RE: "Pure OCD"
June 6, 2012 at 7:08 pm
(This post was last modified: June 6, 2012 at 8:00 pm by Rayaan.)
An interesting topic (although depressing, too). I didn't even know that there was such a thing as "Pure OCD." But, now I learned something.
I can sort of describe what it feels like having these repetitive thoughts because I myself had OCD at an early age (not just Pure OCD), when I was 14 or 15 years old, and I had this for about three years. Fortunately, I came out of it pretty quickly.
In the first few months of having this mental illness, I didn't actually know that other people also had the same type of problem that I was going through nor if there was a name for it. I was just going through the useless, repetitive thoughts and actions without telling my parents or anyone else. Also, I wasn't really that worried about it because I thought that this problem would eventually go away by itself.
As time went on, my symptoms of OCD gradually started to become more and more noticeable to others. For example, my parents started to worry about why I was staying awake so long to finish my homeworks almost every single day (even when I had little homework), why I was washing my glass for over a minute in a repetitive way before and after drinking water, why I was taking so long in the shower, why I was oftentimes turning on and turning off the faucet in the bathroom several times quickly, why I was organizing the books in my shelf in a certain way, why my grades suddenly went downhill in my first year in high school, and maybe a few other things.
Then, my father made an appointment with my school's guidance counselor along with me to try to understand what my problem was and whether or not it can be treated. He explained to the counselor some of the weird things that I was doing at home. Then, after learning about my acitivities, she said that these things suggest that I might having be something called "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" (OCD), and then explained to us what it is. That was the first time that we heard of that (long) name. The counselor also gave my father a telephone number to a psychiatric center and told him that he should take his son to a psychologist to talk about the problems so that we can determine whether or not I really have OCD and how severe it is.
So, I was taken to a psychological clinic where I was asked many questions about my feelings, urges, thoughts, and so on. I also had to fill out a long OCD form which had multiple choices like an exam. After doing those things, the psychologists told me that I did have OCD and that I should go to therapy every week to get further information and to be able to overcome such an illness.
I began to visit a therapist for two or three times a week. The therapist used to explain to me some of the possible mental processes going on behind OCD, why I was doing these things and having repetitive thoughts, how I should try to remove them from my mind, what the consequences of OCD are, and also talked about things that are not related to OCD (to keep me thinking about other things as well). The therapist tried to monitor my progress every week by asking me questions and she also used to play some games with me (like chess) to observe any signs of repetitive actions or unusual things while I was busy.
Sadly, I found the therapy sessions boring for the most part because I was just sitting there for one and a half hour while the therapist was talking to me and asking me questions. I didn't actually like going to therapy, and I didn't even want to, although I was still going there because I think that the therapist did help me a little bit in understanding that OCD is something that can be cured with therapy and/or medication and, more importantly, taught me how to go about in defeating this mental illness. So, even though I didn't like it, maybe it was good for me. .
In addition to therapy, I was also advised to take some medication for my OCD. I think that I took the pills for a day or two only, and then I decided not to take it anymore because I felt that it was doing something weird to my mood. Also, I googled the medication's name and I found that there may be a greater chance of suicidal thoughts amongst those who take the medication. That's why, instead of taking them, I started to throw away the pills each day (secretly), such as by wrapping them with a tissue or flushing them down the toilet. I think that was stupid, but I didn't have the guts to tell my parents that I didn't want to take any medicine for my OCD because I thought that maybe they would get mad at me or maybe they would force me to take it. So, I was just pretending like I was taking them. I told them about this much later.
I can sort of describe what it feels like having these repetitive thoughts because I myself had OCD at an early age (not just Pure OCD), when I was 14 or 15 years old, and I had this for about three years. Fortunately, I came out of it pretty quickly.
In the first few months of having this mental illness, I didn't actually know that other people also had the same type of problem that I was going through nor if there was a name for it. I was just going through the useless, repetitive thoughts and actions without telling my parents or anyone else. Also, I wasn't really that worried about it because I thought that this problem would eventually go away by itself.
As time went on, my symptoms of OCD gradually started to become more and more noticeable to others. For example, my parents started to worry about why I was staying awake so long to finish my homeworks almost every single day (even when I had little homework), why I was washing my glass for over a minute in a repetitive way before and after drinking water, why I was taking so long in the shower, why I was oftentimes turning on and turning off the faucet in the bathroom several times quickly, why I was organizing the books in my shelf in a certain way, why my grades suddenly went downhill in my first year in high school, and maybe a few other things.
Then, my father made an appointment with my school's guidance counselor along with me to try to understand what my problem was and whether or not it can be treated. He explained to the counselor some of the weird things that I was doing at home. Then, after learning about my acitivities, she said that these things suggest that I might having be something called "Obsessive-Compulsive Disorder" (OCD), and then explained to us what it is. That was the first time that we heard of that (long) name. The counselor also gave my father a telephone number to a psychiatric center and told him that he should take his son to a psychologist to talk about the problems so that we can determine whether or not I really have OCD and how severe it is.
So, I was taken to a psychological clinic where I was asked many questions about my feelings, urges, thoughts, and so on. I also had to fill out a long OCD form which had multiple choices like an exam. After doing those things, the psychologists told me that I did have OCD and that I should go to therapy every week to get further information and to be able to overcome such an illness.
I began to visit a therapist for two or three times a week. The therapist used to explain to me some of the possible mental processes going on behind OCD, why I was doing these things and having repetitive thoughts, how I should try to remove them from my mind, what the consequences of OCD are, and also talked about things that are not related to OCD (to keep me thinking about other things as well). The therapist tried to monitor my progress every week by asking me questions and she also used to play some games with me (like chess) to observe any signs of repetitive actions or unusual things while I was busy.
Sadly, I found the therapy sessions boring for the most part because I was just sitting there for one and a half hour while the therapist was talking to me and asking me questions. I didn't actually like going to therapy, and I didn't even want to, although I was still going there because I think that the therapist did help me a little bit in understanding that OCD is something that can be cured with therapy and/or medication and, more importantly, taught me how to go about in defeating this mental illness. So, even though I didn't like it, maybe it was good for me. .
In addition to therapy, I was also advised to take some medication for my OCD. I think that I took the pills for a day or two only, and then I decided not to take it anymore because I felt that it was doing something weird to my mood. Also, I googled the medication's name and I found that there may be a greater chance of suicidal thoughts amongst those who take the medication. That's why, instead of taking them, I started to throw away the pills each day (secretly), such as by wrapping them with a tissue or flushing them down the toilet. I think that was stupid, but I didn't have the guts to tell my parents that I didn't want to take any medicine for my OCD because I thought that maybe they would get mad at me or maybe they would force me to take it. So, I was just pretending like I was taking them. I told them about this much later.
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