psychauthors.com » Obsessive Compulsive Disorder

OCD and families

Charles H. Elliott — Wed, 28 Jan 2009 00:23:33 +0000

Obsessive Compulsive Disorder is a often a disorder that frustrates the sufferer as well as the family. People with OCD frequently ask for reassurance from those who care about them. Unfortunately, reassurance actually can make the obsession or compusion worse. Why? Because telling someone with OCD that everything is going to be okay gives that person a temporary sense of relief. It feels good. Whenever something feels good we all tend to do it again. So, the reassurance asking increases, becomes a repeated pattern, and can even turn into part of the OCD cycle. LS

Television Coverage

Charles H. Elliott — Wed, 21 Jan 2009 00:31:59 +0000

Okay, like most people I was glued to the TV coverage today. How many people love watching 400 high school bands parade by? I felt sorry for our new president and his family. But, his ability to stand tall and smile under incredible pressure was quite obvious. Hopefully those kids will get their dog.

Counting, colors, and VW bugs

Charles H. Elliott — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:17:23 +0000

Did you ever spend hours in the car as a kid and make up games to pass the time? We used to count white cars or VW bugs. There was some predetermined number to reach for the winner. These games filled up the long hours prior to video equipped cars or personal IPODS, gameboys and such. It is interesting that many people with OCD have colors or cars or happenings that they must count. The OCD reason is something like “I must count or something bad will happen.” The function of the car game is more I am bored so I must do something to distract myself. Both feel some distress (boredom or anxiety). Interesting.

OCD For Dummies

Charles H. Elliott — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:11:04 +0000

I think OCD is arguably the most interesting of all emotional disorders. But it’s also a little complicated. That’s why we enjoyed writing OCD For Dummies so much–so we could distill this complexity and help people really understand the problem as well as what to do about it. By the way, you can buy used copies from Amazon and save some bucks. We’d rather you get the help than collect a small royalty. CE

Ego and I

Charles H. Elliott — Mon, 19 Jan 2009 21:06:08 +0000

When I read about psychology a million years ago, Freud talked about three parts of a person, the EGO, ID, and SuperEgo. I was pretty sure that my superego was well developed. Basically the Id was considered the primitive desires that we all have, the Super Ego was the ways we are socialized so as not to express the Id. The Ego was the balanced portion, acting in a manner that served the Id but took care not to offend the Super Ego. Since Freud, lots of other psychologists and philosophers have changed the nomenclature but most remain consistent with a three factor approach. People tend to be over controlled or under controlled or balanced. What do you think?

Applied relaxation

Charles H. Elliott — Mon, 12 Jan 2009 00:17:36 +0000

The ability to relax on command is called applied relaxation. It successfully helps people with anxiety disorders, fears, phobias, and chronic pain. The key to this approach is to find a method (such as progressive muscle relaxation or autogenic training) that you find helps you relax. Practice the technique for a week or so then try to get that same feeling with a couple of deep breaths or a word or two. For more information see our book Overcoming Anxiety for Dummies.

OCD Treatment Works!!

Charles H. Elliott — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 15:44:58 +0000

Many people with OCD believe that the problem can’t be treated. Perhaps it’s because they received some sort of treatment and it didn’t work for them. Well, it’s true, not all treatments work for OCD and not all mental health professionals have been trained in and provide the treatments known to work for OCD.

However, the treatments that work for OCD not only work, they work very well. The gold standard treatment is called Exposure and Response Prevention (it goes by various acronyms, but ERP, ExRP are the most common). ERP is very effective, sometimes so much so that medications can be avoided. Other times, you will want to combine ERP with medications and/or other types of therapy such as Cogitive Therapy that has been specifically designed for OCD. We discuss all of these treatments in detail in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder For Dummies.

But the bottom line is, if you have OCD, get treatment from someone with considerable training and expertise in the treatment of OCD. You’ll be glad you did. CE

How to say no

Charles H. Elliott — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 22:39:18 +0000

If you have a problem with anxiety or OCD you may have trouble standing up to others when they ask you to do something. There is an art to saying no. Here are a few hints. 1) repeat what the person is asking–this will give you a chance to think. For example say, “You’re asking me to drop off these clothes at the laundry?” 2) Look the person in the eye and pause. 3) Have a preplanned response in mind like, “I’d like to but it won’t work for me,” or “I can’t do that,” or “Sorry, but no.” 4) Don’t be easily swayed by the unhappy response of the person asking. You have every right to say no. No explanations required.

Hi, hi, hi… OCD?

Charles H. Elliott — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 17:32:25 +0000

Have you ever called someone and heard a slightly odd greeting such as “hi, hi, hi?” Or “Hello, it’s a great, great, great day?” Or something else that isn’t terribly inappropriate, but seems repetitive and a little odd? It “could” be that the person greeting you has OCD. There’s a type of superstitious OCD that causes some people to feel a need to repeat certain phrases a specific number of times in certain circumstances. They feel if they don’t repeat these words or phrases that something “bad” may hapen to the person they’re talking to. Of course, you shouldn’t assume that such a phrase indicates OCD, but it is possible. OCD comes in an amazing array of types–so it’s easy to encounter someone with OCD and not realize that OCD is at work. We review all the common types of OCD in Obsessive Compulsive Disorder For Dummies. CE

OCD and self-handicapping

Charles H. Elliott — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 18:52:20 +0000

If you or someone you care about has OCD, you might be interested in a behavior that often gets in the way of treatment. Self-handicapping refers to behaviors that interfere with following through in therapy. Some people “forget” to do assignments at home or are late for therapy appointments. Others say that their OCD is special and can’t be helped. When you find that you are making excuses consider writing them down and then write a more balanced statement next to the self-handicapping one. For example if you write that treatment is too difficult to try then write down a statement such as treatment may be hard, but I can start slowly and gradually work up to the difficult parts. The bottom line is that OCD can be successfully treated. For more info, see OCD for Dummies. LS