| T O P I C R E V I E W |
| Suz |
Posted - 07/06/2005 : 13:35:47
I suffer from very mild OCD (just to add to the lovely list of back pain , digestive issues and skin problems!)
I don't understand how you apply the TMS principals to dealing with this. It barely bothers me, but it would be nice to resolve this |
| 9 L A T E S T R E P L I E S (Newest First) |
| Susie |
Posted - 07/08/2005 : 15:32:20
Suz- that is hysterical that you look under the bed. I have done that from about age 10 when my parents left me alone at night without a babysitter. I also looked in the closets and sometimes had to do it again. I never connected it with ocd until I read your post. I was really sick about 3 years ago with what I now know are tms equivalents. One night, I was beginning the ritual and I realized that I felt so bad I didn't care if someone killed me or not so, just like that, I quit looking. I don't even think about it anymore. I think baseball's suggestion of thinking "just stop" is the best advice. When I find myself arranging everthing "in it's place" I stop. I will purposely leave something in the wrong place and walk away. I figure it's good practice. I honestly wasn't aware that I need to put stuff where it goes until recently. I think the addiction grows worse with age. |
| Suz |
Posted - 07/08/2005 : 13:50:09
I am so excited that people responded to my topic! I was embarressed to even admit I have OCD. I feel so ridiculous doing it. I also figured that it was just a distraction. I only do two things - i check I have left the iron unplugged a couple of times when I leave my house and the really ridiculous thing i do is look under the bed before I sleep - I also count to twelve which makes absolutely no sense. I remember first getting OCD when my parents got divorced when I was 11 and sent to boarding school - it was terrible. I counted to 12 for everything - and I was always looking in closets to check noone was there before I slept. My family knew about it and just made a joke out of it. It finally stopped and the bed thing is all I am left with - but it just seems so nuts! I understand now that it is a distraction thing and I am going to try Baseball's stop thing. I also believe if one does that and then turns thoughts to something psychological - it should work. I will try it tonight! |
| johnnyg |
Posted - 07/08/2005 : 10:20:48
OK, so who is doing the inappriate behavior/thought loop and who is telling it to STOP? Actually, I'm not being smart, I agree with the others' suggestions. I think it's interesting that TMS and its equivalents force us to learn to control our minds instead of being controlled by our minds--which, incidentally is how most of the world operates. People in general are slaves to their minds, which is probably why less than 15% of the population will ever "get" TMS therapy.
I saw a TMS doctor yesterday who is very open to helping people with mental forms of TMS. The way I like to think of beating this--after much thought about it--is to become the "watcher" of our thoughts. When you do this, you make a conscious effort to monitor the activity of your brain and correct desctructive or irrational thought patterns. This doesn't mean denying emotions or trying not to feel anything, it means you examine the thought or feeling, chew it around for a while and then let it pass. Personally I don't see any other way, unless you prefer chronic pain and eventually a padded cell. |
| tennis tom |
Posted - 07/08/2005 : 09:33:57
Baseball65,
Thanks for that very useful strategy about "binding". It makes a lot of sense.
Best regards,
tt |
| art |
Posted - 07/07/2005 : 17:16:35
Me too. I check the stovetop at least a couple times before I leave the house. I fight with myself about this, but the feeling of worry when I've already left the house and I can't remember for sure if I've checked never seems worth it...I'm ok as long as I can remember checking usually, so when I do I really try hard to "notice" what I'm doing. Although sometimes it gets worse and I just keep checking a bunch of times...I also do that car thing that Baseball mentioned...
We human beings are such odd creatures. |
| Baseball65 |
Posted - 07/07/2005 : 14:07:23
Hi again.
I had reeeeeeeally bad OCD and was certain I could beat it using Sarno's principles,but didn't know how.OCD is just TMS of the brain.I had the handwashing when I was a kid,the 'condemned and doomed' thought deal,and the ritual checking and re-checking as I got older.
My therapist at the time gave me a solution that is so simple,I didn't think it would work.OCD like TMS exists merely to distract you from underlying anxiety and possibly anger.Like TMS,it is a phony,a fraud,a diversion,except it takes rational concerns and blows them up to unappropriate proportions.
Whenever you find yourself 'binding' as they call it(broken record,repeating intrusive thoughts,running the movie over and over,doing some useless ritual)
Just simply say : " STOP! "
and immediately go to a completely different activity,in a different location if possible.If you're at work,it can be difficult for obvious reasons,but do it as often as you can and as often as necessary.If the 'binder' follows you,say "Stop" again and proceed likewise.It begins to leak the absurdity of the 'binder' to your conscious brain,and eventually the OCD stops,or abates to an almost unnoticable level....just like our Body pain...gone.
It's a therapy they employed in a control group study at UCLA.They took two groups of OCDers and PET scanned their brains during episodes.OCD shows too much activity in a certain part of the brain.
One group took Prozac,the other group used STOP therapy.They rescanned them,and both groups had normalized PET scans.So,why take the med if you can do it yourself?
I occasionally have resurfacing of it and it is ALWAYS related to stressful external events.....last week I caught myself doing it the night my son was pitching in a championship game...I kept coming back to the car to get the thing 'I forgot'.
As soon as it dawned on me,I said "STOP" out loud and walked away a free man.
try it,it works.
peace
Baseball65 |
| altherunner |
Posted - 07/07/2005 : 13:34:11
I have mild ocd, things like:arranging the dishes in the dishwasher a certain way, paying a bill as soon as it arrives in the mail. When I was spoke to Don Dubin about it,he said as long as it is not harmful or interfering with life(washing your hands 400 times/day), not to worry about it. In fact he said stopping procrastinating on some things that bugged you, getting them out of the way, may reduce stress and tms. While I was halfway through my sessions, I noticed I did get a lot of things done, changing banks, minor renos in the house, and by my fourth session, I was better! |
| Carolyn |
Posted - 07/06/2005 : 21:04:46
I think I posted here how when I was watching "The Aviator" recently, I was struck by how Howard Hugh's OCD seemed to fulfill the same need to tame the angst within as TMS does. I don't have OCD exactly but I do have a compulsive eating problem which clearly alternates with my physical symptoms so I am convinced it is another effort to keep me busy and distracted from whatever is going on in there. I would think that you just don't allow yourself to do whatever you are feeling compelled to do. In my case, if I didn't allow myself to eat, I would either experience anxiety or an intensified pain somewhere and that would reinforce in my mind that the compulsion was TMS.
I still think it has to be helpful to actually find a way to reduce the inner angst to completely resolve TMS symptoms and keep it from just shifting around.
Carolyn |
| n/a |
Posted - 07/06/2005 : 18:55:06
I read today that country singer Garth Brooks is obsessed with brushing his teeth. He claims to have over 80 toothbrushes in his house. Hmmmmm...... |
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