- Date posted
- 6y
- Date posted
- 6y
I think there tends to be a confusion between OCD as a condition (an over active amygdala which creates sticky thoughts) and an OCD thematic crisis. When people refer to OCD many times they are talking about one or the other interchangeably. The way I understand it is that we CAN fully recover from an OCD thematic crisis and never be scared of the same thing ever again. What is chronic is the tendency of our amygdala to overreact to harmless stimuli. So, even though we can fully recover from an OCD theme/crisis, unless we learn the proper skills we risk the chance to pay too much attention to an old or new theme again. In that sense, yes it is chronic-
- Date posted
- 6y
When they say chronic, they don't mean you can't fully recover. Cause you do, it takes some time but you definitely do. What they mean with chronic is that you'll always have ocd tendencies but therapy teaches you how to deal with theme so that it will never bother you. You may have bad days and ocd may be raging but everyone has them but that's okay cause that bad will pass and life will go on
- Date posted
- 6y
Dear Chellie, OCD is just a label. Many studies have shown that people with "OCD" (As well as people with other anxiety disorders) have an over active amygdala -the part of the brain that sends danger signals. People cope with that in many different ways (drugs, avoidance, etc.) one of the ways we cope is with rituals, hence the label 'OCD'. All the studies so far have shown that the condition appears to be a combination of nature and nurture (predisposition and upbringing). For example, my daughter is 8 but since she was born she showed many anxious tendencies and she is prone to anxiety. Together we do zazen meditation practice and I have taught her what a compulsion is and its effects. Hopefully this will help in the future however I am realistic and know that her anatomy cannot be changed. You can be a seasoned meditation practitioner and still get scared easily - the difference between someone who has meditated for years and someone who dabbles is the amount of time it takes to recover from the shock. Studies by Richard Davidson (who is based on my university, yeah!) on this are pretty interesting.
- Date posted
- 6y
Actually your predisposition to intrusive thoughts and why they are more sticky than intrusive thoughts in people who don't have OCD is actually very chronic. The more you accept that, the more your OCD becomes treatable and manageable.
- Date posted
- 6y
Just because it's chronic doesn't mean you have to suffer from it your whole life. But there simply isn't a cure for OCD.
- Date posted
- 6y
Even that is not true though. Some people truly never get the thoughts/urges/feelings attached to their theme again and just don't care for decades on end, like ordinary people without OCD. I mean sure, mental health is chronic and you can always get into a mental illness, it can always happen again at any time. But it is like saying psychosis is chronic because it can always happen to anyone at anytime. I know people who have conquered OCD for over 20+ years, never needing a compulsion and not getting the obsessions again for years on end. It is definitely possible. And I don't mean you'll never ever get anxiety again because that is impossible, or weird thoughts about stuff, I just mean it is possible to completely normalise and not get stuck on weird themes to the degree that OCD pushes you. People need to know this, that it's possible and that it takes a shitton of work but you can do it. Saying it will always be a part of you imo is very very demotivating when it doesn't have to be true.
- Date posted
- 6y
It is indeed very interesting. I compare it to a loose clapper of a bell (the stick inside that makes the noise). Ours is super loose. It is exactly in between our ears and eyes. Kind if like on the center. The more I practice mindfulness the more I can identify when it becomes activated. It feels like a sudden rush of energy that rises from the center of my ground to the center of my brain. The fight or flight response. I just observe it without reacting and every times it takes less time to go back to normal. For people with OCD the tendency is to then use our Prefrontal Cortex and start justifying the presence of the alarm with a lot of thinking, which feeds the alarm even more and on we go on the endless cycle of the monster.
- Date posted
- 6y
But how does one differentiate between an overactive amygdala and a thematic crisis? No one usually looks at your actual brain and even then, you might have trained your amygdala to this degree without realising it, you can also train it to calm down by showing your brain there is nothing to worry about by resisting the compulsions. The thing I am wondering is how you differentiate the two and are so sure an overactive amygdala causes OCD, or that training your brain that X thought/stimuli is dangerous over time causes your amygdala to be crazily overactive. Just trying to make sure I understand your point for the debates sake :)
- Date posted
- 6y
I know people do not mean that by chronic. But they do mean that it will always be a part of you that most likely will always be in the background at the very least. Yet people have fully recovered to the the degree of well, or ordinary people, despite having the predisposition to intrusive thoughts. I am not proposing you will never have an intrusive thought ever again by the way. What I mean is that they can fully normalise in frequency and that indeed you can just ignore them and not feel anxiety.
- Date posted
- 6y
Hello, sorry if I confused people. I am not here to say that OCD does not have a biological component to it. It does, PANDAS proves that f.e. Though from the studies I have read on PANDAS that group does seem to react very differently on different medications, therapies, etc. than those without it. It's a whole beast on it's own I guess, from all I have read. The point is, I do not deny biology is involved. I wouldn't wash my hands 5 hours a day and use cleaning wipes 350 times a day if my brain functioned normally. All I am saying is that you are not stuck with an overactive amygdala forever. You can train your brain. In brain scans, it is revealed that the siblings of OCD patients often also have overactivity in the same brain parts as the OCD patient. Yet they do not have OCD because according to the study, their other brain parts compensate so to speak for the overactivity. The brain is very complex. But despite also having the genetic overactive amygdala, these siblings never develop OCD. Saying it is just because of the amygdala is imo short sightes. We should be honest here; biologically we do not know what causes OCD completely. We know bits and pieces of the puzzles but clearly not enough. But I digress.
- Date posted
- 6y
My point is that despite biology, we can in fact overcome it 100%. We can work on our brains and desensitise our amygdalas and all the other brain parts involved like the basal ganglia even if we are genetically a little bit screwed up to say the least. We just have to work very very hard for it and it might take years, but I do think that full recovery is possible. I have seen people who have done it so how can I deny it exists, right?
- Date posted
- 6y
(Also forgive me for the huge posts though I do enjoy the debate here guys ♡)
- Date posted
- 6y
Also once again, I do not believe that getting rid of anxiety and intrusive thoughts forever and always is realistic whatsoever. "Normal" people experience these too. I am just claiming it is possible to learn how to get to a normalised level again, and that this isn't forever, that you won't always be stuck with this. Also, I am very sorry that your 8 year old daughter is suffering with it and I wish her all the best, I hope your family is doing well.
- Date posted
- 6y
A bit of a sidetrack from the debate but let's all try and kill the monster every day guys. I know you all can do it ♡
Related posts
- Date posted
- 25w
❤️we all just want it to be over already, but do not set a deadline for your recovery (e.g. "i give myself 3 months to get better") and let yourself go at your own pace ❤️accept that healing is a very, very non-linear process with highs and very dark lows.. it's a lifelong process for us those with ocd, when you stop suffering you start learning ! ❤️WITHOUT ruminating on this, identify the root of your obsessive themes. they hurt so much because they go after your deepest wounds. clearing out the fear or pain that stands at the base of your obsessions will help (e.g. my sexual ocd came as an emotional outlet for my inability to accept a new family member in my life) (e.g. my solipsism ocd came from the deep fear of being alone and abandoned) ❤️the truth will always surface. even if you have no hope anymore and not even asking for reassurance helps, put that last bit of your trust in the other people that are in good states of mind and who are trying to help you. remember that you're living by a distorted mind and if you can't trust your own brain, have trust in others. those who love you are your life net when you're down in the slumps. trust me. ❤️ocd can be caused by chemical imbalance. if you feel like you need it, don't be reluctant to try medication. it's important to have the correct dose and the correct meds. it may change a lot before finally being effective, but it can help A LOT. it was lifesaving for me. (I personally took 125 mg sertraline at 14 years old) ❤️cliche, but the exposure part of erp is in you already. we get exposed to relentless obsessions and terrors already by our minds, our part is the response prevention. throw yourself into the depths of uncertainty and fear by refusing to act upon your compulsions. any learned behavior can be unlearned, our brains are changing! 🧠 it does feel like we can't risk because we can't "know for sure" and we better be safe than sorry, right? well, screw this. unlearn these behavior and live life your own way. ❤️connect with other people with ocd. community is our pillar as humans, especially those communities who share our suffering. ❤️we tend to ask for reassurance a lot and other just reassure us because it's rational to them, not being aware thar it only causes us more pain as we have distoerted thinking. teach your loved ones to respond to your reassurance in a way that doesn't feed the cycle. (e.g. reassurance seeking- "hey, are you ABSOLUTELY SURE that I didn't hit an animal on the way back home??" ❌️wrong response- "no, you didn't, I already told you, I don't remember hearing or seeing anything!" ✅️better response- "I can see you are really distressed right now, why don't we go cook something together/watch a movie/paint together/etc.." ❤️keep your faith close to you. there is something bigger around us that surrounds us with love and takes care of us. even if you don't believe in a god, spirituality goes beyond religion. for me, this higher being was the sky, and everytime I saw the giant clouds I'd tell myself that they felt my emotions and they're watching over in my suffering. strangely enough, this pillar i built in the clouds was strong and really did give me a helping hand. who's to tell these connections we make are not real?
- Date posted
- 23w
hi guys haven’t posted here in awhile but i’ve fully recovered and have a really good life now lots of friends enjoying school and have a really loving boyfriend who helped me out of my ocd even if he didn’t know he was helping me (just through being loved and supported i felt happy enough to recover) hope u guys can recover too i had severe ocd and basically got better within 2 months by myself :)
- User type
- OCD Conqueror
- Date posted
- 21w
Just wanted to give some hope to those who are having ocd spikes, spirals and worries. This past year I have regained my life back. I went from beginning to isolate myself, being convinced by my ocd that my hobbies are bad and that I should avoid things I enjoyed, and having constant panic attacks. With the work of IOP, psychiatry and nocd, I have made great strives towards my future. I now don’t avoid things and instead embrace my life and ANY possibility that may come. Don’t let the ocd bully you. Yes, I have intrusive thoughts still but I am able to go about my day instead of obsessing over them. You can find this too. I encourage anyone on the fence to please seek help if you are in a tough time, it can literally save your life.
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