Alchohol and OCD

[Guest Davis]

Hi, In what ways can drink affect your OCD? i was at my mates engagement do on saturday and i was Very Very Drunk(had been drinking since 3.30pm in the afternoon) and i feel very paranoid that i done something when i know i didnt.

In what ways can this affect paranoia/ocd?.

[Guest Smudger]

I'd say the simplest answer is that because drinking can cause small amounts of memory loss, those gaps become the perfect tool for the ocd to beat you with-it becomes a way for it to convince you that you did something wrong and that you can't remember it, thus leading you down a rather depressing road of trying to remember what you 'did', when there is in fact nothing to worry about.

You were at a party-if you'd done something wrong, you'd know about it!

Another thing is that many ocder's (myself included) find that for a time after getting drunk, their anxiety is hideous-don't know why, but it's true for a lot of people.

The best thing you can do is try not to pay it any attention-you did nothing wrong, and it's a lot easier to stop this now rather than spend hours/days/months trying to remember a wrong doing that never even happened.

Take care

[Caramoole]

I'd agree with Smudgers comments

Also, alcohol is a depressant and can also cause anxious, jittery feelings the day after.

So I'd say, enjoy a drink or even a few, but learn from your mistake and try to curtail similar episodes knowing that it may cause problems later

[Guest Davis]

"You were at a party-if you'd done something wrong, you'd know about it!"

I totally agree with that, it's just that if i put it out my mind it will be true, like a chain on your mind so to speak.

Thanks for the support here, it is much welcome,

[Guest bigkeefer]

Totally agree with you guys.

I used to drink like a fish in my darkest years -- and although I found it killed the OCD on the night, the next day was often hell.

Reason being

1> You are tired (you never sleep properly with a skinful no matter how much you are passed out!)

2> You are hungover.

3> OCD is made worse by 1 & 2 which then leads to the inevitable:

4> Excessive worrying about "what did I/would I have done whilst under the influence?"

And like C says - depressant to boot!

My advice - avoid at all costs if you can. OCD is bad enough without giving it the ammunition of "Ah! But you were drunk - how can you be sure?" argument

[Guest Smudger]

I totally agree with that, it's just that if i put it out my mind it will be true, like a chain on your mind so to speak.

28998[/snapback]

Sorry Davis, I'm not sure I understand-do you mean that you know you did nothing wrong, but you're afraid that if you ignore the ocd thought that it will somehow make your fear come true?

Sorry if I misundersttod you

[Guest Davis]

I had promised someone i had given up the drink and had been off it for 2months then had a skinful the day after new year(as it was new year, bad idea looking back) then had more than a skinful on the day onwards of the engagement do(very bad idea looking back) just someone said i was dancing on the dancefloor with my mates mum and my other mates g/f then i got told i was dancing with kids and for some reason that(is this called a"trigger"?) convinced me i had"touched" a kid at the party and i know full well i am not like that and had done nothing of the sort as i was brought up the right way.

It really hurts this ocd.

[Guest Davis]

"Sorry Davis, I'm not sure I understand-do you mean that you know you did nothing wrong, but you're afraid that if you ignore the ocd thought that it will somehow make your fear come true?"

That is exactly what i meant.

[Caramoole]

it's just that if i put it out my mind it will be true

Nope.......It may FEEL like it will be true, but you 'know' that this is OCD....try to work on knowing the difference. It really does help

[Guest Smudger]

"Sorry Davis, I'm not sure I understand-do you mean that you know you did nothing wrong, but you're afraid that if you ignore the ocd thought that it will somehow make your fear come true?"

That is exactly what i meant.

29004[/snapback]

Gotcha-I feel exactly the same way a lot of the time.

This is really why you need to make a stand against it now if you feel you can-my worry is that I abused a child when I was drunk (read the 'Getting worse again' topic if you want to know more), and I'd hate for you to get as bad as I am.

Bottom line is D, you didn't do anything dodgy to anybody-kid or or otherwise. It sounds like your ocd is using your drunken memory gaps to push upon you the false idea that you have done something awful-this is not true. I know you feel compelled to try and remember what happened, but you already know-anything else is just the ocd talking and should be ignored-the fear that doing so will make it all come true is the ocd's way of keeping a stranglehold on you. The very best thing you can do is refuse to believe it so that it can't feed off of you.

Be logical for a second-you were dancing with kids, and you were extrememly drunk-do you honestly think that there wouldn't have been multiple parents/other people keeping an eye on you to make sure you didn't stumble and hurt one of the kids? I can promise you that would be the case, and they would most definately have noticed if anything innapropriate had gone on.

Don't let a harmless nights drinking drag you down-you are innocent, full-stop, and as much as you can't accept that, it's true.

[Guest Davis]

I know what you are saying is true, i really do, i even told my mum(and have discussed all this ocd with her) as i feel i can talk about anything with her and she said if that had happened i would have been beat up.

After the party one of my mates and i ended up at another one of out mates flat and a couple of people were there and a guy i knew is a christian and to cut a LONG story short, i just launched into a rant slagging of his christianity as a guy who claims to be"born again" made fun of handicapped kids used to work beside me and my matesaid i just started saying stuff right out the blue like"you are all the same" while telling the christain dude about the guy that worked beside me.

Totally stupid saying stuff like that, not a good weekend for me you could say.

[Guest Smudger]

I know what you are saying is true, i really do, i even told my mum(and have discussed all this ocd with her) as i feel i can talk about anything with her and she said if that had happened i would have been beat up.

After the party one of my mates and i ended up at another one of out mates flat and a couple of people were there and a guy i knew is a christian and to cut a LONG story short, i just launched into a rant slagging of his christianity  as  a guy who claims to be"born again" made fun of handicapped kids used to work beside me  and my matesaid i just started saying stuff right out the blue like"you are all the same" while telling the christain dude about the guy that worked beside me.

Totally stupid saying stuff like that, not a good weekend for me you could say.

29010[/snapback]

Sorry, I'm not sure I follow you-the Christian guy made fun of handicapped kids?

Regardless, most of us who drink or who used to drink have moments that make us want to shrivel up and die-it doesn't make you a bad person though.

[Guest Davis]

Yeah not the guy in the flat, another (born again)christian who used to work beside me.

This Ocd is really scary, my mum wories too about me and i hate my mum worriying as i think she gets a bit upset when i talk to her about the whole ocd thing.

[Guest Smudger]

Yeah not the guy in the flat, another (born again)christian who used to work beside me.

This Ocd is really scary, my mum wories too about me and i hate my mum worriying as i think she gets a bit upset when i talk to her about the whole ocd thing.

29012[/snapback]

Dammit! Typed out a reply, hit the wrong button and lost it!

Long story short: you were drunk, got wound up by something someone said, and got a bit more vocal than usual. Embarassing yes, but nothing to worry about-we all do it (I know I have), but you shouldn't beat yourself up over it.

As far as I can tell, your ocd is trying to take every silly little thing you've done in an effort to turn it against you to convince you that you're a bad person-that's not the case. The fact that you're posting here because you find all this upsetting is evidence that you're a caring person.

[Guest Davis]

I cant thank you all enough for your help, thank you very much

[Guest Smudger]

I cant thank you all enough for your help, thank you very much

29014[/snapback]

S'what we're here for!

Just remember that getting mouthy when drunk is commonplace, and does not make you a closet child-molester! The ocd will try to convince you otherwise, but if it does just say "I expected that" and move on-it will try all sorts of tricks to grab your attention, but you can safely ignore them because you have done nothing wrong. You are the ocd's only source of food-if you don't feed it, it'll die.

Take care

[Guest Davis]

what got me getting anxious was my mind saying"Did i take a kid away from the party?" then i would be like"no , I did not,i'd never do such a thing" like 2 thoughts hitting together-

Like 1 real thought and 1 false thought.

It does upset me this ocd.

[Guest Smudger]

what got me getting anxious was my mind saying"Did i take a kid away from the party?" then i would be like"no , I did not,i'd never do such a thing" like 2 thoughts hitting together-

Like 1 real thought and 1 false thought.

It does upset me this ocd.

29016[/snapback]

Ah, the 'what-ifs'-never get tired of those...

This is what ocd loves to do-it wants to make you doubt yourself, because if you don't believe it's lies, it can't exist.

You're right-you would never do such a thing, and you didn't (people tend to notice when their kids are missing-they also tend to notice drunk people carrying them off!)-this is the ocd throwing random worries at you until it finds one that sticks.

The ocd will throw all sorts of scenarios, ideas and questions your way, it's aim being to lead you away from the truth and submerge you in a sea of constantly changing 'what-if' situations, until you end up trying to disprove each and every one which is what it wants-it doesn't care that they're not true, it just needs you to believe in and worry about the possibility of them being true. Take it from someone who knows-there is no end to the tricks it will pull to keep you guessing about the kind of person you are.

[Guest Davis]

Again, Thanks for your help on here, everyone who has responded has been great.

If i didnt work on saturdays i'd be going to that OCD thing which is happining in stirling, feb aint it?.

[Guest Smudger]

I'm not sure about the Stirling thing to be honest!

Hope you're feeling a bit better now-as I said before, try reading the topic I started called 'Getting worse again'-not just because it's mine, but because people have given some really good advice, and you can also see that you aren't the only one who worries this way.

[Guest lilyelspeth]

Unfortunately, I found that alcohol made me feel like my OCD goes away only when the high would wear off the next morning, I was extremely down. I've recently decided (with the help of my therapist) that I should stop drinking all together. It's been very hard (I used to joke horribly about how I would be the first female alcoholic in my family) and I've had to work harder at it then I thought I would. It was a great escape but I know I have to learn to fight without it.

[Guest NickNickNick]

Alcohol makes my OCD go completely away, and it often stays away well into the next couple of days...completely, especially if I only have 3-4 drinks. If I get completely drunk, it wears off a lot more quickly.

[Guest Davis]

Feeling quite a bit better this morning, thanks for all the support

[Guest bigkeefer]

Glad to hear it Davis

I also would recommend reading "Imp of the Mind". It has some useful info in there,

I posted in the "Types of Treatment" topic by Anthony which ended up with me warbling on about my past

Prior to the new job I talk about there I used to work in a supermarket - and I also had the same thoughts about cameras and money etc. It was an absolute nightmare - but try and take hope in the fact that I speak from experience that it CAN be beaten down to a very managable level

Keep fighting the good fight.

[Guest robert1]

davies just said i would post to let you know i went through the exact same thing and to tell you STOP IT NOW AND NIP IN THE BUD if i had that advice when it happened to me i would not be as bad now,you see one night i went out got drunk and took ecstacy and cannot remember anything went drinking all the next day and then the next day it all hit me,my fear is that i will do something to my daughter so i know where you are coming from ,if you want to pm it will be ok.