What color hair has your OCD got?
Does anyone find it helpful to give their OCD a name, a funny voice or make it into a monster or annoying character of some sort? Some therapists suggest that it helps to discredit your thoughts by making them seem stupid and not part of you. For instance one visualization book I read said you should make your ‘inner voice’ talk in a really silly voice so that you could dismiss what it says more easily. Buddhists refer to ‘the chattering monkeys.’
Personally, I don’t like this idea as it feeds into one of my fears -the fear of becoming psychotic. To try and make the OCD somehow seperate and alien, does not sit comfortably. Although I am aware that the thoughts should not be engaged with, I have always considered the OCD to be part of what makes me me and therefore not something outside of me.
I find it best to approach OCD as I would any other illness or medical condition I have, by keeping myself well informed and not demonizing it in any way.
Do you have a name for your OCD, have a picture of it in your mind or visualize it in any way? I would be really interested to here about your OCD monsters (or even OCD friends!?) ?
When I look back on all these worries I remember the story of the old man who said on his deathbed that he had a lot of trouble in his life, most of which never happened.
Starting CBT?
If you are thinking of going down the Cognitive Behavioral Therapy route for your problems you might want to have a look at this article -just some thoughts from me about how to get the best from it. Thanks for looking…
British Comedian, writer, broadcaster and all round good egg, Stephen Fry, talks movingly on his blog about his new role as President of mental health Charity, MIND.
OCD and anxiety for ordinary people
After trying to fight severe anxiety problems and OCD all my life, I finally succumbed to a nervous breakdown this year and spent time in a mental hospital and was finally forced to get help. I wish I had been braver and asked for help 50 years ago instead of letting this horrible condition blight every aspect of my life.
In a strange way, this crisis has liberated me as my ‘guilty secret’ is out in the open and I feel able to ‘fess-up’ and share. Even those who know me well were shocked as I had hidden my problems so well and seem so ‘ordinary’ in every way.
I would love you to sign up to my blog and share my experiences of mental illness, (especially anxiety disorders and Pure-O), what it’s really like in a mental hospital and how I am continuing to help myself through recovery. If I can persuade just one person to ask for help before I did, it will be worth the effort but like all us anxious types I need lots of encouragement - so how about it folks!
xxxx O. N.
www.obsessivelynormal.com
