How can you stop OCD???

[greentea]

Hi all, I'm new to this forum. I've had OCD since Oct 2003... it was at its worse in 2004, and it was ok in '05 and now, '06. But I still have it... and I was wondering if anyone has overcome OCD, and what methods they used??

I've never had any anxiety disorder up until 2003... i'm just afraid, will I have this for the rest of my life? Nothing traumatic happened... I graduated from university, found a job, then this started. Is it b/c I hated my job or b/c I didn't have anymore goals in life...?? I'm not too sure, I just know I wasn't like this before!! And I want to be normal again.

I've seen a psychiatrist, and it helped a little. I'm sure you all heard of "Exposure and Response Prevention" therapy - I've read books on this, and I do think it is the best method to overcome our obsessions/compulsions. But you must practice this EVERYDAY. Too often I end up performing the compulsion when the anxiety gets too high.... when I should just feel the anxiety and NOT perform the compulsion. B/c the anxiety is a FAKE anxiety - try telling yourself, "It's my OCD brain acting up again.. it's not ME!" and after you delay your compulsion for a few days, your anxiety will lower and you won't feel the need to perform compulsion.

Anyways, my compulsions are just WEIRD... I don't think any of you has what I have?? These days I'd obsess over an ex-friend's facial features... exactly how her nose curves or her eyes or her mouth... I'd go back to her pictures to check again and again until I get it right. It is just nonsense!! I tell myself to NOT go back to the pictures and I will be fine. (some ppl say we obsess over things we can't change - perhaps i am just sad that i lost this childhood friend and wished i had a good friend like her now, even though I have close friends in my life). I just hope it is sort of a "mourning period" of a lost friendship (silly yes, i know, since this was a long time ago) and i will get over this in time. Or just learn from this lesson.

Any comments/advice would be greatly appreciated!!

Thank you all for listening.

~Greentea

[Phill2]

Hi Lisa
I've never suffered OCD but I sometimes wonder, like you , if my anxiety is caused by having achieved your goals.
Phill

Don't believe everything you think.

[katapellos7]

hi! this thing with mentally going over facial structures of others i have it too! it is so stupid! especially when i spot a girl i like (i'm a guy ;)) instead of talking to her i just sit there and mentally outline her facial structure!!!!

ever since i realised what i had was OCD and i started researching it i have found i have at least 4-5 different kinds of ocd.

and i wonder, perhaps they're all the same thing. perhaps they're all a response to a certain general fear or obsession and we shouldn't differentiate them at all. perhaps having different kinds of ocd are just different opportunitites to produce the same mental peace in different ways, all throughout the day. just a thought

[greentea]

[quote]hi! this thing with mentally going over facial structures of others i have it too! it is so stupid! especially when i spot a girl i like (i'm a guy ;)) instead of talking to her i just sit there and mentally outline her facial structure!!!!

Hi Katapellos. Thanx for posting a msg in this topic. I am SO relieved that I'm not the only one with this particular obsession/compulsion!! Actually, I'd say I've been obsessing over shapes... straight lines, circles, curved lines... argh, it is driving me nuts! But I think your compulsion sounds more normal than mine; you "obsess" over the facial features of a pretty girl. Me - I spend hours looking at faces in pictures trying to MEMORIZE the lines and I can't stop until I get it "right". It is so tiring esp. after a long day's work :(. I am surprised I still have the strength to CHECK so much!!

I know it all sounds stupid.. so, any suggestions on how to stop this nonsense?? Why do you and I "hoard" facial features (at least, that's what I think I've been doing - memorizing facial features or logos or something)? It's as if we memorize b/c we think there might be some future use (just like how some ppl hoard garbage). Maybe can start by telling ourselves what we do will be of NO USE for future.

OCD really is ruining my life... I spend everyday in anxiety, waiting for the next spike to strike and the dread I feel that I have to "check" again [V]. Sometimes I just want to end it all. But don't worry, I know there is a cure. I am going to see another psychiatrist and maybe he can help me!

Take care.