Has anyone here successfully recovered from OCD?

There is no such thing as OCD.

Psychiatric Excuse-Makers wrote:

There is no such thing as OCD.

OK, well then please help me with whatever the hell this problem is.

recco'ed this site to another person who was suffering with anxiety-- http://www.calmdownmind.com/. It'll help you. I've had terrible anxiety in the past and am living my life in complete bliss nowadays. This is the only way out. At first that sounds scary, but in all honesty I see it as a big relief. You should too. Commit to happiness :) Check the site out.

Psychiatric Excuse-Makers wrote:There is no such thing as OCD.

For those of us who don't treat it with psychiatric meds does your enlightenment hold? Ass.

OP, I've had OCD since I can remember. It's a constant cycle between counting, checking, ruminating, doubting, checking, counting, symmetrizing, counting, ...., and it's worse before bed (in fact I didn't sleep last night, the thought of my girlfriend cheating on me wouldn't leave my head so I just stayed up).

OCD can become more manageable. I am not of the belief that it goes away - it's the way your brain is. I went to an anxiety treatment center a year ago and it improved for a while - when I'm busy and careful with myself and what I think about my thoughts I can manage it better than I did before the treatment (CBT + ERP). I can't control the flux of thoughts and impulses. When I'm stressed I'm totally resigned to the thoughts - I just count to four over and over for hours at a time. Meds didn't help, much, except Xanax but that was never prescribed and I know I'd become an addict so I don't use it. Zoloft or another SSRI is what is commonly prescribed for serotonin balancing. I was also on lorazepam, a longer lasting benzo, but because too dependent on it to leave the house or sleep so I dropped it.

If you haven't tried them I suggest CBT + ERP, and then psychotropic medication, in that order. I might try that combo again myself TBH. It's been hard for me to admit that it hasn't gotten as good as I thought it could get.

It's a lot harder to live with than most people, especially internet crowds, give it credit for.

Good luck. I feel for ya.

Symmetry, with all due respect, to say that OCD is the way your brain is is simply delusion as part of your unconscious mindset. I am by no means trying to make you out to be inferior or lesser because of this but to say that that's how your brain is when you (the mind or the being) is the one that controls your brain(at least the thoughts part of it. Your digestion and heart rate etc. of course you do not control.)

Medications are of course helpful but they are teaching you to avoid the problem. You are using the medications as relief from your anxiety but you are not dealing with your anxiety from a place of conscious choice, or in other words a place of wisdom.

PLEASE I urge you to remain faithful that this is something completely in your control and you can clear it up completely. Check out calmdowmind.com. It could change your life.

old wise man wrote:

Symmetry, with all due respect, to say that OCD is the way your brain is is simply delusion as part of your unconscious mindset. I am by no means trying to make you out to be inferior or lesser because of this but to say that that's how your brain is when you (the mind or the being) is the one that controls your brain(at least the thoughts part of it. Your digestion and heart rate etc. of course you do not control.)

To think the brain is different than digestion and heart rate is silly. Mind is emergent of the brain, and like exercise (or lack of) does to heart rate or digestion you can train your brain to behave a certain way.

A wise man never has to remind others.

A wise man puts the responsibility on himself to help those who are suffering. The doors of peace and harmony are open for everyone in this world yet you choose to keep closing them. Your "unconscious" choice that is.

---> calmdownmind.com

I recovered but I had to be OCD about the treatment.

old wise man wrote:

A wise man puts the responsibility on himself to help those who are suffering. The doors of peace and harmony are open for everyone in this world yet you choose to keep closing them. Your "unconscious" choice that is.

---> calmdownmind.com

There was a period for me that I was able to recluse to those types of thoughts. I am not at odds with myself for my thoughts and their content is not normally a problem to me anymore.

Have you had obsessive compulsive disorder? Do you know how it affects some people? Would you say the same thing to a schizophrenic? Downplaying as you do certainly isn't an appropriate tactic. I think you overthink your own compassion by a universe.

I definitely had it, or some form of it, in middle school. But not in high school. As far as I remember, it just went away on its own, or more like I realized I was being irrational/ridiculous. And I do mean that I had it for real when I was 13, 14 years old. Checking things a lot, like you said. But the strangest one was that I felt compelled to touch things a certain number of times, or in a certain way. Maybe not every day, but often enough.

This did fade away after a year or two. I was surprised when, years later, a girlfriend told me that she used to look at a mountain a certain number of times and blink her eyes a certain number of times as she passed by it, back when *she* was in school!

Anyway, I don't know how that might help except maybe to realize that the silliness can go away after a while, especially once it dawns on you how irrational/useless it is...

It's more habit you have formed over the years and we are creatures of habit. We are taught at a young age to have a routine because this is healthy. For example, brush your teeth, wash your face, read a book, go to bed. Don't fight it. i have some weird OCD quirks too especially before bed. If I try and say don't do it then I just lie there and can't fall asleep. The moment I give in and do my thing, I fall right to sleep. I stopped fighting it. Their are worse things to have in this world. If you can't stand it, go get some Ambien to knock you on your ass.

experienceee wrote:

It's more habit you have formed over the years and we are creatures of habit. We are taught at a young age to have a routine because this is healthy. For example, brush your teeth, wash your face, read a book, go to bed. Don't fight it. i have some weird OCD quirks too especially before bed. If I try and say don't do it then I just lie there and can't fall asleep. The moment I give in and do my thing, I fall right to sleep. I stopped fighting it. Their are worse things to have in this world. If you can't stand it, go get some Ambien to knock you on your ass.

haha, yeah I never tried Ambien or any prescription drugs, but I have taken quite a few Tylenol PMs, or the generic form of it. Also alcohol. But we shouldn't recommend that. I don't know. Consider this song, which might help, and it also mentions Tylenol PM, as a bonus.

Hallucinogenic drugs may hold some promise. No joke:

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/9924841

Basically your brain chemistry is screwy and you need to reset it.

ocd is crap wrote:

However, I will say that SOMETIMES, if I just calm my mind and just say "reality" -- almost like a mantra to myself -- I can sort of "snap out" of the doubtful thoughts and just go back to normal thoughts.

That just sounds like a different compulsion.

See a psychiatrist. And a therapist. Don't try to power through your own OCD. There are paid professionals that deal with this kind of stuff. They are helpful.

I had it pretty bad around middle school (not stepping on cracks, things had to be symmetrical, done a certain number of times until something "felt" right), and I still feel compelled to do a lot of the things but it's definitely not as bad or disruptive as it was then. I've never told anyone I have it, and I doubt anyone's ever noticed (although I tend not to exhibit signs so much when I know people are watching me do something that would normally be affected like typing).

So yes, it can get better, and hopefully it won't disrupt your life. I've gone to top (Ivy) schools, had a very successful career and an active, fulfilling social life...I "know" that the compulsions don't have any rational basis, and I'm not schizophrenic or anything, it was just an onset of feelings I felt the need to start responding to when I was about 10 or 11. I hardly ever think about it these days, but just end up doing things like re-placing a cup to a different place on the table or making sure the TV volume setting is on an even number haha.

That last line made me laugh, the tv volume set to an even number! (At least it's not some random "magical" number like 33, haha)

Hey, I was curious about your line about "something that would normally be affected like typing"... what do you mean by that? I mean, what is the difference in your typing whether people are watching or not? How would it be affected by others?

xenonscreams wrote:

ocd is crap wrote:

However, I will say that SOMETIMES, if I just calm my mind and just say "reality" -- almost like a mantra to myself -- I can sort of "snap out" of the doubtful thoughts and just go back to normal thoughts.

That just sounds like a different compulsion.

See a psychiatrist. And a therapist. Don't try to power through your own OCD. There are paid professionals that deal with this kind of stuff. They are helpful.

Just to clarify -- the saying "reality" to myself isn't really a compulsion -- it's a way to STOP compulsions. For instance, if I'm lying in bed, contemplating checking the door for the 4th time or something, I will just try to calm myself by saying the word "reality" and bring myself back to a sensible state of mind. I think the big problem with OCD is that you don't allow yourself to simply slow down and think properly -- you're constantly rushing around trying to make things "perfect" as quickly as possible.

That's another thing about OCD -- a lot of it is about getting things "just right". It can be finding the proper EMPHASIS when saying something, or the proper FEELING when touching something, or seeing something properly (e.g. really "seeing" that you've turned off the stove -- hard to explain, but it's almost like you just have to feel things "click" before you can be satisfied.)

Do you take adderal? That made me jittery and gave me OCD. I stopped taking and about a week later I was fine.