Obessive Compulsive Disorder, page 3

reply to post by luciddream

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THANKS for your kind reply.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PROGRESS AND COURAGE! YEA! MAY YOU ACHIEVE COMPLETE FREEDOM FROM SUCH THOUGHT HABITS.

I was 'victimized' by

STINKIN' THINKIN'

for the first 30 years of my 65 year old life.

My value orientation contains the exhortation:

TAKE EACH THOUGHT CAPTIVE . . .
{2 Cor 10:5}

Learning to do that increasingly well was the major source of my deliverance from such tyrannical thoughts.

The battlefield is certainly THE MIND.

Those old enough to remember the old vinyl phonograph records may recall that repeated playing wore the groove deeper and deeper.

Thinking, speaking and acting
REPEATEDLY THICKENS THE NERVE CELLS IN THE BRAIN
ASSOCIATED WITH THOSE REPEATED THOUGHTS AND ACTIONS.

WE MUST--TO BE FREE--RESIST SUCH THOUGHTS DOGGEDLY

AND

LEARN TO SUBSTITUTE MORE FREEING, CONSTRUCTIVE, EDIFYING THOUGHTS INSTEAD.

FOCUS is critical.

And WHAT we FOCUS ON IS SUPER CRITICAL.

WE MUST FOCUS ON THE GOOD PERSISTENTLY ENOUGH, DOGGEDLY ENOUGH

TO THICKEN THOSE NERVE CELL PATHWAYS

AND to allow the old obsessive ones to wither, shrink.

That really happens at the cellular level.

Actually, it has been demonstrated that REPEATED THOUGHTS AND SPEAKING OF THE SAME THING CAN EVEN ALTER DNA.

Which, from my orientation reminds me of the verse:

AS A MAN THINKS IN HIS HEART, SO IS HE. {Prov 23:7 Amplified}

So we can choose. We can be flung around by obsessive thoughts and intrusions from outside of us and within our own stinking habits

OR

WE CAN LEARN TO RESIST SUCH AND BECOME FREE WITH A MORE CONSTRUCTIVE FOCUS SET OF HABITS.

It's not overnight but it is DOABLE.

CONGRATULATIONS ON YOUR PROGRESS.

With some habits, I HAD TO LEARN to STOP the

FIRST HINT of a thought or image in that direction--the first HINT.

It's kind of like a runaway train . . . think of a chain . . . a set of chain links.

IF YOU CUT THE THOUGHT OFF AT THE FIRST HINT OF THE FIRST LINK--it is readily done.

THEN FORCE YOURSELF TO THINK OF SOMETHING CONSTRUCTIVE AND INTERESTING.

If one waits until the last several links in the chain of thoughts--it's like a runaway train--difficult to impossible to stop.

And, most temptations last about 10 minutes. When we are trying to break a long standing habit--they can be seemingly about every 10 minutes! LOL.

However, after 90 days of dogged practice and determination--we can be markedly different to almost or maybe even near totally or even totally free.

IT'S WORTH IT!

May God be with all seeking FREEDOM.

reply to post by asala

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You are quite welcome.

If you have any public or private questions, feel free.

I pray your reading gives you some options that are attractive and workable for you.

CHEERS TO ALL SEEKING FREEDOM FROM SUCH THOUGHTS AND HABITS.

DOGGED DETERMINATION IS WORTH IT.

FREEDOM IS WORTH IT.








WELLLLLLLL . . . as much as I can manage and as might be temporarily fitting LOL. I couldn't handle a thousand ATSers asking for advice 24/7! LOL.

And . . . we all do well to remind ourselves . . .

DON'T SWEAT THE SMALL STUFF . . . AND MOST OF IT IS SMALL STUFF.



OVERTHINKING can be hazardous to a fine spring day . . . or to a calming 10 minutes thinking about a beautiful vacation plan or loved one.



SOMETIMES we just need to go for a walk

with

THE MINISTER OF SILLY WALKS!



Just beware of

reply to post by luciddream

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He has no idea he has ocd...We dont think he is old enough to understand it...I think thats why he has gotten better actually...I let the teachers know obviously, and so far, this year, the teacher said she hasnt noticed any ocd issues!! Thats such good news! But yeah, if we notice him having a minor 'episode', we just distract him the best we can..Not gonna lie though, the first 5 years were hell! I felt so bad for him! TY for your input..

reply to post by luciddream

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Its must be really hard for him to cope right now, because he can't think like adults(where we would know this is silly, but still do it anyway), he probably thinks he has to obey them. Its would be nice if you tell him that he should not do them because it is not necessary and its a waste of time.. that would be the simple explanation i can give to 7yr old without going too much into the actual cause because that would just confuse him or make him doubt himself if you tell him he has a "disorder".

Great points, imho.

I wonder if it would be helpful for her to lay out some options for him . . .

Something like:

"Son, You are REALLY FREE to do "A" or "B."

Or

"You REALLY FREE to do "A" or "B" or "C."

"A" might be . . . the OCD behavior.
"B" might be . . . the opposite of the OCD behavior.
"C" might be 60-75% of the opposite of the OCD behavior.

Or

"A" might be the opposite of the OCD behavior

and

"B" might be 60-75% of the opposite of the OCD behavior.

It's just possible that introducing a "should" to him might tweak up the "obligation" aspect of the OCD compulsions.

Affirming that he is REALLY FREE to do "A" or "B" or "C" affirms the parent's support for him choosing something OTHER THAN the OCD. That could strengthen his fighting against the compulsion feeling such parental support for something else . . . particularly vs criticism etc.

SOMETIMES, some kids react to criticism of almost any kind as more pressure to be more perfect. Which kind of feeds the OCD for many.

imho.

Much appreciate your contributions on this thread, BTW.

.

reply to post by DanielET

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imho . . .

It's fascinating how "comfort zones" can end up straight-jackets and prisons.

Life and humans can be so full of paradoxes.

reply to post by luciddream

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I have this constantly. The whole... guessing numbers correctly.

I'm not amazing at math (or at least, higher math, like calculus and whatnot)... but for some reason, I have an amazing sense of time.

I'll put something in the oven for 20 minutes or so, and without looking at any clock, I'll begin to walk towards the oven and just as I walk towards it, the buzzer will go off.
Same with guessing distances. I was driving from Boston to south Jersey and back again a month or so ago. I used the trip odometer and with my basic knowledge that it's about 330 miles each way, I guessed that the odometer would read about 700 miles when I returned to my driveway in Boston (factoring in various stops along the way). It was an arbitrary guess, and I was more concerned with seeing how close I was to my guess rather than hitting the number exactly. And surprisingly enough when I pulled into the driveway, the odometer read 700.00 - I swear I nearly pissed myself (hypothetically, of course). I took a picture of it I was so surprised. xP

But yeah, on a daily basis I time things almost perfectly. I don't know if it has anything to do with OCD, maybe I just have a very good sense of time. Every time I use an appliance to cook something - whether it's 4 minutes or 40 minutes - I always end up going to "check on the food" right at the exact moment that the timer happens to go off.
At first, it freaked my boyfriend out. But after 4 years of watching me accomplish this repeatedly, he just thinks it's normal for me.

reply to post by tallcool1

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Hahaha, that's funny you said your wife messed up stuff knowing that you would have to fix it to your liking again. My son and I both have OCD tendencies and we mess with each other. We don't do it on purpose, it's just that he likes things one way and I like them another way, so we are always putting things the way we like them. For example, I used to have a set of 5 candles in a metal holder. I wanted them arranged blue, red, green, yellow, purple. He always changed them to purple, blue, green, yellow, red. We would be a little annoyed with each other, but it was also kinda funny to us.

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