Claire1704

I think this is an interesting point, because as we know, OCD can cause health obsession/preoccupation, but ADHD can bring hyper fixation too so who knows what's going on?!

That would be me! Hi Auroramaple, I'm Claire, one of the charity trustees I know anecdotally there is quite a high occurrence of ADHD and OCD together. I have both, and off the top of my head can think of three other people I know who are the same. I take medication for depression and for the ADHD. I take atomoxetine which has calmed me generally and a bit less likely to respond so emotionally when faced with challenges, which has always been a big issue for me. I'm at the beginning of understanding the ADHD. I am hoping for a medication review as my concentration is still not great so I'm not sure if I need to try something else. Like with other medications, sometimes it's a case of finding the one for you! I also find I'm not great at going to bed because of general ADHD faffing around and losing time, which can affect my concentration the next day. I have found my diagnosis really helpful in understanding and generally just being a bit kinder to myself. I hope you also find it helpful if you get a diagnosis. Claire

Right then my friends, I shall leave you in peace. Jane, I will let you know what's happening with the group next month, but I guess the way things are going, we're still not going to be able to meet in person for a while!

I will look out for it! Will see if it's on Netflix, now I have Netflix!

Quite right Too right. Its a time and a joy thief. All we can do is keep challenging it. Also to remember to remember the times we succeed too, as these are all examples of moving towards recovery I think. Proof that we can do it. Also as my therapist once said to me 'lapse doesn't necessarily mean relapse'. I think to try to strike a balance between pushing ourselves, but not beating ourselves up if we can't do it all the time. As long as we pick ourselves up again.

I think years ago, but I don't remember it.

Have a word with yourself!

I remember actually a therapist asking me what I wanted to get out of therapy, and my honest answer was 'I want more time to myself'. OCD is a time thief. I'm a clock watcher, and am absolutely obsessed with knowing exactly what the time is, and having certain things done by certain times. It used to be, that I couldn't turn my light out before 1.03 am (?!) and I had to leave my house at 8.24am. I guess ultimately, I would like to care less about time than I do, and be so governed by it.

Ah I'm pleased to hear his therapy is continuing. I'm trying to take the opportunity, while I don't have to go into the office, to alter my routine a bit. I tend to compulsively avoid sleep, and what I would really like, as simple as it may sound, is to have a routine where I get up and have time to myself before I start my work day. Even if it just means getting up 15 minutes earlier. I get so distressed at the idea of waking up in the night, that I just remove the chance of it happening, by just lying awake until I'm exhausted. Which is very restricting.... I don't know when we're all going to be able to meet again, but I wonder if we could set ourselves a challenge for the month/couple of months, to talk about net time we meet?

Is Louis still in touch with his therapist throughout this? I know a lot of therapists are doing Skype calls etc...

I think that's about the sum of it! It just makes me cross, as I know we've talked about before. Spreading misinformation is one thing, but when it comes from a doctor of all people, it's just like we're fire fighting all the time with awareness.

Haha! I can imagine!

Yes... at least other parts of the world are now seeing an improvement, so that's encouraging. I also meant to say, thank you for messaging me the other day to see how I was; I really appreciated it There's been a lot of stuff in the media about OCD recently I've seen. I try not to get too involved in it as it just winds me up! There was an article written by A DOCTOR recently that said something like 'we all need a bit of OCD at the moment'! I know OCD-UK have given an official response to it, but it really makes me cross. It's difficult when you're limited in the people you can interact with, as we are at the moment, to keep the conversation going and raise awareness. Have you seen anything like this, or am I just looking in all the wrong places?!

Good! And how are you doing?

This is a really interesting point. I think Ashley was saying further up the thread, it's kind of getting in the way of the things we need to do to challenge our OCD. Isolation is not what's good for us. And being cooped up either on your own or with the same people is not usual! I know that when we last spoke, he was looking at his fear ladder, and mentioned that he hasn't looked at it for a while. I wonder if there's anything more on there he could be getting on with?

Ugh, how frustrating for all of you to be furloughed. Courses sound like an excellent idea though. Can I ask, has Louis found his OCD to be affected by things that are happening?

My pleasure I think for me, I have made a point of reminding myself of how my anxiety can be. That is, (as is fairly typical with OCD) I know I have excessive feelings of responsibility and I tend to immediately jump to the worst possible conclusion. It was helpful to remind myself of this, because it helped me spot the unhelpful thought patterns. For example, my assumption 'lots of shops are closing, therefore I won't be able to get what I need for the gerbils and they will die'. I leapt to that conclusion, fully in the knowledge that I have supplies here and others would be in the same position as me, and there is always a way around these things. I had to ask myself 'are you catastrophising?. Yes it might be a pain, yes it will no doubt be difficult, but that doesn't automatically mean the worst is going to happen. I also look out for my own personal physical warning signs. For me, excessive worry/anxiety is a knot in my stomach. If I feel that knot, then I know I'm very possibly worrying excessively. Has Louis every mentioned his anxiety having a physical feeling?

Hey there! Lovely to 'see' you! I'm not bad at all thank you. My OCD was a little troublesome at the beginning of the lockdown, but fine since. Happy I'm able to work. How are you and Louis? x

Hey Ash! Yes indeed. I found myself thinking 'this is going to go wrong, that's going to go wrong' and then I thought... 'hang on a minute!', I'm pleased that it didn't take me too long to get things straight, and sort out the reasonable amount of concern from the excessive. I think I had one stressful evening and that was it! It's a strange old time. I think hearing your government say 'you can't go out. you can't see your family' etc...was a bit of a shock for us all.

It's been a weird old month.... It feels like weeks since the last Worthing group. I found this this whole lockdown thing really difficult on my mood in the first few days, but by and large I'm getting into the swing of things. I'm lucky enough to be able to work from home. I think I had mild symptoms of Coronavirus a couple of weeks ago, with a persistent dry cough and a wheezy chest, but seem to be ok now. Initially my OCD had a field day with telling me that I was probably going to kill my parents with the virus. Or that I wouldn't be able to look after my gerbils properly and would have to have them put down. Catastrophising much?! But I'm pleased to say I got on top of this fairly quickly, and not I'm a bit bored and frustrated like everyone else, but largely ok.

Hey! So this is the spot for the usual Worthing support group attendees. We'd be meeting tonight, but for obvious reasons, the Community Centre is closed.... I'll be here from 7pm to 9pm for chat and support. Speak to you soon! Claire

Sorry, I typed the above in a rush, apologies if it seemed a bit abrupt!