Meditation and Ocd

blij72 · Newbie User Joined: Oct 29, 2007 Posts: 2

One thing Ocd sufferers should realise is that it is not a mental illness.The normal human conscious mind is obsessive.For instance,last night I was reading about antidepressants on the internet.When I woke up this morning,for the first half hour or so,my mind kept repeating the phrase 'selective serotinin reuptake inhibitors'again and again.Or,at other times it keeps repeating some silly advertising jingle,or some irritating pop song. So the problem is not an illness of the mind,but the mind itself. And it becomes a problem for an individual only when he gets too identified with the mind,or when he acts on what the mind is saying.
This is where meditation can help;because it is a method for watching the mind as a detached observer.When a person does this regularly,he gets less identified,and he can see how silly and mad the mind is.As a tool,the mind is a great instrument,but as a guide,the mind is nonsense.So it is possible for the mind to be obsessive without the person being obsessive.
I have known a few people who have suffered from Ocd.(one washed his hands 100+times a day,another couldn't throw anything away and his house became like a tip)But a couple of them were definitely helped when they took up meditation.One friend got better even quicker when he started taking Anaframil* along with the meditation
(Anaframil is available at cut price online from www.westcoastdrugs.com

Pure-O-Ocd · Newbie User Joined: Nov 06, 2007 Posts: 3

What kind of meditation works best for OCD? Any suggestions on how to start?

Aoeu · Newbie User Joined: May 08, 2007 Posts: 12

I enjoy meditation now, after therapy, and find that it indeed does help with intrusive thoughts and obsessions. I believe what I'm going is called Zazen but there are lots of different types out there.

I tried some meditation before therapy and right at the beginning and I really had issues trying to sit and clear my mind. In fact it usually caused me to freak out quite a bit trying to be alone and quiet with my thoughts.

I would recommend meditation for sure, and I believe most therapists would also recommend it. I know Cognitive Behavioral Therapy worked best for me but that is just one persons experience.