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Drinking and OCD


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Has anyone else had problems with drinking and OCD. Over the last few years I've found that evenings are more bearable with drink. It relaxes me and allows me to forget about my troubles. A nurse has told me that I'm consuming a dangerous volume of alcohol but I've tried cutting back and it just leaves me anxious in the evenings. I don't feel drunk after drinking I just feel trouble free. They wanted to refer me to a drug and alcohol unit but I refused to go, its bad enough having home visits and monthly reviews.

The nurse referred my drinking as self medicating but while that may be the case I do get periods where I drink very little so I'm not addicted to it and I don't feel ill from it.

Has anyone got any advice?

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Hi dubs

When my OCD was bad, only alcohol helped. As soon as things got 'difficult' I would get (or my lovely hubby would get me) at that time - brandy and coke. It really was the only respite from anxiety that I had and I grew to rely on it.

Several years on - my OCD is really very much in hand - the drinking isn't....

I would like to think it's not a real problem - but I know it is. At the moment it is within my hold..........but it is verging on a problem.

I can't just blame OCD - I do like drinking...and, as I say, I do not need it to help me........

Take care

whitebeam

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Has anyone got any advice?

Yes, don't drink.

Of course I know it's not as simple as that if you are becoming addicted (by the sounds of it you may be because of the OCD), by your own admission you are drinking for the wrong reasons, to relax, to self-medicate as the nurse mentions. You are drinking because you need it, which is the wrong reason to drink.

I have seen it many times with OCD, people come up with all sorts of excuses why it's harmless, but they are just digging a bigger hole for themselves long term.

So even if you like to drink, you need to take time off and not drink. Hey, you could even set a target, say a 90-days alcohol free for charity (for OCD-UK please :) ) and see how you feel at the end of the three months. Chances are you will find after a couple of week. Alcohol is a depressant so I am surprised you are not finding OCD bad in the mornings after drinking?

I am not saying never drink again, but I am saying drink for the right reasons.

Time to do some soul searching and honesty :)

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Huh, seems we can all relate on a few things. The best thing I'm thinking of combating this is to try and busy/have fun yourself. The over excessive drinking is coming from the desire to oppress the feeling you get with OCD. Try instead to plan evenings out, have fun. Basically, occupy yourself with activities that are positive to draw your mind away from these bad feelings. Of course, I haven't found the perfect all curing solution for the problem, but if you're willing to try and just remove the reliance, options are there. It's because of fear of what happens if you don't drink and those feelings coming back. Got to confront it sometime, I'm going to confront it when I finally start working. Having a job is important to me and I absolutely don't want to drink the night before work, so I reason with myself that I will work as much as possible and drink very little. Have an aim that involves you swearing yourself off of drink while your achieving it. I don't know, just coming up with ideas over here. :)

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its all very well Doctors telling me to drink less but its the only thing that really works in the evening, what will offering clinic to someone who doesn't want to stop actually do. I've had liver function tests and they are all normal.

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I'm doing the same so can't offer advice

Time to cut it, completely cut it Bruces. It's a depressant and would explain a lot in your case. I won't discuss here as it is not your thread, but my advice above is so important for you.

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I've tried cutting it out, I don't socialise and if I do I feel so self conscious that I don't enjoy it. Drinking helps me in many many ways so I'm so reluctant to remove it.

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its all very well Doctors telling me to drink less but its the only thing that really works in the evening, what will offering clinic to someone who doesn't want to stop actually do. I've had liver function tests and they are all normal.

Then you need to find something else that works, you need to focus more on the psychological therapy. There is a reason that the NICE guidelines for OCD don't recommend drinking as part of the OCD coping and treatment strategy.

This is not just a flippant comment on my part, it is 10-years of doing this job and seeing what happens to some lovely people when they have ignored the advice and carried on down the path of self-medicating with substances, it creates two problems, OCD + addiction.

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I'm so reluctant to remove it.

Well that's up to you, but if you are drinking to self-medicate we can't help you until you choose to recognise what you are doing is the wrong approach. I am not saying this to make life harder for you, I am saying this because in a years time I don't want to see you with two problems. :)

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I don't wanna hijack a thread,I know they say alchol doesn't solve anything it just gives me a few hours in the evening to escape the misery and despair

Not working for you though is it! Sorry to be so blunt. Time to look at another option, and maybe like I suggested to Dubs give it a miss for a period of time (2-3 months).

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I really don't want to condone alchohol to anybody but after years of misery all day everyday a few drinks helps me hold the anxiety at bay at least for a few hours,but like I said I don't condone it most won't be treatment resistant like myself

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Alcohol is a stimulant and - like carrying out a compulsive ritual - is a very short term ease, but not a solution.

And helping to only temporarily ease a problem while actually creating another through potential addiction is harmful not helpful.

A good friend of mine told me a salutory tale last week. He recently retired from managing a drug and alcohol rehabilitation centre, and he told me the experiences he had to deal with there were so terrible that he irrevocably lost his religious faith.

Edited by taurean
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I really don't want to condone alchohol to anybody but after years of misery all day everyday a few drinks helps me hold the anxiety at bay at least for a few hours,but like I said I don't condone it most won't be treatment resistant like myself

oh come on Bruces, you are not helping yourself or anyone else with this. Look at your thread, by your own admission you are not coping at all, and with alcohol being a known depressant is it not possible that could go some way to explaining the depressed state you see to be constantly in? I keep saying it, we want to help, we can help you but you have to help yourself first and do everything you can to try and get yourself on a even keel.

Like Dave Brailsford the boss of British Cycling talks about, 'marginal gains', lots of little changes could make a significant impact on your life, and cutting alcohol is one of them. But clearly from these posts you don't even realise what you are doing is not the way forward? Had you said "I know drinking does not help me, but I cant help it" at least we would know you realise it is the wrong approach, but you don't seem to get it.

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Hi dubs

My OCD was bad from 2000 to 2004/5

That's when I started drinking to help with my OCD - it really did help. However, I carried on drinking.....

I now have to have a liver function test every year - and it's usually not that great - but they have yet to tell me to stop drinking - for which i am relieved.

It's not great to keep drinking - so, if you can cut down - that's best.

Take care

whitebeam

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I find that instead of drinking , vigorous exercise helps me more !!! I get the calming feeling afterwords and the added benefit of it being good for my physical health. I

Know it can be hard , but motivating yourself to do it is harder than doing it.

I feel like I took a Xanax after I work out!

I usually do at least 30 minutes of VIGOROUS cardio. I used to do 1 hour of moderate cardio, but, I found that the more vigorous , the more calming it is. It also helps to get your mind off of things while you're doing it. Plus , another benefit is it lessens the intrusive thoughts. Try it!!! It works !!

Edited by Markie1974
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Now that is much more sensible.

People get benefit from vallium, but that is only ever normally given for a very short period, to get over a big upset, otherwise it's addictive.

Another thing I learned from recent therapy helps me understand what to do.

I was told there are two parts to thinking in our brain.

The active "doing" part

The passive"being" part.

In the active "doing" mode, our mind is programmed to seek answers, so it continually whirrs round in OCD "loops" hence obsessions and repetitive thoughts.

If we find our own suitable way to shift to the benign, passive, being part of the brsan, we ease away from obsessions, compulsions and addictive urges, and settle into mindful detachment.

I do this by using an intense disrtraction - like Markie does with exercise.

So folks, seek an intense distraction that can work for you. Use trial and error to find what woks best.

A stiff walk in the neighbourhood, taking in everything that I come across, is good for me.

Helping others is also good for me,as is gardening and DIY.

And resding a gripping book or watching an interesting TV programme.

Edited by taurean
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I'm drinking right now, the feeling is that it blocks my thoughts, all of those worries that I have by day can be eradicated. But I know, if I get my life sorted, I'll be able to resist any urge to drink. I can see the comfort in it, it ins't about getting drunk but that golden sensation where you can think without anxiety or any other problems. But it isn't right, I know it, I feel it. Before, I actually disliked alcohol. This isn't a solution, it's a problem. We all need to try and sort it out, to get better. Alcohol isn't the solution, it merely is an escape, and not a very good one mentally nor physically. I understand that I must fix it, I'm waiting for that point I will fight it by working. I desire to work and interact with people because I've been deprived of that for so long. You should all find a way too, it's for the best. I've watched this dependency of alcohol destroy someone despite them being 'healthy'. Alcohol is a destroyer just like OCD, only alcohol tries to trick you with comfort, whilst OCD hurts you with fear. Don't trust either, fight it and you won't regret it.

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I'm wholeheartedly with Ashley on this one. It's fine to have a night now and again when you really want a drink but when you get to the point where you need a drink (or lots of them) to function, you've already headed down the wrong path.

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Guest Tricia

Hi dubs

My OCD was bad from 2000 to 2004/5

That's when I started drinking to help with my OCD - it really did help. However, I carried on drinking.....

I now have to have a liver function test every year - and it's usually not that great - but they have yet to tell me to stop drinking - for which i am relieved.

It's not great to keep drinking - so, if you can cut down - that's best.

Take care

whitebeam

Just last month there was a very surprising Horizon documentary. Two things were made very clear: the liver is so amazing it almost seems alien in its ability to repair itself. They spoke of liver donors (live ones) who regrow the missing section of their livers in a month and how the recipients grow a whole liver from the donated piece.

The second thing I learned was that alcohol, even in small amounts (government recommended ones) causes the body to produce a chemical to metabolize it and this chemical damages the lining of the gut, which in turn allows bacteria to leak into the blood stream and cause inflammation.

Two twins (doctors) took part in an experiment which shocked the specialists testing them, leading them to state that government guidelines need reassessing. One brave (or crazy) twin binged one night a week and ended up in a terrible state. His identical twin consumed the same amount, per week, but in small daily units (within government guidelines). Both had the same amount of damage to their livers in just one month!! The binging twin had more inflammation in his blood (due to gut leakage) but his brother wasn't doing well in that regard either. So it really does look as though alcohol, even in small amounts, is damaging to physical and mental health.

P.S The binging twin went the rest of the week without alcohol, to see if the recovery time helped him, while his twin had the small amount every day (both for a month).

Edited by Tricia
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Guest Tricia

. Alcohol is a destroyer just like OCD, only alcohol tries to trick you with comfort, whilst OCD hurts you with fear. Don't trust either, fight it and you won't regret it.

OCD tricks us with comfort, too - just wash once more or check again that the door is locked and you can relax and all will be well...Both alcohol and OCD can masquerade as friends.

Edited by Tricia
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The fact is, alcohol is no treatment for OCD.

The way forward for most persons with especial OCD difficulties i think might be finding a med/combination of meds that works and using that in conjunction with CBT and ERP. That was the way forward for Polarbear and whitebeam, for example.

Sadly these usual things don't work for some, and we all continue to try and find a breakthrough for those.

But alcohol is no breakthrough, it may just temporarily mask - or indeed send someone who drinks a lot into some kind of mental oblivion, then one is back to square one but with a hangover to boot -. plus the damage to one's body makes it undesirable anyway.

I like an occasional drink, and my body seems perfectly able to cope with that. My drinking anyway was probably more social than desired.

Edited by taurean
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