my therapist told me that there's no point in trying to stop having OCD because it's my defense mechanism and it's useful so that my mental health doesn't deteriorate.
If this is not an OCD-trained therapist, I would be hesitant to seek further treatment from them. But he is right in a sense. You should stop "trying to stop having OCD" because that's how compulsions get started. The ACTUAL goal of OCD treatment is not to stop the thoughts, its to stop the compulsions, and the reduction of thoughts follows behind that. So you should instead focus on treating your ocd. OCD isn't a "defense mechanism" what a load of crap.... OCD is what CAUSED my mental health to deteriorate... This might be a good talk therapist but he doesn't sound OCD trained or certified.
@TexasOCD41 he told me that basically OCD is my way of dealing with anxiety and i have to deal with what caused it apart from the ocd. The problem is that I've always had OCD except that it's less intense sometimes or even very calm at times
@hayurin - mmmmmmm no. I have heard this flaw in logic before. A lot of people have the false assumption that their OCD came from trauma and that if they resolve their trauma, their OCD will go away. Thats not true. OCD is an independent condition. It can come with co-morbid ( other conditions like depression, anxiety, trauma, ) happening at the same time, but one does not cause the other and fixing one does not resolve the other. OCD is a mal-adaptive way of processing fear responses and to suggest its a beneficial coping mechanism is very inappropriate and neglectful in my opinion. iv had OCD since i was 13 and iv been an anxious person my whole life.. My ocd is about 95% in check, my anxiety still flares. Also... dealing with "what cause it"??? well the CAUSE for OCD is doing compulsions that perpetuate the OCD cycle.... so you stop doing compulsions and OCD will eventually resolve itself. i don't care for this therapist at all. i really hate it when therapists pretend to know how to treat something they know nothing about.
@TexasOCD41 he really doesn’t help me with this issue, it looks like he’s just avoiding it and trying to only talk about traumas etc…
@hayurin Time for a new therapist lol I never focused on my trauma with my therapist. She said it’s perceptive, traumas are what YOU make them, I chose to make mine irrelevant and so they are. He kinds sounds like he’s using trauma to milk that paycheck
People who are chronically sick with OCD recover. They live lives without major anxiety, guilt, and overwhelm. There is absolutely a reason to do treatment. But with someone who is very qualified in it's treatment.
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@mellojellow What i mean is, can what he says be totally true or is it something deeper?
@hayurin - its something as simple as peple with OCD have a mal-adaptive response to anxiety and fear and adopt behavioral traits to try to resolve that response ( compulsions to reduce the obsessions) the biological cause of OCD is not 100% known, but it responds to medication and behavioral therapy known as ERP. i use ERP and low dose medication and my OCD is very well in check,
@TexasOCD41 my therapist never talked about ERP..
"OCD is the biggest predictor for what will NOT happen. It has been wrong 100% of the time." My husband said this to me during an OCD flare up and it's lived in my head as one of the most useful things I've heard. Everytime I start worrying and overthinking I just repeat his words.
just been to therapy and i was explaining my contamination ocd and says i don’t diagnose ocd but this doesn’t seem severe enough? so now im spiralling am i just lying to myself and im just a freak. does she mean my other ocds aren’t real either? i’m just honestly so upset. need advice please im just spiralling so much i take medication for ocd and basically have every symptom and subtype of ocd:(
So I just started few weeks ago and my therapist told me that I should try doing the compulsions I do to relief the anxiety and stop the thought out of the love of doing the compulsion instead of the anxiety relief. Like sometimes I repeatdly say prayers when I get an intrusive sinful images to put them away so basically I should say them more out of general love of saying them. Sometimes I crochet and distract myself a lot out of my thoughts so I should do the distractions out of love and enjoyment of doing them instead of fixing the anxiety and making it go away. To basically rewire my brain to not relate the compulsions to the intrusive thoughts so they're less compulsive I think
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