Relabelling - when to and when not to

[Ashley]

This is a subject that came up at the Derby OCD Support Group this week when one of our members mentioned they were doing well with their OCD driving, and when they had a thought they may have knocked someone down, they relabelled it 'just OCD, don't be silly' kind of thing.

Now I think the first thing to say is she has done remarkable to get to that point from not being able to drive, so that in itself is a huge positive not to be dismissed, but what she said to us what that the fear of driving was not really diminishing.

What I think was happening is that she is conducting a neutralising compulsion by saying 'it's just OCD' each time she drives, so the fear remains constant. Therefore, my suggestion was to perhaps consider saying something else to herself when the OCD kicks in during her drive... 'Oh I did hit someone, oh well'! Of course that is a really difficult thing to do and may take some working at with her therapist I guess.

But by the same token, well done to her for at least driving now, that is a great achievement in itself but with OCD we know give it an inch and it will demand a mile and what she said to us what that the fear of driving was not really diminishing. I hope she felt I was not being too pushy (if you are reading this, sorry, I just want you to be 100% better).

But back to my original thread topic title, I do think there is a brief place for relabeling, which is primarily when we are new to OCD, it is important to identify what is OCD (especially with intrusive thoughts) so it is perhaps a good exercise for those people at the very start of their OCD and about to enter treatment. I think once therapy starts, you perhaps need to stop relabeling. What do others think?

[taurean]

At the start of therapy response, its great.

If the intrusions are very narrowly focused then relabelling is not needed when they recur.

When the thoughts are much more widespread and may cross themes, and there needs to be a distinction between OCD and, say, worry or overgeneralising - its valuable.

Amongst the defusions of OCD thoughts I have used is the "I am having the thought that".......prefix that might work well for your lady as it takes a lot of the sting out of thinking the intrusion. Also, for a repetitive intrusion like hers, you wouldn't need to think it in words every time - you would habituate on the concept.

I have read a number of examples of driving OCD including where the driver is completed to stop and check the car for signs of having hit something, go back in the road to look for something. These appear from the books to have responded well to ERP to cut down the ritual compulsion.

(I did actually hot something when driving. There was a big thump against the left offside wheel. I stopped safely got out and went back. There was a squirrel lying in the middle of the road. I was very upset - I hadn't seen it - it had run from a right angle out of my field of vision. I reverently picked it up and laid it on the grass verge. It could well have been "my" squirrel as I live just round the corner. I returned (from the dump) within a few minutes and walked back to pick the squirrel up for burial - it had gone! The conclusion I drew was that it had been knocked unconscious then recovered.)

Where the compulsion may be a neutralising thought or could become one, labelling may be a compulsion.

Edited February 26, 2015 by taurean

[Guest legend]

Hope its ok to share my recovery, as i was a big fan of the four steps , but relabelling ..........

I tended to do this relabelling thing on my road to recovery ( no pun intended ) in the early days , like if i was in a stuation that triggered my ocd , or even not

when i was caught out , id relable it as ocd , but not relable , id recognise it as ocd at work , because i kind of thought to myself , and perhaps what i learnt from

back here in the day, was i cannot go on in life keep relabelling it as ocd , in a self reassurance way, nor did i want to spend the rest of my life relabelling it

I see a lot of people do it in early stages of recovery , relabelling it as ocd, which is kind of ok , as long as its not done as compulsion , more of a recognition

that its ocd at work , and that in your friends casen)

they carry on with what they are doing , and allowing the ocd to be there , so to speak

Next stage id say is not to relable, but to anticipate it might or may happen, but to deliberatly carry on , and then push the fears further, encourage the

anxiety and ocd , without the need to relable , otherwise your placing to much importance onto "its OCD" which then could fall into a neutralising behaviour (compulsion)

The person relabelling has to be brutally honest and say are they doing it to reassure, or are they doing it as recognition of ocd at work

probably on my recovery i erred on the 2nd, then challenged it ,

[PolarBear]

I think you've hit the nail on the head, Ashley. Relabeling can become a neutralizing type of compulsion. Your suggestion to the lady that she say, "I did run over someone, oh well," is spot on.

In the beginning, when the person is just starting out on their road to recovery, I think it's okay for them to label what's going on as OCD. We have problems here on the forum where people don't even recognize that what they're going through is OCD at the time. So labeling as OCD is a good thing. But, it has to stop at some point. After you've been able to successfully label what's going on as OCD for a while, you need to take the next step and stop labeling and start challenging the obsessions.

[Caramoole]

The person relabelling has to be brutally honest and say are they doing it to reassure, or are they doing it as recognition of ocd at work

This is true and I can remember discussing this point in your early days of recovery

The Four Steps/Relabelling is okay in the very early days......I've always felt that only two steps were needed and that very quickly, even they should be pared back to the point where we could simply recognise, acknowledge and accept that any/all of these intrusions are because we suffer from OCD, with no need for any type of ritual to label them.

It increasingly concerns me that people are unable to recognise that their thoughts, fears and feelings as part of the condition even after many years and much explanation. I'm not suggesting for a moment that the intrusions, urges, doubts or fears will stop bothering them but with the mass of information that is now so readily available I do feel people should be able to identify what is OCD. It's so disappointing because until we come to that point and acceptance there is little hope of improvement.

Caramoole

[Guest legend]

This is true and I can remember discussing this point in your early days of recovery

The Four Steps/Relabelling is okay in the very early days......I've always felt that only two steps were needed and that very quickly, even they should be pared back to the point where we could simply recognise, acknowledge and accept that any/all of these intrusions are because we suffer from OCD, with no need for any type of ritual to label them.

It increasingly concerns me that people are unable to recognise that their thoughts, fears and feelings as part of the condition even after many years and much explanation. I'm not suggesting for a moment that the intrusions, urges, doubts or fears will stop bothering them but with the mass of information that is now so readily available I do feel people should be able to identify what is OCD. It's so disappointing because until we come to that point and acceptance there is little hope of improvement.

Caramoole

blooming hell youve got a good memory , considering lol

Yes totally agree , the acceptance of the illness is vital , as is the anticipation and acknowledgement ( the three A,s)

The key then, is moving in the direction of fears, challenging the thoughts and unwanted anxiety and feelings !!

One of the reasons , i tend to take a wee step back at times , in the sense that weve made fantastic progress re knowledge , etc , but its a definite that to get better you have to walk the talk

And of course , more therapists please

[Caramoole]

And of course , more therapists please

......And even before that, more Doctors that actually understand the condition properly. I find it scandalous that in 2015 there are still G.P's and Therapists that are telling sufferers that they don't have OCD, when simply spending 30 minutes reading the internet would be enough to inform them!!

[Guest legend]

......And even before that, more Doctors that actually understand the condition properly. I find it scandalous that in 2015 there are still G.P's and Therapists that are telling sufferers that they don't have OCD, when simply spending 30 minutes reading the internet would be enough to inform them!!

first port of call to !! "you cant have ocd , you dont wash your hands or check doors !! " to often spoken , shockingly worrying still !

Often one feels like throwing towel in , give up , why bother !! but mustnt !!

[taurean]

Now now Mr legend - you are a champion of awareness - selfless and hard-working tot he cause as too other recoverees whitebeam and polarbear. .

I thought of you today as I had my haircut by my local barber.

Now I give my doctor's surgery massive marks. We are a very built-up area, the nearest alternative surgery is over 2 miles away. But if you need seeing that day, you will get seen.

The 3 senior GP's I know well and I have helped the practice with OCD awareness over the years. When I went along to start the citalopram I told the doctor (one of the seniors) what experiences OCD-UK forum members had had with medication which interested him. He asked me as a result what SSRI I thought might be best for me?!!!!

[NicoletteCB]

I am currently trying to ease off of an obsession about my feelings and how if I do not feel postitve feelings (ex: happiness, love, etc) or good feelings when engaging in activities having to do with my sexual orientation and relationship than it means I don't really love my lover and I'm not gay because I cannot get the proper feelings or feel wrong.

I have been instructed to just accept all good or bad emotions/feelings and when dealing with these situations remind myself that my feelings will not impact my relationship and orientation and don't have a serious correlation or effect. I'm at the very beginning of doing this and am just wondering if it's right to do this or it is reassurance?

[taurean]

Sounds good to me. I think you are accepting the thoughts after challenging the meaning they have been given by OCD.

[Guest legend]

Now now Mr legend - you are a champion of awareness - selfless and hard-working tot he cause as too other recoverees whitebeam and polarbear. .

I thought of you today as I had my haircut by my local barber.

Now I give my doctor's surgery massive marks. We are a very built-up area, the nearest alternative surgery is over 2 miles away. But if you need seeing that day, you will get seen.

The 3 senior GP's I know well and I have helped the practice with OCD awareness over the years. When I went along to start the citalopram I told the doctor (one of the seniors) what experiences OCD-UK forum members had had with medication which interested him. He asked me as a result what SSRI I thought might be best for me?!!!!

Lucky you , not always the case though taurean, still see people removed from family's because they disclose thoughts to there gp , !! Temporarily of course , but all utterly needless

Meds great , could talk hours about them , prefer a good therapist that will help one kick ocd butt though

[ecomum]

I find relabelling very difficult as i always think " yes but what if this is the one time its not?". If i do manage to relabel it helps massively. The thing i find helps me to relabel most is coming on here because it makes me see rhat its not just me and it happens to others so it must be ocd.

Edited February 26, 2015 by ecomum

[Guest legend]

so next steps ecomum is ??

[Franklin12]

I would agree that in the early stages of recovery it feels very important to acknowledge that a fear is in all probability down to OCD. My first penny drop moment was realising that the way I was thinking about everything actually had a name and was common and that other people had similar thoughts. Finding this 'OCD' forum for people who had similar types of thoughts was invaluable to me, and was the first step to changing how I had been reacting to thoughts and events. But having learnt the tools to dealing with such destructive ways of thinking, labels and mechanisms have become less and less important. I have read a gazillion books about OCD and a million research papers about the biological causes. I now have no interest in any of that - all I know is that when something happens in my life that triggers a fear, the way I have reacted to those fears in the past has been very destructive. I have learnt a new way of thinking, and whether or not something is 'OCD' is meaningless - basically thought processes have been driven by an obsessive disorder. This doesn't mean that everything that happens in my life that makes me scared is 'OCD', or that nothing bad can ever really happen because I have 'OCD'. But my thinking is distorted by 'OCD'. I don't like to see the constant 'it's just OCD' line of thinking because I think it's simply reassurance. Learning to accept risk and to accept that life isn't necessarily going to be all roses is I think an important part of development. For me now, when faced with a trigger, I never say 'it's OCD', I always now say 'it might be true', no matter how dreadful the thought. This is what has worked for me.

[ecomum]

I don't know Ledgend.Im a bit stuck at the moment.Looked back through my relapse prevention file and self help books but im in the middle of a panic at the moment and its hard to focus .

[ecomum]

I guess its saying "it might be true ..so what?". This makes perfect sense on a good day,but too hard on a bad day

[Guest itsnotmeitsmyocd]

Thanks Ashley, really interesting post as it's something i have two minds about. I think (in my very humble opinion) it depends on how the person is using the labeling and the situation that they are in.

When i am starting a new exposure i allow myself to relabel as ocd as it can help me a little to get through the exposure. Of course when outside of high levels of terror i know full well it's ocd but when it's at these high levels simply acknowledging that this is ocd can help me to get back to earth - so to speak. Once i am getting more habituated to said exposure i will not relabel - instead i thank my brain for its creativity. Then my next step - as you advised Ashley - will be to agree with the intrusive thought(s). Then my final step will be to bring on the intrusive thought(s) whilst in said exposure or if they are coming on their own (usually the case) then i will exaggerate the intrusive thought(s). So for me i do feel there is a time and a place for labeling but equally there is a time and a place when one needs to move on from labeling. I am not recovered yet though and perhaps once i am i may have a different view on it

[Guest Azamour]

This is an interesting point. For me I initially relabeled but don't do it anymore. Like some of the guys have mentioned above these days I work on accepting the possibility of my thoughts bring true and work with that.

I think once you initially recognise that you have OCD and that this upsets your thought pattern that you can then start to work the root of the issue.

[Melanie]

I find relabelling very difficult as i always think " yes but what if this is the one time its not?". If i do manage to relabel it helps massively. The thing i find helps me to relabel most is coming on here because it makes me see rhat its not just me and it happens to others so it must be ocd.

[Melanie]

Sounds very familiar ecomum

[Ashley]

So for me i do feel there is a time and a place for labeling but equally there is a time and a place when one needs to move on from labeling. I am not recovered yet though and perhaps once i am i may have a different view on it

I think that is right, relabeling can be helpful in some circumstances, but it quickly becomes time to move on, finding that line is important I think.

[Guest Eiko]

Wow. Amazing thread. I am new to the forum tonight and already feel like my challenges coming up tomorrow will feel different with all I am learning here. Thank you!

[taurean]

Between PolarBear me Tricia Caramoole and a few others a lot of good material with real practicsl tips to hell people forward has been placed on the forum in the last few days.

We want to push as many peope as possible in the direction of engaging with what they must d to recover.

[Bodge]

Can I ask a question, if someone has hyper responsibility, harm ocd and false memories, how is it ok to just think 'so what if I did something I feared, acted on a thought' when the result could be causing harm to another person. I can't get my head round how you could accept that thought and be ok with it??

Edited February 28, 2015 by Bodge