dksea

Even before I became lactose intolerant I could not understand the appeal of cheesecake. 100% with you on that one!

Wait...pretzels?! Who doesn't like pretzels?!? Now I KNOW you are crazy ?

Tried Whiskey once. Worst thing I've ever put in my mouth. I do not understand why people like it Baked beans on the other hand...?

Holidays?!? As in the actual celebration days (Christmas, Halloween, etc.) or like days off (what we in the states refer to as Vacation?). In either case, I'll take your extras

So funny story about beets. In America we celebrate Thanksgiving in November every year with a big meal. One of the traditional foods served at Thanksgiving is cranberry sauce/cranberry relish. It comes in many forms, but a common one is a jellied version in a can. Now personally, I LOVE cranberries but its not for everyone. Well, here is where beets come in. Beets ALSO come in cans in a jellied form. And when I was in Elementary school I went to aday care place because both my parents worked. Well one day during the summer for lunch they served some food and it sure as heck looked like cranberry sauce to me! Unfortunately it was not. It was beets. I was quite traumatized after taking a big bite expecting cranberry. Since that day I have not knowingly consumed beets. They are my enemy for their betrayal Also I don't think many people would disagree with you on disliking bullies OR especially spiders ?

I don't drink coffee either! Being from Seattle that seems particularly odd to many people Also don't like beer or wine (or any alcohol really) so you are not alone! Definitely love fantasy films and spicy food (mmm tacos) though

Wise words from a wise bear

I'm so glad to hear you are feeling better and that your sessions was productive and helpful as well! Learning how to respond better to intrusive thoughts is a valuable skill that will serve you well in recovery. Keep working on it and before you know it it will be second nature. Also, try to keep days and times like this in mind for when you might have rough days in the future. Its good to remember that such things are temporary and you CAN and WILL have good days too!

Hi Frantic, sorry you are struggling right now. Social isolation is a very real issue, I’ve had some down periods because of it myself this past year, and of course OCD makes it harder. In addition to Gemma’s great suggestion I thought I’d offer some idea and things that have been helping me. One is to get out of the house/apartment/etc if possible from time to time. While gathering with friends at a pub or restaurant might be out, you can go for a walk in most places. Not only is a change of scenery good for you, but exercise and fresh air also help. Another thing that you might try are small out door meetups. Masked and properly distant, meeting outdoors is very very safe. You can combine the two and go for a walk with a friend or family member, and just chat or enjoy each other’s company. Video chat is also a good way to connect with people if you can’t meet up outside in person for some reason. It’s not as nice as in person but it’s still something and even a little connection time here and there can make a difference. Also while I think you are ABSOLUTELY doing the right thing by reaching out for help if you feel particularly down and depressed and I hope you get that help soon, it also helps me to remember that it’s normal to have negative emotions sometimes, especially in situations like this. I remind myself that it’s only temporary and try to find an activity I can do that is enjoyable or rewarding in some way. Accomplishing tasks can feel good, so even normally not fun things like doing laundry or cleaning the bathroom can actually help you feel better. It can be tempting when you feel down to just side around and do nothing, but I’ve found that being a little active (you don’t need to run a marathon) can also be a bit of a pick me up. Finally, keep an eye on your diet. It might not be much fun but I have found that making sure I’m eating regularly and including good quality food like fresh fruits or vegetables, and avoiding too much junk food, also makes a difference in improving my mood. Of course a treat now and then is good too! It’s ok to enjoy things and reward yourself from time to time, but too much can make me feel lethargic and contribute to my own negative mood. Anyway I hope you start feeling better soon. While things might not be great for you today, it doesn’t mean it will always be bad. There’s lots of things to look forward to and we are moving in a positive direction lately overall. Not back to normal yet, but I really feel like the goal is getting closer and closer. Hang in there!

Hi Button, I hope you are able to get the information you need and get a diagnose so you can begin getting help and working on recovery soon! One recommendation I have when it comes to OCD is to try not to put too much energy in to categorizing it. While it can help initially to relate your fears to similar stories, what we worry about can change over time. Health my be your current primary fear but it’s possible in the future a different fear (say being in a car accident) will be the thought that bothers you most. The reality is OCD is just OCD and when you focus more on treating the whole problem rather than focusing narrowly on a specific “type” it prepares you better in case your anxieties do shift. You’ll be ready to treat it as just more of the same rather than thinking “oh no, now I have relationship OCD, what do I do?!” So while it will be helpful to tailor some parts of your therapy to your current worries, try to understand what you learn in terms of general fear and anxiety. I think it will help down the line.

A few things. First, this is just your first meeting, while I encourage you to share as much as possible, if you don’t talk about it this time that doesn’t meant you can’t next time. This is a process, not a moment Second, while your fears seem horrible, trust me your psychologist has heard it and worse I had to admit I was afraid I would lose control and hurt myself, thinking they would surely commit me or something. Helping people like you and me is what they trained for, it’s what they do! Third, Writing out your worries might help. I find that writing out my fears and intrusive thoughts helps me handle them better and it allows you to take your time and make sure you have everything you want to say.

We don’t put an R at the beginning of Aspergers, that’s just silly. And I don’t know what you are talking about with Charlie Brown. ?

I mean you could, or I could. Or you could be fine and get struck by lightning tomorrow anyway. Or you could be fine and waste hours/days/weeks of your time worrying about something you can’t change. It’s better to accept that such an outcome is rare but possible and you’ll deal with it IF you have to. OCD doesn’t like that approach, but you will!

Gun

OCD is awful and it really knows how to make mountains out of molehills (or even no hills at all) huh? There is a saying that I have found immensely helpful in my own recovery: If you think it MIGHT be OCD, it probably is. The fear you are feeling is real obviously but it doesn’t mean the reason for that fear is. Treat it as OCD. You’ve asked a doctor, they gave you advice, work on accepting it and moving on. The less you try and “solve” this question the better off you’ll be. As much as OCD is screaming at you that you MUST have an answer, you really don’t.

Exactly, so what’s the point of dwelling on it? What does that gain you? Like just about every OCD rumination only pain and suffering. Researching won’t change what happened. Worrying won’t change what happened. You need to work on letting it go. Moreover it’s impossible to eliminate risk in life. Every action you take has risk baked in to it. Go home or go out. Eat chicken or eat beef. Drink a beer or drink juice. Everything you do has some effect on your life, most of which you can’t predict, many of which likely have a far greater affect than among this medicine did. It is entirely up to you what you do and do not take, but I think this kind of black and white approach (common in OCD) is not very healthy. While one should not blindly take medication, it’s also a proven fact that modern medicine has drastically improved quality of life and saved lives over the years. For example, where it not for my asthma medication I probably wouldn’t be here right now ? Given your OCD you should really avoid researching and looking at studies like these. In general they are hard to fully understand without the requisite medical and statistical knowledge, and OCD sufferers are at particular risk of misunderstanding. Billions of people live their lives without reading these studies including those who have or will take these drugs. IF a person is going to be on one long term it MIGHT be worth being aware of them, but when OCD is involved I’d still recommend against it. The chance of misunderstanding/misinterpreting the information just seems too high in my experience.

It’s so cute how you Brits misspell pajamas ?

I know it’s terrible but this is part of how OCD works. You worry, you doubt, you think thoughts/sensations/images have more or deeper meaning than they actually do. You dwell on these thoughts so much it colors everything else in your life. Suddenly everything is about your worry. That twitch, that glance, that motion, surely it all confirms what I’m afraid of. I’m not just saying that because I read it somewhere or someone told me, it’s exactly what happened to me to, it’s what happens to all of us suffering from OCD. A number of years ago, I went through a period where my dominant OCD fear was about losing control and hurting or killing myself. I was convinced If I didn’t “fight it” than I’d be waking down the street and suddenly jump in front of a car, or grab a knife and cut myself, or some other action. I would feel a sensation in my hand and suddenly be afraid that I was about to grab the knife for example. Or an image or thought would pop in to my head and I’d be terrified it meant that’s what I really wanted. On top of all that I was terrified to tell my doctor or therapist because they’d think I was suicidal and lock me up! I was convinced the threat was real, that I was a danger to myself. At one point I took every knife in my apartment sharper than a butter knife, locked them in a tool box and locked that in my storage closet on the first floor of my building. Eventually it got to the point where I had a panic attack and drove myself to a hospital parking lot because I was afraid to be alone. After that I finally told someone about my fears. First a nurse, then a doctor, then my psychiatrist. Two things happened. One, none of them thought I was going to hurt myself. They could tell that my problem was fear, that the idea was what was causing me distress. I was probably the LEAST likely person at that point to be suicidal. Two, I started doing regular CBT for awhile. I hadn’t really don’t much therapy before, I’d mostly managed my OCD using medication and some self help CBT books. That was a real turning point in my recovery. It wasn’t all smooth sailing after that, it took awhile to work through my then current anxiety and there have been some ups and downs along the way since, but it was definitely the lowest point in my OCD journey and I’m currently in some of the best shape I’ve ever been since my OCD first started all those years ago. And that happened because I reached out for the right kind of help AND did the work necessary to make changes, including stop trying to be 100% sure about my worries and really accepting that it was OCD driving my doubts. You can do it too, I promise you I’m no superhero. I don’t have a special talent when it comes to OCD recovery. Trust me, I’ve had some dark times. My point is to try and convince you to work on accepting that this is OCD, that just because you have these thoughts and feelings and fears it does not mean they are true, and that as scary as it is, you don’t have to listen to the OCD, you can take the leap and lay the blame on OCD. My fear was letting go would lead to me literally killing myself. Was it hard to stop fighting that fear? You bet it was! But I’m still here aren’t I? I stopped fighting and the worst didn’t happen. You can do the same. When you get these thoughts like “oh I had a response, that must mean I’m a pedophile” you can totally say “or I just have OCD”. It’s ok. That’s allowed. Trust me, OCD deserves the blame and it’s completely ok to give it to OCD.

Major life changes can be stressful even under the best of circumstances. Combine the pandemic with OCD and we are definitely NOT in the best of circumstances so it is totally understandable that you are having a hard time. In general try to be extra kind to yourself and acknowledge that its ok to not feel ok right now. Often we, as OCD sufferers, struggle with negative emotions, trying to avoid them at all cost. The reality is negative emotions are a normal part of life and its ok, even healthy to have them from time to time, so long as they don't get out of hand or last too long. Grieving the loss of a relationship, while unpleasant, is also part of moving on. I'm sorry you are going through such a tough time right now, but its also helpful to remind yourself that these things are temporary. You won't feel bad forever. In regards to having broken one of your OCD "rules", honestly thats a good thing! I know its causing you anxiety right now, and part of you really wants to fix it, but breaking the rules OCD sets for us is actually an important part of recovery. We WANT to be able to ignore OCD and its crazy grasp on us. The long term effects of breaking the rule AND resisting the urge to fix it are that OCD will have less control over you! Remind yourself that just because you feel bad, just because the OCD makes you feel like you have to follow these rules and fix them if they get broken, that in reality you don't. Its a myth, its a lie, its a false alarm. You can (and should) ignore that false alarm. In time, if you do so, the urge to fix it will get weaker and weaker. Like breaking a bad habit, the less you give in, the less strong it becomes, until eventually your brain learns not to worry about it at all. I know its hard, but you can do it. Hang in there!

So which is it? Do you enjoy them, or does it gross you out? It can't be both, these are wholly opposite reactions. What is more likely is: You had a reaction to a stimulus (the video), you fear that reaction has an associated meaning (that you'll enjoy it!) which you don't like, which causes you distress (it grosses you out). Plain and simple (though painful and unpleasant) OCD reaction.

@Getmeout I understand you are concerned, but your post also serves to the danger of Google researching as the information can be misunderstood and misinterpreted very easily. For example: In this case you jumped to the 20% number, which is actually incorrect. MORE than 80% of users had no problem, meaning less than 20% had some problem, how much less than 20%? Without having the data from the study we don't know. Further look at the highlighted part: "which are often reversible". Meaning that of the less than 20% of people who do have some problem, most of them can have the problem fixed anyway. Further, this study looks at people who used PPIs over long periods of time, years in many cases, there was no associated risks associated with people who use them short term (a few weeks, which is what is normally recommended). And finally, for the people who are on them long term, the reason can be because it actually REDUCES risk of death from other problems. So while their risk of problems might be higher compared to the general population, it might, in fact, be lower than people who have conditions that PPIs can treat but DONT take the medication. From this study we just don't have enough information to know. And there is the problem, the data here is NOT clear because you aren't looking at all the data, nor do you likely have the requisite body of knowledge (nor do most of us) to put it in context. The numbers COULD be frightening, but its a bad idea to jump to that conclusion based on one study without proper understanding of both statistics and medicine. Unless you are a doctor with such knowledge and training, absolutely you should not recommend it to anyone, nor should I Context is important. Full understanding is important. Coming to conclusions based on limited information and lack of knowledge can be itself quite dangerous. For example, do you know about the dangers of dihydrogen monoxide? is also known as hydroxyl acid, and is the major component of acid rain. contributes to the "greenhouse effect". may cause severe burns. contributes to the erosion of our natural landscape. accelerates corrosion and rusting of many metals. may cause electrical failures and decreased effectiveness of automobile brakes. has been found in excised tumors of terminal cancer patients. Despite the danger, dihydrogen monoxide is often used: as an industrial solvent and coolant. in nuclear power plants. in the production of styrofoam. as a fire retardant. in many forms of cruel animal research. in the distribution of pesticides. Even after washing, produce remains contaminated by this chemical. as an additive in certain "junk-foods" and other food products. Potent stuff! Scary? Hell yeah! BTW, did you know that dihydrogen monoxide's more common name? Water. Context is important

Hi @Laura444, it’s quite common for people to dislike or not eat certain foods for many reasons. While it’s definitely possible for someone to have a food aversion or issue related to OCD, it’s not the only source. I’d say you have a few options. If you dislike preparing chicken but don’t mind eating it after it’s cooked you could simply avoid making it yourself. It’s also possible in some places to buy already prepared food like chicken that you can just heat up. If you dislike preparing OR eating it then it’s totally ok to just not eat chicken. Lots of people don’t eat certain types of meat or meat at all. If chicken is out for you that’s totally ok! Alternatively if you think it might be OCD related and/or you just want to treat it, then something like an ERP approach where you get used to being around and eventually preparing and then even eating chicken again could work. Ultimately it’s all up to whether it’s causing a major disruption in your life and what you want to do about it.

Alternatively, we have heard EXACTLY what you have been saying, have evaluated it, and ultimately found it unconvincing. Yes, believe it or not you are not the only person in the world who has studied the mind, meditation, ego, conscious vs. unconscious thought, etc. You've met a monk? So have I, quite a few in fact. Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, etc. You've learned meditation? So have many of us, both on this forum and out in the wide wide world. Again, just because we do not blindly accept what you say, does not mean we haven't heard it or understand it. In fact, some of us may be more knowledgeable about the topics you are talking about than you are. Have you considered that? If I found the cure for cancer I would in deed be very excited, and I would indeed want to share it with the world. And if I had indeed discovered the cure for cancer, I would be able to prove it, because the cure would work. People could ask me "so how does it work?" and I could explain it to them. We could test that cure (and we would) over and over and over to show it works and to show its safe, and then people would use it and the world would be a better place. But no one should simply believe I discovered the cure for cancer just because I *said* I did. ANYONE can SAY they have the cure for cancer, just as anyone can SAY they have the cure for OCD, or anything else. Saying it is trivial, is easy, is meaningless. Proving it is hard and meaningful. If a cure works then you should be able to demonstrate it working. You should be able to produce results. You should be able to gather evidence. You should be able to do studies and convince people through action, not just making a claim. Its just as easy for me to claim that you haven't mastered YOUR own life and to ask what could YOU possibly know about mental health. You act as if you have all the answers an we should just believe you, why shouldn't you just believe us? Whats the difference. I know no more about you than any random person off the street. What reason do I have to trust anything you say? What I you are lying? You have, as of yet, given me no reason to trust you, in fact with your hostility and insulting behavior you have given me many reasons NOT to trust you. As I said in the other thread, perhaps you are a well meaning person who really does want to help. If that is the case, take some time to listen and recognize that right now, however good your goals and intentions are, your method is failing miserably. Even if you do have some kind of deep understanding of how to relieve the suffering of OCD, you have a lot to learn about sharing that knowledge effectively and convincingly. Alternatively you don't actually have anything to offer and your obfuscations and hostility are part of being called out on a scam. For your sake I hope its the former and not the later.

Indeed I *AM* using my own intellect, which requires me to reject your evidenceless claim and recognize it makes 0% sense given all the OTHER evidence which IS available. It would be illogical and dangerous to simply accept what any random person says without even a shred of proof. Further, there are numerous examples of people like you having come here and elsewhere before promising the same miraculous "cures" yet unwilling and unable to provide any proof of their claims. Perhaps (and its a BIG perhaps) if you were the first person to claim eastern wisdom (i.e. meditation and a monk) as the source of your miracle it might be worth considering (not blindly accepting mind you), but you are far far far FAR from the first. Its really quite simple, if what you claim is true you should be able to prove it. After all if your cure works you should be able to demonstrate that over and over and over again. Why refuse to do so? If you are as altruistic in your motives as you want us to believe you should WANT to reassure us of your "cure", you should WANT to prove it to us. Yet instead you berate us for asking for evidence, you falsely imply it is us, when it is in fact you, who are not thinking critically. At the end of the day it comes down to this, either you are a well intentioned person who has a LOT to learn about actually helping others and you need to realize that people won't and shouldn't simply blindly accept your claims OR (more likely) you are a charlatan and a fraud seeking to prey on the vulnerable for your own selfish reasons. If it is the former than take the time to listen to what we are telling you and learn from it. If you are the later, then you can go straight to hell.