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Coping or recovering?


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In another thread Snowbear said something about coping with OCD being a waste of time, we should be aiming for recovery (not a direct quote, sorry I've just took the gist of your meaning).

Anyway I absolutely agree with that. It's just a bit disappointing that whenever I've had CBT recovery is never offered as a possibility. I've always been told that managing it is the best I can hope for. 

Anyone had an NHS therapist who's been confident of recovery? 

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Funnily enough, I just tweeted this.. (because of something said on TV)

Quote

Any therapist that says you manage OCD and can't cure OCD is the wrong therapist for you... find a new one!

Paul Salkovskis is clear, recovery and overcoming OCD is possible... but of course he is unique, but the specialists I work with all say the same, that managing OCD is not treating OCD, overcoming OCD is the target (cure/recovery whatever word people like to use).

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1 hour ago, legalseagull said:

Anyone had an NHS therapist who's been confident of recovery? 

Yup. :yes: Along my journey I've met a number of therapists and psychiatrists who not only started from the assumption that full recovery was possible, but talked from the outset as if that was the plan. Getting me on board with 'their' plan was another matter!

To my shame for many years I didn't believe full recovery was possible (and thought getting there would be too painful anyway) so I aimed for coping only (feeling minimal anxiety and outwardly living a normal life.)  I gave no thought whatsoever to the long term price I'd pay for staying in my comfort zone and getting by on coping.

The next phase on my journey was to tell myself that coping equated to treating my OCD and that holding my own against the world was 'making progress.'

What tosh! :laugh: Amazing how convincingly we can lie to ourselves. :dry: 

Nowadays it's a totally different ballgame. I finally understand that 'coping' is sneaky avoidance behaviour and that thinking you're holding your own is like standing still on a conveyor belt that's moving slowly backwards - you inch imperceptibly towards a crisis and only notice your coping methods are failing when the crisis is upon you. If you want to stay in the same place you must be continually pushing for recovery. If you want to recover you push even harder. Hard work maybe, but not impossible. 

As you get more practised at applying CBT skills you get glimpses of what full recovery is going to be like. The closer you get the easier it is not just to believe, but to know that recovery is possible, and then you start to believe in full recovery...and then... well, I'll tell you what it's like when I get there.

Incidentally, the very first CBT therapist I met told me I could take my recovery as far as I wanted to go. 'In fact,' she said, 'how far you decide you want to go is pretty much how far you'll get.' 

Never a truer word was spoken. :yes: 

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7 hours ago, bruces said:

my nhs therapist told me I would always have something wrong with me

Hi Bruces,

Do you not think that this might have been said as reverse psychology?... In the hopes that you'd take on the challenge of proving him/her wrong with something that is quite do-able!

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Thanks for your replies. You're right Ashley I think recovery is what we should aim for. That's a lot more attainable with a specialist and 20+ sessions. My experience is 5 sessions lasting 20 minutes with a therapist who told me my OCD was too difficult.

Snowbear you've pretty much described the last 30 years of my life - coping, managing (or pretending to) and not really getting anywhere. Thank you so much, you've really helped.

Bruces, sounds like you've had similar rubbish experiences to me. It's not surprising that some NHS therapists talk about managing OCD when they're only able to offer limited sessions. Maybe try again with someone better? I'm currently waiting for more CBT. This time I feel more inclined to push for recovery and not be fobbed off with rubbish, short sessions.

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52 minutes ago, legalseagull said:

Thanks for your replies. You're right Ashley I think recovery is what we should aim for. That's a lot more attainable with a specialist and 20+ sessions. My experience is 5 sessions lasting 20 minutes with a therapist who told me my OCD was too difficult.

Snowbear you've pretty much described the last 30 years of my life - coping, managing (or pretending to) and not really getting anywhere. Thank you so much, you've really helped.

Bruces, sounds like you've had similar rubbish experiences to me. It's not surprising that some NHS therapists talk about managing OCD when they're only able to offer limited sessions. Maybe try again with someone better? I'm currently waiting for more CBT. This time I feel more inclined to push for recovery and not be fobbed off with rubbish, short sessions.

Hi Legalseagull,

I would love to recover. In general most literature and research seems to suggest that OCD is a chronic (ongoing) condition, which improves with treatment but which can worsen with stress/life events/hormonal disruption/pregnancy/medical illness etc. so I generally don't feel very hopeful that recovery is possible. However Prof Salkovskis is one of the leading UK specialists so if he says that recovery is possible then that's brilliant! 

I have had OCD since the age of 7 and I do wonder whether OCD that emerges during early development might be harder to recover from?

 

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2 hours ago, BelAnna said:

I have had OCD since the age of 7 and I do wonder whether OCD that emerges during early development might be harder to recover from?

Good question, I am not sure of the research (but I can ask), am I allowed to ask a lady her age now (or ballpark?).  I would also hazard a guess, that most of us had some OCD problems in childhood anyway? or have had OCD for X of years and still make progress.  

So with your level of insight, which you clearly have, I don't think having it since childhood need be a barrier.

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2 hours ago, BelAnna said:

I would love to recover. In general most literature and research seems to suggest that OCD is a chronic (ongoing) condition, which improves with treatment but which can worsen with stress/life events/hormonal disruption/pregnancy/medical illness etc. so I generally don't feel very hopeful that recovery is possible. However Prof Salkovskis is one of the leading UK specialists so if he says that recovery is possible then that's brilliant! 

I have had OCD since the age of 7 and I do wonder whether OCD that emerges during early development might be harder to recover from?

I've had OCD since I was 7 too  (I'm now in my 50s.)

Luckily recovery isn't dependent on duration of symptoms. Recovery is solely about changing how you do things, including how you think. 

'If you always do what you've always done then you'll always get what you've always got.'

If you always think as you've always thought then the result will always be the same - continuing OCD.

In the past, stress, physical illness, hormone fluctuations, life events and more besides could all worsen my OCD. With hindsight, I see I created the worsening myself because I thought the extra pressure would worsen things. Now when these 'triggers' arise I know to step back, apply a different kind of thinking and separate the 'trigger' from the reaction. As a result I don't usually get any worsening of symptoms regardless of what life throws at me. 

Change what you do and and you'll get something different in return.

That holds true whatever age you are when you start thinking differently. :) 

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2 minutes ago, Ashley said:

Good question, I am not sure of the research (but I can ask), am I allowed to ask a lady her age now (or ballpark?).  I would also hazard a guess, that most of us had some OCD problems in childhood anyway? or have had OCD for X of years and still make progress.  

So with your level of insight, which you clearly have, I don't think having it since childhood need be a barrier.

Hi Ashley,

That would be great- thank you! I'm in my late twenties now. I've had severe Emetophobia from 7 (so sort of OCD) and had contamination OCD (that was noticeable to other kids) by 8 but that's true most sufferers probably develop OCD at a young age! 

 

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8 minutes ago, snowbear said:

I've had OCD since I was 7 too  (I'm now in my 50s.)

Luckily recovery isn't dependent on duration of symptoms. Recovery is solely about changing how you do things, including how you think. 

'If you always do what you've always done then you'll always get what you've always got.'

If you always think as you've always thought then the result will always be the same - continuing OCD.

In the past, stress, physical illness, hormone fluctuations, life events and more besides could all worsen my OCD. With hindsight, I see I created the worsening myself because I thought the extra pressure would worsen things. Now when these 'triggers' arise I know to step back, apply a different kind of thinking and separate the 'trigger' from the reaction. As a result I don't usually get any worsening of symptoms regardless of what life throws at me. 

Change what you do and and you'll get something different in return.

That holds true whatever age you are when you start thinking differently. :) 

That's really inspiring Snowbear! well done for standing up to your OCD and getting better! 

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