<p>language girl: It made my morning, gave me a big smile, to see on my Control Panel that you had posted again. :)</p>
<p>I think berurah responded really well you the question you posed in response to a post of mine.</p>
<p>I have an idea: what if, some time today or soon, you simply walk by the counseling center? Maybe you walk by it every day anyway, but I mean that you intentionally walk by it. That’s it, just walk by. Or, if that seems too hard, maybe simply look up its address/phone number. Whatever the exact step that makes sense to you may be, my basic hope is that you try to make one very small, tiny connection between you and the counseling center. Just a small step. Maybe take one such small step and see how that feels. Maybe you’ll find that you can take an additional, slightly bigger small step tomorrow or soon.</p>
<p>As dd1 says, everything seems to be related to neurotransmitters. I have post-polio and a ton of neurological pain issues post spinal surgery.
The med I’ve had help pain the most is cymbalta-it started life as an anti-depressant. It can be used, and helps…fibromyalgia, diabetic peripheral neuropathy pain, and bladder incontinence. These are NOT mental conditions yet it is neurotransmitter meds that help.
One aspect I’d like you to consider is the reluctance to seek help may in itself
be part of the syndrome. In fact, my mom’s OCD made her reject meds til she symptomss bothered her enough - in her late 50’s. Her OCD takes place more in her head, in her thinking, than in obvious rituals. Another thing to consider is, does anyone else in the family have symptoms, and is your parents reaction actually related to thier own thinking. I think when I was your age my mom might have yelled/wrung her hands/prayed to Jesus if I had similar symptoms. Her own OCD thinking made things seem a super stress to her, so all she could think was to make her own stress stop. It can be very subtle and you can be so used to it that it takes stepping back to notice. Does the house sparkle and shine from all that cleaning? Does anyone pre-plan interactions with others (deciding what will be said, how people will talk with each other) then get upset when it doesn’t happen? Anyone wash the driveway? Play classical music? (ok, not exactly but do you really think 10 year old kids practicing 5-8 hours a day is NOT OCD-ish?)
Remember how many of us here have a friend or family member with OCD or related issues. It’s not rare or unusual. Until you see a GOOD doctor and try meds for a few months you can’t know the difference it can make. Taking meds for 6 months lets you have the emotional low-stress period needed to learn the methods mentioned to help you for life.</p>
<p>“I personally think people have a tendency to overstate the biology of psychology in an attempt to make people with disorders feel less guilt.”</p>
<p>Do you think that they SHOULD feel guilt? It seems like you do. What is there to feel guilty about?</p>
<p>Let’s say, for the sake of argument, that mental illness is entirely the victim’s fault. What does that have to do with seeking medical care? Think about someone who’s careless with a gun and shoots himself in the foot; someone who smokes for 20 years and develops lung cancer; someone who decided to get way too drunk and fell down a flight of stairs. Do you think they need and deserve medical treatment? Do you think they should refuse to get help, because it’s their own fault that they got hurt?</p>
<p>The cause doesn’t matter. Assigning blame doesn’t matter. You are suffering; there are people who can relieve your suffering. It’s really that simple.</p>
<p>ADad,
While I appreciate, your post, you’re kind of making it out like I’m delusional or incapitated, or something. I’m not. I’m not stupid or even all that uninformed about abnormal psych (as my high A in said class would hopefully indicate!.) It’s more complicated than that. OCD (if I do have it) doesn’t make me stupidway and or “insane” or having the reasoning of a five year old.<br>
The fact of the matter is, I’m fairly intelligent, social, and high function-- that what make’s this hard: if I’m as “good” as everyone says, how can I really admit to being so screwed up in one way and epect people to stil believe I’m brillant in other ways if I can’t even control my own THOUGHTSl?
Hana,
THAT WASN’T WHAT I WAS SAYING! I was simply saying that I don’t think psychological disorders boil down to JUST neurotransmitters and I’m not saying its anyone’ fault. And etiology (cause) does matter, as it plays a big role in treatment.</p>
<p>I am very sorry that my post did not come across to you as I intended. Upon rereading the post, I can see how you might how come to the conclusion that you did. </p>
<p>I have great respect for your intelligence and other personal attributes. Any problems that may exist in your life in no way detract from that.</p>
<p>My basic idea has nothing whatsoever to do with your intelligence, which is quite obviously very high. The basic idea is systematic desensitization, which is a standard technique as you no doubt are aware. </p>
<p>Control of one’s own thoughts is nigh unto impossible! Not to worry about that. People meditate for years to try to achieve that goal. It is quite challenging to control one’s thoughts for as little five minutes.</p>
<p>Well, you are acting like a person who is ashamed and embarrassed. That seems to be related to your choice not to seek help. I’m saying, even when people really HAVE something to be embarrassed about, they still deserve help. And you do, too.</p>
<p>“how can I really admit to being so screwed up in one way and epect people to stil believe I’m brillant in other ways if I can’t even control my own THOUGHTSl?”</p>
<ol>
<li><p>No one will even know you are getting help unless you decide that you want to tell them.</p></li>
<li><p>The reality is the same whether you admit it or not. In this area, you cannot control your own thoughts. That’s the truth, and you already know it. Saying it out loud does not make it more true.</p></li>
<li><p>I’ve talked about my mental illness on national television, to newspaper reporters, and to the federal government. People can think what they want about it, but as it happens, I’ve never had one person make fun of me or act as though they think less of me. You only need to confide in one doctor, who is sworn to secrecy. Nothing terrible is going to happen from that, either.</p></li>
</ol>
<p>Called counseling center today. No available appointments for a long time. They do have daily walk-in times, but those seems to be for emergencies, and this doesn’t seem on par with suicide, depression, mania, etc.</p>
<p>languagegirl, I’m very happy you made the phone call, especially because that first step is a hard one to make!!! I hope you went ahead and scheduled an appointment. If you didn’t, call and get on their schedule, but either way call back and ask if you can be put on a waiting list for cancelled appointments. Hopefully they can work you in sooner. I hope it helps you to know that there are a lot of parents pulling for you!!!</p>
<p>After thinking about it, I’ve decided not pursue it at this time. I’m committed too many organizations (community service, academic, Greek life) on top of taking heavy weed out classes for my major, and I just don’t have the time (i.e., classes through walk hours 80% of time). Plus, I’m content with my life right now, and I know what a fragile blessing that is. I guess I’ll wait and see what happens.</p>
<p>At some point you will decide to pursue this. And then you’ll wonder why you waited so long. We are all eager to hear about this when that happens. Good luck.</p>
<p>Thanks for letting us know. I am glad that you are thinking seriously about this issue. </p>
<p>I would like to suggest that you revisit it from time to time. I would particularly encourage you to do so if you start to lose that feeling of contentment.</p>
<p>I hope that you will keep us posted on how you are doing. We care.</p>
<p>Stole d’s password again, m d suffers from OCD. Extremely high functioning but, on average, her obsessions take about 2 hours a day. The majority of people have no idea that she has OCD and OCPD. Those that do are her friends and it is a standing joke, d can laugh at herself. For instance, one of her friends got her a case of travel size hand sanitizers. Since her obsessions coincide with stress there are times she sees a therapist and times she does not. She had a huge disappointment last night which also prevents her from doing her latest obsession (running). Now she is refusing to eat because she is afraid she will get fat again, there is logic in there somewhere. It was awful last night, she was in tears and saying “why do I have to have OCD, I hate this, I don’t want to be me etc…” rips my heart out every freaking time. So, time for the therapist again. D has not eaten since lunch yesterday. The disease is manageable and there are treatments available. On a more encouraging note some recent studies show that the symptoms of OCD actually lessen as people get older, specifically those individuals who are highly functional. </p>
<p>If you want to talk to my d send a PM. She always tells me I don’t understand and she’s right in a sense. Only others with OCD and OCPD can completely comprehend the cycle of OCD. Good luck, it is not the end of the world and please know there are many others like you.</p>
<p>daviban, so sorry to hear about your D. It sounds like she really needs to see her counselor. As someone who had issues similar to hers in college, I know how hard it is. </p>
<p>How terrible to hear from your D that she hasn’t eaten since yesterday lunch. It is probably what is causing her meltdown. When you don’t eat, it makes everything else worse. But I’m sure you know that.</p>
<p>languagegirl, don’t give up. Please make that appointment even if it is 3 weeks away. You won’t believe how much better things will be without OCD behavior.</p>
<p>Thanks for the kind words. Actually her meltdown was caused by a possibly fractured foot. At this point one possibility is a bone lesion, that has some nasty implications. She has trained so hard for the last 9 months to get ready for her senior softball season and now is not sure what will happen. Today is the first day of practice. D is convinced the coach is ****ed at her, I am not sure, the coach is a strange woman. D is also freaking out because we were supposed to be making videtapes of her pitching to send to several college coaches. Add to that the fact that she cannot continue with her latest obsession (running 7 miles per day) her stress is sky high. I just wish she would believe that she can eat and not gain weight. At the moment I am more concerned about the possibility of a lesion and what that means. The waiting is killing me. One day at a time…</p>
<p>So sorry about her foot injury. What a terrible thing to happen at this time of her sport. I don’t know what a bone lesion is but having runners in the family, I know how devastating it is when you can’t run. </p>
<p>It’s so hard when you have something like OCD and things out of your control happen. I hope that she can recover soon and be able to play.</p>