Ok, everyone with OCD raise your hand. I'm having problems and would be interested in hearing what works best for you in managing your obsessions. I'm also interested in hearing about your experiences with OCD.
~D
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my hand is raised but I dont have anything that works well for mine. I try to just tell myself that because its not hurting any one else that its not some thing I really need to work on. It might drive me crazy and cause problems for me but not for other people.
The weirdest problem with OCD that I have is with lotion. I am scared to death of lotion just like someone who is scared of germs is. I wont touch it, wont be around it and will freak out and run out of a room if someone pulls it out. Have no idea why its like that but it is. Most people thinks its funny and like to mess me with me about it but they just dont understand how badly it really affects me.
The weirdest problem with OCD that I have is with lotion. I am scared to death of lotion just like someone who is scared of germs is. I wont touch it, wont be around it and will freak out and run out of a room if someone pulls it out. Have no idea why its like that but it is. Most people thinks its funny and like to mess me with me about it but they just dont understand how badly it really affects me.
My hand is raised too...and I don't have anything that really works well for me either. I must say though that being in therapy for over ten years and working on my issues(other than OCD) has somehow lessened my OCD(but, I still obsess over doing things that might hurt people--like not checking the stove enough, not checking the ashtray enough, etc). mlc
I'm not sure if I should raise my hand or not. I don't have the sort where I check things over and over or wash my hands or the like. Well, except with the headlights. I have to keep checking the little light on the dashboard to make sure I have my headlights on after dark. I'm not sure why, because it's pretty darn obvious if the headlights are off.
I was put on Luvox, which is an SSRI approved for OCD, because of my self injury. When I described the way it happens for me, my P said it sounds like compulsion.
Luvox has helped me with self-injury, also getting involved in more social activities. The headlights, well, I'm trying to trust myself that I'll notice if something is wrong, it doesn't really seem to help though.
I was put on Luvox, which is an SSRI approved for OCD, because of my self injury. When I described the way it happens for me, my P said it sounds like compulsion.
Luvox has helped me with self-injury, also getting involved in more social activities. The headlights, well, I'm trying to trust myself that I'll notice if something is wrong, it doesn't really seem to help though.
I've read a lot of posts on this site and it seems that many people in therapy have obsessive tendencies towards their therapists.
If you are one of them, were you diagnosed with OCD? If not, is it a condition that occurs often in the therapeutic process?
~D
If you are one of them, were you diagnosed with OCD? If not, is it a condition that occurs often in the therapeutic process?
~D
Hi Dharma,
My obsession is with my old P who I see once a month. I am obsessed with having a closer relationship with him and a sexual relationship. I don't want to be involved in his family life or want him involved with my family life, I just want a relationship where we are together at some level that doesn't involve or hurt anyone else.
My psychiatrist said it is erotomania and that has definitely thrown me. At first I rejected it as true but over the last few days I have come to realize and recognize that it is true that it is a false belief on my part that he returns these feelings. He does have weak dodgy boundaries and that reinforces my beliefs. These feelings started the day he ended. He has since taken me back.
I see now that I deluded myself into thinking that he loved me to cope with the pain of his rejection that was overwhelming.
I also see that I have since put on a lot of weight so that I could delude myself that he rejected me because I was fat and not because I wasn't good enough.
The delusion/psychosis is so strong that I tell myself that I put the weight on so that he wouldn't be attracted to me if I was fat so I would be safe.
The pain of loving someone so totally and being so desperate for their love that you can delude yourself they love you is all encompassing.
This mirrors the relationship with both of my parents.
My obsession is with my old P who I see once a month. I am obsessed with having a closer relationship with him and a sexual relationship. I don't want to be involved in his family life or want him involved with my family life, I just want a relationship where we are together at some level that doesn't involve or hurt anyone else.
My psychiatrist said it is erotomania and that has definitely thrown me. At first I rejected it as true but over the last few days I have come to realize and recognize that it is true that it is a false belief on my part that he returns these feelings. He does have weak dodgy boundaries and that reinforces my beliefs. These feelings started the day he ended. He has since taken me back.
I see now that I deluded myself into thinking that he loved me to cope with the pain of his rejection that was overwhelming.
I also see that I have since put on a lot of weight so that I could delude myself that he rejected me because I was fat and not because I wasn't good enough.
The delusion/psychosis is so strong that I tell myself that I put the weight on so that he wouldn't be attracted to me if I was fat so I would be safe.
The pain of loving someone so totally and being so desperate for their love that you can delude yourself they love you is all encompassing.
This mirrors the relationship with both of my parents.
Dharma... I'm not so sure it's an OCD thing that we all seem so intensely occupied with thinking of our Ts. There is a very strong correlation between erotic transference with your T or P and backgrounds of trauma and people who suffer from complex PTSD. Among the issues involved in complex PTSD is attachment injury. So what happens it that when we find our needs met by our Ts/Ps, where we could never have them met in childhood, they become our attachment figure. They instill calm, hope, trust. They make us feel secure enough on some level so that we seek them out. They are our secure base from which we feel more able to venture out into the world. But when things scare us or we feel insecure or anxious we need to return to them or have contact in some manner. This is referred to as "proximity seeking behavior". And the fact that therapy is a very emotionally intimate relationship adds fuel to the fire. When we feel a disconnection with our attachment figure it feels like life of death to us because when we were small if we lost our attachment figure it literally could mean life or death. So this is where the intensity of our feelings come from. We want that closeness with our Ts/Ps. For some of us this means sex, for others it means that loving parental feeling and for others it is that warm, loving feeling where we just want to be with them and share their lives in a more personal way.
I think in the end it's supposed to work out that once you have formed a healthy attachment with someone and learn to be more interdependent and are able to manage your emotions, and feel more confident to venture out into the world you will no longer need your T as your attachment figure and the feelings should lessen in intensity.
As for what happens in real life.... I'm not so sure how it all ends.
TN
I think in the end it's supposed to work out that once you have formed a healthy attachment with someone and learn to be more interdependent and are able to manage your emotions, and feel more confident to venture out into the world you will no longer need your T as your attachment figure and the feelings should lessen in intensity.
As for what happens in real life.... I'm not so sure how it all ends.
TN
Thanks for your explanation, True North.
Dharma, I too feel like I have some OCD issues, only it's with certain people. Most recently with my T, but with a physical therapist, 4 teachers, my husband, and some friends in the past. It sucks to have your life overwhelmed with intense and obsessive thoughts and feelings and compulsive behaviors (mine are "talking" to my T out loud in the bathroom or when no one is around, or searching things about her online, writing her letters in my notebook, etc.) that revolve around someone you can't have in your "real" life. I have tried to discuss this with my T, but can't really articulate the whole issue with her because of the shame I feel about the nature of the compulsive acts and my fear I have about what her reactions will be. My MD started me on a medication that he thinks might help with it, but so far I haven't felt any benefits. Sorry I can't be of any more help to you. If you've found any answers, please let us know!
MTF
Dharma, I too feel like I have some OCD issues, only it's with certain people. Most recently with my T, but with a physical therapist, 4 teachers, my husband, and some friends in the past. It sucks to have your life overwhelmed with intense and obsessive thoughts and feelings and compulsive behaviors (mine are "talking" to my T out loud in the bathroom or when no one is around, or searching things about her online, writing her letters in my notebook, etc.) that revolve around someone you can't have in your "real" life. I have tried to discuss this with my T, but can't really articulate the whole issue with her because of the shame I feel about the nature of the compulsive acts and my fear I have about what her reactions will be. My MD started me on a medication that he thinks might help with it, but so far I haven't felt any benefits. Sorry I can't be of any more help to you. If you've found any answers, please let us know!
MTF