Would repeatedly smashing my head against the wall help stop my intrusive thoughts?

[Guest Stu.]

I think im about to go completely out of my mind if I have to put up with these thoughts for much longer, does anyone know of a crisis number?, someone I can talk to to get some help, im going out of my mind!!

[PolarBear]

Phoning a crisis support line might help to talk you down a bit and get you stabilized a bit. What you need long term is proper CBT with a course of ERP. You need to learn how not to respond to the thoughts/images. The problem is not the thoughts/images. It is the way you respond to the thoughts/images. That can be changed with the right therapy and a lot of hard work.

[Guest OCDAY]

Hey Stu,

Been there mate. Phone Samitans or Mind.

Personally for me a last resort is your local CMHT NHS Department. I dont phone these as there is a chance you will end und up on a mental health ward, not something I want.

[Guest Stu.]

Phoning a crisis support line might help to talk you down a bit and get you stabilized a bit. What you need long term is proper CBT with a course of ERP. You need to learn how not to respond to the thoughts/images. The problem is not the thoughts/images. It is the way you respond to the thoughts/images. That can be changed with the right therapy and a lot of hard work.

I know your right, I just wish it was all that easy, my mental health team have denied me anymore cbt.

Edited December 20, 2014 by Stu.

[Guest Stu.]

Hey Stu,

Been there mate. Phone Samitans or Mind.

Personally for me a last resort is your local CMHT NHS Department. I dont phone these as there is a chance you will end und up on a mental health ward, not something I want.

Hey Stu,

Been there mate. Phone Samitans or Mind.

Personally for me a last resort is your local CMHT NHS Department. I dont phone these as there is a chance you will end und up on a mental health ward, not something I want.

How do you deal with them?

Edited December 20, 2014 by Stu.

[Guest OCDAY]

I'm sooooo lucky Stu, I dont need to as can phone my psych (private but calls are free) 24/7 7days a week, if in crisis.

I also can email my GP 24/7 7 days a week and he usually emails me back by mobile!!!

I appreciate my medical team!!!

From past experience you can off the record phone samaritans or mind just to talk.

The NHS CMHT Team are more expeienced and will liklely want to visit you to assess you. There is a risk of them putting you in your local mental health ward (mine is appaeling) and ther IS NO way I would go in....................

[Guest Stu.]

I'm sooooo lucky Stu, I dont need to as can phone my psych (private but calls are free) 24/7 7days a week, if in crisis.

I also can email my GP 24/7 7 days a week and he usually emails me back by mobile!!!

I appreciate my medical team!!!

From past experience you can off the record phone samaritans or mind just to talk.

The NHS CMHT Team are more expeienced and will liklely want to visit you to assess you. There is a risk of them putting you in your local mental health ward (mine is appaeling) and ther IS NO way I would go in....................

No, I meant how do you deal with the thoughts?

[Guest OCDAY]

Personally I deal with them through intense ERP under phychological supervision.

I know many people have done it under self help but I tried 3 times and failed, as it turned out I was at the very severe end of the spectrum. Supervisied therapy is working.

[Guest Stu.]

Personally I deal with them through intense ERP under phychological supervision.

I know many people have done it under self help but I tried 3 times and failed, as it turned out I was at the very severe end of the spectrum. Supervisied therapy is working.

it sounds like your getting the help you need, wish I was, are you having to pay for that yourself?

[Ashley]

I think im about to go completely out of my mind if I have to put up with these thoughts for much longer, does anyone know of a crisis number?, someone I can talk to to get some help, im going out of my mind!!

Stu, is that a serious question about smashing your head against a wall, or made out of frustration? You do know that is not how OCD works don't you?

[Guest OCDAY]

Yeah having to pay for it as on NHS in my area the waiting list to see anyone OCD qualified (was advised it would also be a a new therapist) is 12-18 months!!!!!!

Funds are running out though, have appplied to the NHS to fund my provate therapist under hte grounds of therapist/patient trust.....awaiting a response.........

[Guest Stu.]

Stu, is that a serious question about smashing your head against a wall, or made out of frustration? You do know that is not how OCD works don't you?

Yes absolute utter frustration, although to be honest if it worked i'd probably do it!!

[Ashley]

Yes absolute utter frustration, although to be honest if it worked i'd probably do it!!

Well, I am not entirely sure that OCD can be physically removed from our brains (hence why I am very negative about brain surgery). I am glad you said it in frustration though Stu, please though, if you feel it is an event you may act out please, regardless of time of day/night contact someone or take yourself to your local A&E for someone to talk to.

[Guest Stu.]

Yeah having to pay for it as on NHS in my area the waiting list to see anyone OCD qualified (was advised it would also be a a new therapist) is 12-18 months!!!!!!

Funds are running out though, have appplied to the NHS to fund my provate therapist under hte grounds of therapist/patient trust.....awaiting a response.........

Good luck with that one!, it seems the best therapists are the private ones, the nhs should pay for people to go private as there simply aren't enough nhs ones and the waiting times are ridiculous.

[Guest Stu.]

Well, I am not entirely sure that OCD can be physically removed from our brains (hence why I am very negative about brain surgery). I am glad you said it in frustration though Stu, please though, if you feel it is an event you may act out please, regardless of time of day/night contact someone or take yourself to your local A&E for someone to talk to.

I just rang 111, but no one there is trained in mental health matters.

[Guest anatta]

I know the feeling you're talking about Stu, when you're very stressed there can be a strange intuition that banging your forehead would give some kind of relief, hence the expression "banging your head against a brick wall", though I don't think most people have ever had the feeling themselves. Sometimes extremely and chronically distressed people actually do it. It's just a vague fantasy that can make me feel a little better, I've never felt in danger of carrying it out.

Long before I get those thoughts, I live with a physical sensation in my head when the OCD has been very bad, not a pain or ache which I rarely even get when physically ill, but a raw, over-warm feeling as if I can feel parts of my brain actually overheating from excessive activity. I don't know what causes it or whether it's possible to actually sense the temperature of your brain maybe through the meninges that surround it, but it makes me want to douse my head in something cool, and it feels like having some cool gel massaged right into the brain itself would be nice.

Definitely not a good idea to ever act on if it did start to feel like a strong urge, though. The prefrontal cortex is what you'd risk damaging and the prefrontal cortex plays an important role in recovery from OCD, as well as being organised, self-disciplined and a host of other important life skills.

[Guest Orwell1984]

Don't because your personality is at front of your head. You could brain damage yourself.

[Guest Tricia]

Stu, is that a serious question about smashing your head against a wall, or made out of frustration? You do know that is not how OCD works don't you?

I'm not proud to say it, but I did this many times.

No, it won't work, unless you end up with a serious bleed and 'out of it' altogether. I bitterly regret my past action. I heard on the news a few nights ago that American footballers are prone to dementia decades after their professional careers have ended, due to hard knocks on the head. I am becoming increasingly forgetful and realize I may have done irreversible damage years ago. I had thought I'd got away with it, but maybe not...

[Guest Tricia]

Don't because your personality is at front of your head. You could brain damage yourself.

Very true.

There is someone (infamous) who became violent after a very serious head injury. His personality was totally changed.