Rucker

There may or may or may not be a secondary condition, but I recall someone who was on a 3 year training course with me was diagnosed with autism while on it as he was kicking of big time.... most of the time he just displayed some unusual behavior but there were some big incidents that led to the employer getting him diagnosed through occupational health. His parents were both teachers and he was not diagnosed at school or by them.... he probably just appeared shy/studious or socially anxious, I'm not too sure etc so I wouldn't take the no incidents at school as evidence that it's OK. I'm not saying that there is anything wrong like that though. The only issue you may want to consider in the current climate regarding the school trip is the plane journey. Any outburst on a plane could be problematic... diverted etc... and they always cause hassle and make the news/police...... I think a concern would be is he showed unusual behavior in the toilet.... they are super suspicious these days. What might help is time away, I love the outdoors and camping and it is surprising powerful to do it and get some hiking in... wonderful for mental health. I think I saw a news report a few months ago that doctors may start prescribing time outdoors. Alternatively some outlet to burn off energy.... punch bag, boxing lessons etc. I got into running and that helped a lot when I was down but it's not everyones cup of tea. Best wishes

Oh the 'Insanity' quote from somone above is commonly linked to Albert Einstein and does not mean Insanity literally, as someone else said it is referring to the futility of repeating a practice that repeatedly gives the same outcome.

The problem with reading things online is that going off and reading allsorts is that you can form associations between a stimulus and response and become conditioned to produce that response at the mere mention, thought etc of the stimulus. This kind of thing has been scientifically proved. I posted a longer response to your other post but I didn't realise you were not religious before , however the jist of it stil stands. You've chosen one religion to focus on.... any one the others could be right, or wrong....or made up. What about the multitude of roman gods? Just because it is now not standard practice to look to them for guidance doesn't make them less likely to be right or wrong. Yet I doubt anyone would think it rational to be hung up on the wisom behind Roman dieties and the same stands for what religion is 'currently trending'. Try and think from a different direction about religion. Best wishes

Religion is very problematic because it is often conditioned into people at such a young age. Ivan Pavlov's 'classical conditioning' springs to mind so while religion to some will produce a non problematic unconditioned response, the fear is due to association and being 'conditioned'... surely it is crucial to tackle the underlying belief in such a case? I was reading about one experiment (that would not get ethical approval these days) in which they managed to get a 9 month old toddler fearful of a white rat..... they were presented with various animals intitally (rabbit, rat, monkey, various masks) and showed no fear or distress at all..... subsequently in the future when presented with the rat it was accompanied by a loud scary sound.....eventually the child grew fearful of the rat after enough cycles even when the sound wasn't present and showed fear, distress, crying etc. The kid even showed fear over objects that showed some shared characteristics with the rat - santa claus beard on a mask etc! It is very powerful when conditioned and produces real, intense physical responses. I didn't realise CBT was based on this research and Pavlov's work and whenever I have learned of CBT I was always a little skeptical but it makes much more sense when you can see the effects of thoughts/beliefs/ conditioning and how it could help in plenty of cases. I think what I mean is that focussing on it in a way where you think 'this is OCD, and that is the main problem' is less helpful that taking a mindset of 'this is likely the result of being conditioned to produce this response, and it is this conditioning that I have to change'....as it's been proven that association, conditioning etc really does produce real physical symptoms even at the thought of saying something bad about religion. Just throwing this out there as I can't say, but what if it is less OCD and more 'classical conditioning' giving OCD symptoms in reference to religion?? The kind of treatment is the same in either case, but the focus when rationally thinking about why it is producing these reactions at an individual leval changes. Best wishes

Hi Jamie, I think the difficulty in getting this done well to come across in a theatre setting will be the balance between not making it too bleak through to not making it to light hearted. I can think of one example of a show I have seen where a bleak topic was done well and that was 'Close the Coal House Door'. Out of all the theatre shows I hve seen I think this was the best (and it wasn't the biggest or flashiest one). The topic was the destruction of the coal industry in the North East and it really mixed in the poverty, bleakness well but was also mixed in with somehumour ... at the right times.... and you can adjust how much to suit. I know I am having a hard time at the moment, yet I still have a good sense of humour. Like I say the trick to doing that will be timing and that's the true skill. And another thing that sprung to mind was using screen projection. How about having the person's true thoughts projected behind them.... say they are in a certain stuation in a show looking happy, etc etc but have what is really going on visualised on the back of the stage...... you could be very cretive with that such as animations, graphics etc too..... it could be good visually. Maybe you could get people diagnosed with OCD to draw their thoughts nd write down their true thoughts and include them in it with the stage production - would provide a link to the real world/real people etc and how their daily life experiences are difficult and are different to the average person. I think that could also be used to highlight how many people, 12 out of every 1000 people, have it somehow during it. The reason I say that is that would help to convey the message visually and quite powerfully rather than making the audience uncomfortable with lights and noises.... maybe one or two might suffer from migraines etc. Sorry for the long post, just like to throw ideas out there Best wishes

Evening everyone, I'm pretty sure I have BDD as I feel abysmal about my appearance 24/7, I have quite obvious OCD traits too so I think there is a clear overlap. I believe I can pinpoint when BDD burst obviously into my life due to a genuine skin condition when i was 15 - mid 20s. Horrible and self confidence destroying.... eventually I got treatment that worked to a good degree but I still feel revolting and that I look 'odd'. I have another aspect that compounds it because for whatever reason I have always looked young for my age... I mean up close I think I'm starting to look my age more (late 30s) - fine lines etc - but first glance and impression I must look really young and it's been a huge social anxiety issue for me and the OCD has latched onto it. Has medication worked for any of you in helping/reducing symptoms?

You have to want to be with someone to stay together, if it isn't right or you don't feel it for them etc it never works long term.... that's why so many people split up eventually, whether it's a big reason that causes it or just something that isn't quite right for it to last. OCD won't keep a relationship going but wanting to be with a person does. People without OCD have doubts etc in relationships all the time. Sometimes the relationship works out sometimes they don't work out..... it's just the nature of the game. It just means you are stuck thinking about it but if you decided to stay with him (and not cheat) then you must feel that you want to stay with him...OCD or no OCD. Be thankful you have found someone that you can say you love deeply and that you have stayed faithful to. If you're happy and he is too it'll continue like that

Dogs are... well dogs and quite hardy. I know what you mean though that it a never ending worry with them though. I've got a 15 month Cockapoo and he is very well behaved usually... except when he knows walkies is over and is very stubborn and lies down so I can't get him home.... and nicking things when he is bored so I chase him and try and get things off him. I was walking him yesterday morning and he darted on lead and quickly picked something small up in his mouth and swallowed when I tried to get it.... the git! There's loads of mushrooms around here too on the playing fields they come as the ground is damp often these days. He's fine. Just don't blow it out of proportion and keep things in perspective. Keep a general eye on him (as you would anyway) and don't worry unless there are symptoms of anything. Keep things balanced and in perspective.

I find that what other people have an issue with concerning OCD doesn't trigger me. Quite the opposite it opens up a window and helps me to see how irrational it all is when it isn't an area that causes me problems. Though as we all know, it's all too real for the person involved.

Personally I think light box therapy helps. I didn't use it as much as I should have last year when I got it but it is good to use on a morning. I find having the room light when I wake up helps to not just roll over and go back to sleep so I normally put a bedside lamp on a timer. What I'm not so good at is sticking to structure, but during the consecutive days that I do I find keeping the same time to rise and sleep helps, along with the light box etc above. I quite like having music come on instead of an alarm so some upbeat music.....Christmas tunes if you must..... can put me in the right frame of mind to start the day. My best days through winter are when I'm exercising. A little on a morning first thing and when I was off work I'd run some trails in the winter sun/snow/rain. Really helped. I was strict one year and used to do a 6 mile loop every Wednesday after work and when I think back I was less OCD symptomatic and generally felt better.... I think it was the focus of having it to do more than anything else.

I'm Northern and not just in the Winter I'd say.... I suppose it would have been worse when it was all coal mines here 80 odd years ago *cough*. ..... nice sunshine would be welcome

I really want a light alarm clock but I don't have the spare cash at the moment... however... If you can't afford a light alarm clock (not a SAD light) buy a cheap analogue or digital plug in timer (or two) and set two lamps - one dim further away in room, one brighter - and set them to come on 5 and 10 mins before alarm goes off....... at least the room is nice and bright when you open your eyes. They only cost a few pounds.

I'd say the 'normal' way would be to look once, decide either way, deal with it, delete or just leave them and get on with life. HOWEVER, you said you did look two years ago, found nothing even told your partner so it's done, over and dealt with Bring back the days of landlines and not everything being kept in the 'cloud'... I'm just old enough to remember pre-mobile days when I was asked out on the landline... living in the moment, nothing kept for posterity. Those were the days, my Atari ST, passing otes instead of text messages and true love

I was going to say the same thing. I think modern life plays a big part in making things like OCD worse. I think it would exist regardless, but I genuinely think we are over stimulated by access to so much information, visual images on TV, too many things to check etc. I was reading some articles (by accident) by an academic on false memories in relation to criminal cases. Fascinating really, though not uncontested, but it was basically how malleable the mind is to stimulus for remembering false memories and how they are easily added to and changed. I think that with OCD and the stimulus we see on TV, Internet but also from real life iteractions is a bit of a driver that makes things much worse. Hence the diversity of youtube videos some will bound to be a bad stimulus. When I manage to get away hiking/camping for a few days my symptoms drop off immensley. Not completly as it's quite ingrained but removal from so much stiulus really makes a huge difference. I got rid of my smartphone for that reason, it was so easy to get over not searching for anything and everything to defeat boredom when out and about. Sorry I can't be of more help. Stay strong.

I think it's possible to look at a member of the same sex and see that they are good looking ot attractive... and in no way am I gay, not even close. I think it is possible to just notice when anyone is attractive or good looking.... our eyes aren't blinkered we are observant of these things. It's like a poster mentioned earlier that he thought he liked someone at work though is married. When you're married you cant all of a sudden stop noticing if someone is cute, but nor does that mean that you find them more attractive than your partner...and also looks are only one aspect of the relationship. The point is we still exist in the 'real' world and you can't wallk around blindfolded Someone who worked in my last job I really liked... she was very cute, lovely smile, nice eyes... really my type. She was very nice and friendly too. But I was happy going home to my girlfriend at that time and there was nothing more to it other than she was nice. But I don't obsess over that kind of thing I'd say it sounds like you are obsessing over it. I think the problem with this aspect though is that feelings for people, relationships and that kind of thing is a bit of a muddle with no fixed positions... it isn't a binary choice like it is with me checking if I've turned the cooker off etc. I think that gives OCD quite a lot of grip to work with.