jackieb
- Date posted
- 5y
SimbadSimbad
- Date posted
- 5y
What might had helped me at the beginning of my OCD: - The family should learn about OCD, what is it and how can it be treated. This is really important. There are many resources on the internet about OCD, read something from experienced therapists. Why is learning so important for family members? Because people tend to use the wrong methods when trying to help people suffering from OCD. Education is really really important. - Find a good therapist. It might be necessary to go to multiple ones until you find one that is good. Go with your brother, ask the therapist about his methods and experiences with OCD. Do not choose one who is inexperienced with OCD. Find someone who knows how to do ERP. You are the objective person in this scenario. But it is important that your brother is comfortable with the therapist. The wrong therapist can worsen OCD (I have been there). - This brings me to my next point: There are so many therapy forms out there, and in my experience most of them are worsening OCD or just providing short term relief. A good therapist will use ERP and supplementive methods (journals or breathing techniques, etc.) to help with OCD. I have been to an alternative therapist before and he only tried to treat my OCD with experiencing my emotions. I will not say that it did not help a little bit, feeling your emotions and letting your body experience them can be helpful. But it did not help with the underlying issue of uncertainty and really doing ERP. - Your brother might wanna learn the basics of what OCD is and how it can be treated. This is important so to get some concept in your mind. But be aware if he starts to research really intensely, that can be avoidance or compulsion in itself. - Explain to him the basics about thoughts. Thoughts are not who we are, there are thousand thoughts coming and going, they never define us. - Start practicing mindfulness (you might start with him, because meditation is helpful for every person, there is only upside with meditation). In the beginning it is difficult, but your brother can experience the explanation from above during mediation. Thoughts are just thoughts, they are coming and going. But be aware that some people can feel intense distress during meditation if they have no guidance. It is a difficult topic and best to approach things with a therapist. Also I have recognised that during periods when I am really triggered meditation can become only rumination about all the thoughts. That is not the goal of mediation. It’s best to do this in a calm state and not when he is triggered or in an agitated state. Later on, with experience it might also be possible to calm yourself during triggering episodes. Be supportive and understanding, you don’t need to be able to imagine having OCD (it is really difficult to express what is going on during triggers). But be understanding that it is troubling him. Take him seriously and be there for him. I wish you and your brother all the best for dealing with OCD. Treatment is a wonderful thing and it is amazing that you are helping your brother. And of course don’t take everything I say for granted because I am not a therapist. Do some research and find a good therapist :)
Lark G.Lark G.
- Date posted
- 5y
This is great feedback. I have a question about your comments about erp. My issues are contamination around disgust. Not fear or germs or illness. I’m really struggling with Erp since it’s just proving to me that things are not dangerous but it’s not helping not be bothered by my big issue with disgust. Any thoughts? I find that erp works well for phobias or fears telling you what you fear won’t harm you. But it doesn’t tell you why you should not feel disgusted.
SimbadSimbad
- Date posted
- 5y
@Lark G. That would be a really good question for a therapist. I think that also disgust will fade through ERP, but I am no expert here. Do you have an example?
Lark G.Lark G.
- Date posted
- 5y
@Simbad Yes. They said erp should help but do far I failed at it. Example: I fear public bathroom blood and I keep seeing it. I know it won’t harm me but I’m extremely disgusted by it. So when I do Erp they make me understand that public bathrooms are not harmful and Nothing will happen if I don’t wash my hands which is fine but it doesn’t remove the fact that when they are often dirty I still feel overly grossed out and erp is not helping me feel less grossed out and less likely to do compulsions
Lark G.Lark G.
- Date posted
- 5y
@Lark G. I’ve been trying this since oct
ocdillustratedocdillustrated
- Date posted
- 5y
@Lark G. It's worth remembering that while it is nice if the disgust decreases, that isn't the ultimate target of therapy. Erp is about decreasing compulsions. The goal is to sever the connection between feeling and doing compulsions. In this case, that means feeling disgusted and acting like everyone else anyway
Lark G.Lark G.
- Date posted
- 5y
@NOCD Advocate - ocdillustrated Thanks! That makes sense. Everyone feels disgusted but the old me will wash once and the current me will wash 10x so then I need to go back to the 1x even wheb disgust is there. Is that what you mean?
ocdillustratedocdillustrated
- Date posted
- 5y
@Lark G. Yes!
jackiebjackieb
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you so much for your advice. Right now we are in the process of finding my brother a therapist. Mindfulness is a great idea to do and right now my brother and our family are learning more about OCD. Thank you for taking the time to read my post and to answer it. I wish you the best of luck too! ☺️
Lark G.Lark G.
- Date posted
- 5y
I’ve been trying to recognize the ocd as ocd more. It’s hard when you are triggered but it can help
jackiebjackieb
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you so much for your advice!
ocdillustratedocdillustrated
- Date posted
- 5y
Helpful articles https://iocdf.org/expert-opinions/family-issues/
jackiebjackieb
- Date posted
- 5y
Thank you so much for the links!
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AnonymousAnx...
- Date posted
- 25w
My OCD experience
I’ve always had OCD, and for most of my life it was little things that seemed manageable at the time or something that would phase out of my head within a couple days/weeks/months. But, the older I got the more severe it became, I’d find myself collapsing deeper and deeper within my own head trying to out think the thoughts that bothered me. About a year ago I had a thought that rattled me to my core. My brothers and I were watching a movie in our mother’s room when my youngest brother turned to me to say something. His close proximity to me triggered a fleeting sexually explicit image in my head and that thought caused me to spiral. Asking questions like, “are you attracted to your minor brother? Are you attracted to minors? Are you gay? Etc.” a couple days went by and my mental stability continued to crumble until I broke down to my mother, she was understanding and we found a a psychiatrist. I got on medication and for a while everything was slowly but surely trending in a positive direction. The thoughts would still pop into my head but they were becoming more manageable. As we all know OCD and mental illness comes in waves. Currently my OCD has been pretty severe. I feel those intrusive thoughts latching on in my head and it’s been very hard to kick them. It’s gotten to the point where I find myself being uncomfortable being in close proximity with my little brother because I feel as though I am capable of harming him in any way. And the more uncomfortable I become being around him the more I find myself lashing out in anger towards the people I care about the most. Those moments of anger cause me to spiral even farther as my head fills with ideas like “what if you are capable of hurting someone or even murdering them?” There’s times where these thoughts rattle me so much that I feel like it would be better to be in prison where I couldn’t harm someone or that even being dead would be a better solution than possibly running the risk of hurting someone in my life I care about. This is about the jist of it, a majority of the OCD I have is centered around the idea that I am capable of harming my little brother physically, mentally, sexually. It’s been exhausting and it feels like there is no end in sight.
PBubblegum
- Date posted
- 22w
My partner has severe OCD
Hello i got this app hoping to maybe find some support for my partner i thought about reddit but reddit has become a hateful place and i figured this is a safe place. i love my partner more than anything and he’s been struggling with OCD his whole life he has a hard time talking about it with anyone because it’s too painful he’s stated that it’s gotten worse as he’s gotten older His biggest issue right now is overwhelming thoughts of his actions having tragic outcomes and being unable to stop these obsessive thoughts (such as needing to check out door handle 5 times to make sure it’s locked but still panicking that it’s unlocked) he’s not open to one on one therapy or meds although he loves learning and watching informative videos i fear he’s afraid to confront his OCD or just afraid nothing will help i really wanna help him live a stress free and happy life he deserves it would anyone possibly have any ways to naturally help with OCD or recommend any great individuals that could share techniques on managing OCD or helping your partner with OCD? i would very much appreciate it!
alex_x504
- Date posted
- 17w
Hello, someone I care about has OCD.
Someone I care about has OCD, he often gets worried to answer certain things in fear that he might be wrong or gets anxious in times when certain conversations such as dealing with negative emotions come into play and in the event something goes wrong even though we deal with the issue it takes him a long time to put himself back together. Often times worried about his image, hyper focused on being a good person etc etc. I believe I’m doing my best but as someone who doesn’t struggle with OCD I cant fully comprehend him and i wish to learn more about it, not just read it off of google. Any advice would be appreciate it. -Thank you!
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