to think that many people dont take OCD seriously?

[UpYourViva]

Ive encounterd on many occassions people flippantly stating they have OCD because they like to keep a tidy house etc.

I have struggled with OCD for as long as i can remember, it's only in recent years that it's stopped affecting my eveyday life.

Many of my friends claim to have it and when ive tried to talk about my experience of it they dont seem to take me serously.

AIBU?

My dd (13) has severe OCD- she has had 6 months of CBT which helped, but unfortunately though she has stopped doing some things(saying prayers for 2 hours, washing hands)-she now does other things. She has tics too.
It has really affected her- stopped her from doing sleepovers, eating, friendships. She has days when she wishes she was dead. We are starting hypnotherapy next week to see if that helps.
I have OCD in a much milder form, and it doesn't impact on my daily life particularly.

YANBU - know exactly what you mean op.

I have OCD. Sometimes it gets very bad (I can be checking that the oven is off for 20 -30 minutes ). I have broken my car door twice (thankfully my current car has an automatically locking door - phew!), recently broke the front door (it couldn't stand up to 5 years of my checking) - I should be employed by a factory to check how long it takes to break things!

These days things such as the hob being switched off or the front door locked seem to be the worse. Since I've had the DCs my OCD worries are related to them, rather than in the abstract as they were when I was younger. So for example, I worry that if the hob isn't off there will be a gas explosion in which the children will be hurt/die.

DH is generally understanding, but every now and again snaps, and upsets me by implying that I am doing it on purpose or am not trying to stop. It's a nightmare!

undercovamutha - I know what you mean about you should be employed by a factory to see how long things break. One of my things growing up was that I had to open the CD compartment twice (to put a CD into the hi-fi you had to press the 'CD Open' button and the drawer slides out so you can put the CD in). After a year or so of this, even if someone pressed it once it would open, close then open again. It trained itself to do it twice!

When I told me DH this a few years ago he didn't believe me - he said that electronics don't have a mind of their own and can't 'learn' to do something like that. He soon shut up when our DVD player started to do it last year (I still have to open things like DVD drawer, CD drawers etc. twice)

Hi, I have OCD, tooki over my life in my teens, although it is mostly under control now. I just wondered what people think with regard to how much other people should accommodate your obsessions/compulsions. When I was pregnant I had a bit of an obsession with hygiene, and was extremely upset when I visited my MIL and she basically disregarded my feelings, and I ended up having to eat food that was unhygienically prepared. Ended up off work I was so stressed about it afterwards. To what extent should others accommodate my issues, as am fearing future visits to MIL with DS!

Do you think it helps people's understanding and empathy if you refer to it as OCD? I (and my family) tend to refer to it as my 'checking', and I wonder whether this trivialises it, and makes people think I'm just a bit strange rather than having a recognised condition?

ClaireGJB - not sure about the accomodating. My DH goes through stages of really accomodating it (he checks things immediately after I have, and I ask him a few times if he's sure ). However I'm not sure whether it helps or hinders me tbh. And after a few weeks of really trying to help, he normally snaps cos I think he feels that he is on the verge of becoming OCD himself!!!!!

My DD (12) has OCD but mainly the intrusive thoughts (suicide, blood etc) she is having therapy and EMDR she is remarkably better since starting it. Her anxiety has caused OCD.

' "Well, now you've thought about it, you must want it to happen.", and then, "And now you've made it happen. It's all going to be your fault.". '

Pixie - that is EXACTLY how I feel. It's so weird to hear someone hit the nail on the head with how I feel. Don't you find that it is SO hard to explain it without it sounding a bit daft.

A support group would be good. It's wierd how similar peoples experiences are, after just under 20 yrs of this im really suprised that other people have done/are doing the same things as me and that im not a wierdo!

I dont think many people believe OCD is an actual disorder atall, im sure RL people think im making it up

I've always seen ocd as being on a continuum, ranging from superstitons such as saluting magpies all the way to not being able to leave your house due to germ fear/fears about security etc. In it's extreme form it can be hugely debilitating.

I'm a nearly qualified cbt therapist and I have to say ocd is my favourite (for want of a better word) condition to work with. I find it fascinating and rewarding although it's a long haul usually. 20+ sessions usually.

I suppose I'm drawn to it as I consider myself to have obsessive traits specifically about even numbers and germs which got a bit out of control after I had dd now 3. I felt it creeping in again when pg with ds and managed to curb it.

Part of the treatment is empathising with patients but also normalising intrusive thoughts. We all have them the degree to which they distress us depends on our appraisal of them. This is v simplistic of course but it's where treatment starts.

Paul Salkovskis is the main ocd man in this country if anyone wants to google him.

btw my supervisor will touch toilet seats then eat/eat from bins etc. with her patients, apparently you have to be prepared to do this to be an affective therapist but I'm afraid I just can't go this far.

effective not affective

Brilliant Pixie

I struggle to find a way of decribing what I do.

Its all to do with cleaning and particular type of cleaning.

I dont call it OCD because its not all the time and I dont feel the need to do the other stuff that sufferers are ruled by.

Mine stems from the illness of my DD. I had to keep stuff clean because she was immunocompromised. I knew it was a control thing. I knew that I was doing it and I know I am doing it now. It was compounded by my DS severe atopic eczema. It means I have a further excuse to keep cleaning because I am protecting him from dust now.

When I start cleaning I can feel my pulse and heartrate increase and I get a buzz that keeps me going for hours. If there is dust and 'food dirt' in the house I cant leave it. I start burbling about it to OH, decribing what I am going to do to get rid of it!

These feelings go way, way up in times of stress.

I know that no one is going to die if my lampshades are dirty but I cant quite leave it to chance. I also 'feel' the dust all over me IYSWIM.

BUT it doesnt rule my life so I dont class it as OCD. I class it as a normal coping reaction to a terrible, traumatic event in my life.

I am not a person who would normally be motivated to clean because I am quite lazy. My house is not what you would expect from someone with a problem. It looks like a normal family home.

But there is no dust behind the radiators or on the skirting boards and I hoover under the sofas and beds every day!

I suppose it has its advantage in that it does really help with DS's eczema managment.

After that ramble - YANBU. I wouldnt decribe what I do as OCD so lining up a few books and worrying if the iron has been turned off is NOT is it?