Can meditation help OCD?

[Ryukil]

Anyone been helped by it?

[Tez]

Hi there. 

I can only speak from my personal experience, but I found that personally, medication was much better than meditation for getting my OCD under control.  I had a psychologist who encouraged me to go to meditation sessions, which I did do at the local Buddhist Centre.  They were very nice there, but the classes I went to did not help me.  These were unguided mediations and the silence and unstructured nature of the sessions actually just made me ruminate more and more on my OCD symptoms.  When I was put on olanzapine by the psychiatrist, that really helped calm me down, get my brain under control and has allowed me to live a much better quality of life these last seven years. 

All that said, I do have a CD produced by Bristol Buddhist Centre, which features a body scan meditation, where you lie on the floor with a pillow under your head and just follow the instructions to focus energy and attention on the different parts of your body.  That I DO find of value. 

Hope that helps.  As said, these are just my experiences.

Tez

[paradoxer]

I believe mindfulness can be a useful addition to ERP/CBT for some. It's consistent with the mindset of 'letting the thoughts be there'.

Edited August 29, 2016 by paradoxer

[taurean]

Guided meditations have for me been perfect in helping me relax and easing stress and anxiety. 

Try downloading or buying on CD "mini meditations for stress-free living"  by Simonette Vaja - the 7 meditations accompanied by the beautiful voice of Simonette and soothing background music are each only ten minutes long, and each for me is brilliant.

If buying from Amazon use the link on the forum home page or the charity home page, and OCD-UK will also benefit from your order.