made zero sense and that I was being crazy, but what can you do? 🙂
I guess it was mostly tied to this fear of germs and dirt

And then it just... passed? It lasted a few months and then vanished. I have no clue how or why it stopped, but yeah
it came and went just like that

I also had some other weird habits back then, kind of like little superstitions—where I'd force myself to do certain things a specific number of times after having a certain thought... I was seriously out of it😬

Doesn't it feel like every one of those disorders is basically built on some kind of superstition? That's just how it feels to me when I look back...

Or, better yet, what's it like for those of you who've dealt with this? Like, that feeling where you can't do something fewer than a certain amount of times because if you don't, it won't feel right, or thorough enough, or whatever?

btw, "as good as it gets" is 👍

This topic has resurfaced 🙂
To give you a better idea of what I’m dealing with:
I wake up in the morning and head to the bathroom—wash my hands, come back, make the bed. Then, before I even get dressed, I wash my hands again. Before shaving, I wash them. After shaving, but before fixing my hair? Wash my hands. It’s the same ritual every single morning.
Then there's the evening routine: I take off my shoes, then wash my hands. Then I undress for bed—wash my hands. Then I make the bed—wash my hands. Only then can I finally go to sleep.
It’s all driven by this constant, nagging sensation that I’m dirty.

I completely blanked on asking—what actually constitutes behavioral therapy?
If anyone here has gone through it, I’d really appreciate it if you could walk me through the details.

I totally blanked on asking what behavioral therapy actually is.

To put it simply—it’s basically a method of learning (whether through modeling, reinforcement, etc.) designed to undo unwanted behaviors (which, let’s face it, were learned in the first place).
Almost every school of thought in psychology agrees that personality dynamics and overall development happen through the process of learning.
The behaviorists, as most of you probably know, are the psychologists who built this whole movement based on the idea of strictly observing an individual's actions; they’re convinced that a phenotype-based approach is the ONLY valid way to do psychology.
I can't exactly blame them for being right about certain things, but they completely ignored every other branch of the field, which just isn't right.
And look, I won't get too deep into the philosophy here: behavioral therapy is essentially a curated set of behavioral patterns that are either taught OR assigned to a patient so they can adopt new habits and wipe out the old ones.
Sorry I'm rushing, I'll write up a much more detailed post later. This is pretty straightforward stuff.

My sister is exactly like that.
It’s not even about hand washing; it’s this obsessive anxiety over whether she locked the front door. Even when we’re out running errands, she’ll suddenly freeze and ask, "Wait, who locked up? Are you absolutely sure I did it?" She’ll even turn the car around just to check, no matter how far away we are from the house... it drives me insane. She does it while she's just sitting on the couch, too—getting up constantly to double-check the locks. I just don't get it. I tell her she needs to be mindful of the action so she actually *remembers* doing it, but clearly, it’s not about memory... it's deeper than that. On top of all that, she’s obsessed with brushing her teeth. Living with her and these constant rituals is exhausting.
Honestly, I think there's a part of her that gets some kind of sick satisfaction out of it, because she never shows any desire to change. To her, it all makes perfect sense.

That’s basically the bottom line. Honestly, though, acting anxious is usually just a symptom of neurosis, so I wouldn't lose sleep over what your sister is going through right now.
The thing is, we all tend to get way too subjective when we're describing the behavior of someone we live with every single day.
If she’s actually feeling distressed by all this, she could always look into some kind of behavioral therapy.
As for the locking thing—I’m not entirely convinced we're looking at a full-blown obsession here, but I'll run it by a few of my professors to be sure. My gut feeling is that these are just phobias that are either perfectly logical or just passing phases.

I can see how the teeth brushing thing might be pure neurosis. I can actually sense the agitation and that flash of aggression in her whenever she does it—same goes for when she starts cleaning an apartment that’s already spotless. But this whole obsession with the doors? That's been going on forever. Plus, she’s had these intense, terrifyingly vivid nightmares about intruders breaking in, and I think she has them all the time. It’s possible it's tied back to some old trauma from the war; if I recall, that's around when the nightmares first started.

Honestly, I’m going to hold my tongue for a little while longer before I really dive into this, but I still don't think she's in some kind of dire, life-altering crisis, even if she definitely needs some support and a bit of empathy from those around her. The reason I’m staying optimistic here is because, in my experience, almost any obsessive-compulsive disorder can be treated, just like any other neurosis or even certain types of phobias.
I feel like I wouldn't be able to make a fair call on the whole situation unless I actually saw the specific patterns in her behavior. There’s a massive difference between someone performing rituals out of habit and someone acting out because they're spiraling from a sudden wave of anxiety or fear.

If someone keeps having these obsessive nightmares about intruders breaking into their house, it basically means they’re low-key dying for it to actually happen. Like, deep down, they’re obsessively craving someone to barge in and satisfy some secret, dark desire of theirs... makes total sense, doesn't it?🙄

hmm.. it's funny how much everyone seems to worship at the altar of Ford! I mean, the guy basically laid the groundwork for psychoanalysis, but he’s also probably the most unfairly maligned figure in the field.
Actually, that whole theory doesn't necessarily hold water. Desires aren't the root cause of phobias or neuroses, no matter what those extreme psychoanalysts might try to claim.