revelations
New member
Well, as many people around the world, I have some obsessions, and I developed the habbit of performing rituals in order to neutralise them.
Why are OCD patients considered mentally ILL and why do other people who suffer from the same simptons are not? How many people have you seen taking 3 steps back when a black cat crosses their path? That is not OCD, it is just neutralising your obsession with a compulsion. It is a fact, that a large amount of people around the world are avoiding black cats, because they bring bad luck. Also more people avoid the number 13, is that not OCD also? To stay in another room at the hotel just because 13 is not lucky enough for you? Are you or are you not performing a compulsive action? Why do people knock on wood after they say something bad? Why do people wear crystals to stay away from negative energies?
Ok, lets talk stars... Why does Madonna wear that red tie on her hand? Why was Michael Jordan wearing the same equipment he wore the day they drafted him for the NBA at every single game? Why was Louis Figo only getting the right shoe only first on his foot before each and every game?
No, this is not OCD, these are just rituals, but if people have uncommon superstitions, such as stepping over a line or touching back a person, they are considered CRAZY, just because their rituals are weird, and they are not stars, if they were maybe people would start imitating them, and not calling them crazy.
How does OCD show up, and why do people have it? Well, IMO, and you can argue all you want, it is not a disease, it is not something genetic, and it is not something you are born with, it is a state of mind that shows up due to heavy STRESS. (here some people, especially doctors will include me in OCDP, and that I do not admit I am crazy... well, seriously I admit I have MORE and more WEIRD rituals that other people normally do, but that does not make me mentally ILL, it just makes me a more stressed out person)
Note: They mention that it is common in individuals from the same family, and that is because it is catchy, not genetic, if your mother and father have some rituals, you pick them up as you pick up speech from them, or you consider such rituals normal and develop your own.
When people are stressed out, for a long period of time, or some bad event has tampered with their life, the person develops a method to avoid the fear, to protect himself from beeing hurt again. Also, rituals come to life when the person is in heavy isolation from others, a lonely person, which has TOO MUCH TIME TO THINK. Computers are a part of the problem, and spending too much time on them.
Dante, a great poet said, "The Sleep of Reason Produces Nightmares", well, some times this is what happends when you have too much time to think.
Let's talk practical. For example, your house burned down, it is a very bad event. From this you can develop a compulsion to always check if you turned off the fire. Your house was burglered... you need to check the door 1000 times. You lost your job, but before that a THING has happened, when you get a second job you will fight to avoid that. (you went to a certain bar, for example, met someone, or went to a city). Before a loved one died, SOMETHING happened, and you are doing anything possible to avoid that.
A cure for it does not exist, because it is not a disease, it is a condition caused by heavy stress. Sure, you can take medication, and yes, your rituals will most of the time go away, and you will be a happy person, or a happy vegetable, so to say because all these medications do is take your stress away by making you happy all the time, such as drugs. They will make you lose interest in everything from sex, to achieving a goal at school, or beeing somebody in life, but sure, you will be a HAPPY person.
It will GO away, I know so because I have it when I am stressed out, and it goes away when I am not. I some times develop new rituals, but they all change and go away when I have no stress.
What to do if these rituals really bother your social life or mental state? Go out, get a hobby which involves PEOPLE, NOT painting, drawing, and computers, because this is where OCD comes into place, when you are alone and thinking about all the things you should not. You need to be in more and more contact with people.
Try to reduce some of your simptoms, ONE at a time, not all of them, because there is a big chance you will crack. Something bad happends, you feel very annoyed, accept it, stop going back to your fears, anything BUT medication, which will reduce it for the moment, but have you thought about when you will stop taking them? Or you plan to take Prozac, and all that anti depressive meds all your life? OCD is a thing you need to learn to live with, and make it more easy when interfearing with your social life.
I know it is very very hard, but going to a doctor, which has no idea how you feel, he just cares about treating another CRAZY person, and probably use you as a guinee pig, because this field is new to them, will not help you much, unless he has a connection with his patients.
Note: Heavy smoking is very bad with OCD, because smoking makes your brain function slower, it blocks your thoughts, and it makes it harder for you to realise that the things you stress about could not be real.
Why did I write this? I felt I had to, because I saw a lot of people going in the wrong way with this, sending people to doctors with out understanding what they will face there. I picked up, and quit smoking, I took pills and I quit pills, I know how it feels, I know what you experience when you are stressed out to the MAX, and I know what medication will do to you if you take it, and then stop taking it, especially when you have "rituals".
Now, about this forum, well, it is a contagious place, and why? Because people share their fears, or obsessions, and how ODC is catchy, other people develop them too.
"Maybe if I do this, things will be ok, because that guy is doing them and it seems to work for them".
Support groups are good, but support groups that are FIGHTING against isolation, and supporting others to get rid of rituals, not when recommending them to go to DOCTORS, and take heavy medications.
" Serotonergic antidepressants typically take longer to show benefit in OCD than with most other disorders which they are used to treat, as it is common for 2–3 months to elapse before any tangible improvement is noticed. In addition to this, the treatment usually requires high doses. Fluoxetine, for example, is usually prescribed in doses of 20 mg per day for clinical depression, whereas with OCD the dose will often range from 20 mg to 80 mg or higher, if necessary."
What I understood from the part above, quoted from the WIKI made by some doctor, is that I need to take medication for 2,3 months, in high doses, 4 times higher than normal. And that will not affect me, right? The treatments today for such problems are a joke, and an experiment.
"For some, neither medication, support groups nor psychological treatments are helpful in alleviating obsessive-compulsive symptoms. These patients may choose to undergo psychosurgery as a last resort. In this procedure, a surgical lesion is made in an area of the brain (the cingulate bundle). "
Just read the second quote, when I did, I had no opinion about it.
Finally, I would like to say that I am not giving any advice here, I do not care what you will or will not do, it is just MY opinion, and I had to say it, I do not expect anyone to take my side or not, nor do I care if they do or not.
Why are OCD patients considered mentally ILL and why do other people who suffer from the same simptons are not? How many people have you seen taking 3 steps back when a black cat crosses their path? That is not OCD, it is just neutralising your obsession with a compulsion. It is a fact, that a large amount of people around the world are avoiding black cats, because they bring bad luck. Also more people avoid the number 13, is that not OCD also? To stay in another room at the hotel just because 13 is not lucky enough for you? Are you or are you not performing a compulsive action? Why do people knock on wood after they say something bad? Why do people wear crystals to stay away from negative energies?
Ok, lets talk stars... Why does Madonna wear that red tie on her hand? Why was Michael Jordan wearing the same equipment he wore the day they drafted him for the NBA at every single game? Why was Louis Figo only getting the right shoe only first on his foot before each and every game?
No, this is not OCD, these are just rituals, but if people have uncommon superstitions, such as stepping over a line or touching back a person, they are considered CRAZY, just because their rituals are weird, and they are not stars, if they were maybe people would start imitating them, and not calling them crazy.
How does OCD show up, and why do people have it? Well, IMO, and you can argue all you want, it is not a disease, it is not something genetic, and it is not something you are born with, it is a state of mind that shows up due to heavy STRESS. (here some people, especially doctors will include me in OCDP, and that I do not admit I am crazy... well, seriously I admit I have MORE and more WEIRD rituals that other people normally do, but that does not make me mentally ILL, it just makes me a more stressed out person)
Note: They mention that it is common in individuals from the same family, and that is because it is catchy, not genetic, if your mother and father have some rituals, you pick them up as you pick up speech from them, or you consider such rituals normal and develop your own.
When people are stressed out, for a long period of time, or some bad event has tampered with their life, the person develops a method to avoid the fear, to protect himself from beeing hurt again. Also, rituals come to life when the person is in heavy isolation from others, a lonely person, which has TOO MUCH TIME TO THINK. Computers are a part of the problem, and spending too much time on them.
Dante, a great poet said, "The Sleep of Reason Produces Nightmares", well, some times this is what happends when you have too much time to think.
Let's talk practical. For example, your house burned down, it is a very bad event. From this you can develop a compulsion to always check if you turned off the fire. Your house was burglered... you need to check the door 1000 times. You lost your job, but before that a THING has happened, when you get a second job you will fight to avoid that. (you went to a certain bar, for example, met someone, or went to a city). Before a loved one died, SOMETHING happened, and you are doing anything possible to avoid that.
A cure for it does not exist, because it is not a disease, it is a condition caused by heavy stress. Sure, you can take medication, and yes, your rituals will most of the time go away, and you will be a happy person, or a happy vegetable, so to say because all these medications do is take your stress away by making you happy all the time, such as drugs. They will make you lose interest in everything from sex, to achieving a goal at school, or beeing somebody in life, but sure, you will be a HAPPY person.
It will GO away, I know so because I have it when I am stressed out, and it goes away when I am not. I some times develop new rituals, but they all change and go away when I have no stress.
What to do if these rituals really bother your social life or mental state? Go out, get a hobby which involves PEOPLE, NOT painting, drawing, and computers, because this is where OCD comes into place, when you are alone and thinking about all the things you should not. You need to be in more and more contact with people.
Try to reduce some of your simptoms, ONE at a time, not all of them, because there is a big chance you will crack. Something bad happends, you feel very annoyed, accept it, stop going back to your fears, anything BUT medication, which will reduce it for the moment, but have you thought about when you will stop taking them? Or you plan to take Prozac, and all that anti depressive meds all your life? OCD is a thing you need to learn to live with, and make it more easy when interfearing with your social life.
I know it is very very hard, but going to a doctor, which has no idea how you feel, he just cares about treating another CRAZY person, and probably use you as a guinee pig, because this field is new to them, will not help you much, unless he has a connection with his patients.
Note: Heavy smoking is very bad with OCD, because smoking makes your brain function slower, it blocks your thoughts, and it makes it harder for you to realise that the things you stress about could not be real.
Why did I write this? I felt I had to, because I saw a lot of people going in the wrong way with this, sending people to doctors with out understanding what they will face there. I picked up, and quit smoking, I took pills and I quit pills, I know how it feels, I know what you experience when you are stressed out to the MAX, and I know what medication will do to you if you take it, and then stop taking it, especially when you have "rituals".
Now, about this forum, well, it is a contagious place, and why? Because people share their fears, or obsessions, and how ODC is catchy, other people develop them too.
"Maybe if I do this, things will be ok, because that guy is doing them and it seems to work for them".
Support groups are good, but support groups that are FIGHTING against isolation, and supporting others to get rid of rituals, not when recommending them to go to DOCTORS, and take heavy medications.
" Serotonergic antidepressants typically take longer to show benefit in OCD than with most other disorders which they are used to treat, as it is common for 2–3 months to elapse before any tangible improvement is noticed. In addition to this, the treatment usually requires high doses. Fluoxetine, for example, is usually prescribed in doses of 20 mg per day for clinical depression, whereas with OCD the dose will often range from 20 mg to 80 mg or higher, if necessary."
What I understood from the part above, quoted from the WIKI made by some doctor, is that I need to take medication for 2,3 months, in high doses, 4 times higher than normal. And that will not affect me, right? The treatments today for such problems are a joke, and an experiment.
"For some, neither medication, support groups nor psychological treatments are helpful in alleviating obsessive-compulsive symptoms. These patients may choose to undergo psychosurgery as a last resort. In this procedure, a surgical lesion is made in an area of the brain (the cingulate bundle). "
Just read the second quote, when I did, I had no opinion about it.
Finally, I would like to say that I am not giving any advice here, I do not care what you will or will not do, it is just MY opinion, and I had to say it, I do not expect anyone to take my side or not, nor do I care if they do or not.
