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[Guest whirlwind]

Hi all

I was diagnosed with OCD 2 years ago after having spent my life being told i was neurotic by my family!

Basically a "what if" thought can pop into my head about anything and within a few minutes in my mind terrible things are going to result from this - ie like I am going to get sued because my wall outside is going to fall on somebody and hurt them - even when there is nothing wrong with my wall,

Also I do things like:-

Drive miles to go back and check that I didnt knock a cyclist off his bike even when I could see he was fine in my mirror and I had given him 10 feet of clearance!!

go back to my car several times to check i have locked it.

Check regularly with my insurance companies that i have given them all the material facts they need,

Worry about things i have said or done

and loads of other things!!

When I got really bad - I received CBT and Citalopram which worked really well for a while but recently I have gone downhill a bit.

Its nice to know Im not the only thinking theyre going quietly mad - glad Ive found this site.

:hug:

[Northern Star]

Hi there whirlwind (love the name, btw!) and welcome to our little corner of the web :crybaby:

I was diagnosed with OCD 2 years ago after having spent my life being told i was neurotic by my family!

I had a similar reaction when I first told my mum I had OCD

Its nice to know Im not the only thinking theyre going quietly mad - glad Ive found this site. 

You're definitely not the only one like this! OCD is very cruel and can convince you of all sorts, including that you're the only one going through this but you're definitely not! You will find a lot of support from people on this site :dry:.

Drive miles to go back and check that I didnt knock a cyclist off his bike even when I could see he was fine in my mirror and I had given him 10 feet of clearance!!

I worry about cyclists too. I tend to give them a rather wide berth when I'm sure I don't need to leave quite so much room! I always have to check in my mirror after I've passed one to make sure I didn't knock them off their bike, and I know of people who have done the same as you and gone back to check.

When I got really bad - I received CBT and Citalopram which worked really well for a while but recently I have gone downhill a bit.

Would it be worth your going back to the person who gave you CBT and/or meds and seeing if it's possible to get some more help? It's great that it worked so well but sometimes people need a bit of a 'boost' or 'refresher' with CBT because it can be very hard trying to apply the things you learn in CBT to situations when the OCD is doing its :hug: best to kick you off track.

Anyways, I have waffled on far too long so I'll shut up now and just say welcome to the board again! I hope you find it very useful

[Guest whirlwind]

Hi ittyk and Northern Star - its nice to feel understood.

The name reflects how my brain feels most of the time :huh: :lol:

I have a keyworker at the local NHS Mental Health Branch and I have been to see her today to offload.

When I have a problem (real or imagined) I always think the worst is going to happen (even if it is really unrealistic - but I can never be logical to recognise that)

Then when I seek reassurance and get it - I cant accept it and i always think that people are making things up to make me feel better and that what I think is going to happen is really going to happen and that they know that! (paranoia)

I end up with adrenaline coursing round my body and numb tingling hands, cant sleep, eat etc. I then go to the ends of the earth to get reassurance from other sources and drive myself into a frenzy

Its exhausting.

[Guest Fountainlair]

Yes,I have the same thing when it comes to reassurance,I believe they're only saying it to make me feel better and don't actually mean it,or they're lying to me.

It's not as intense as yours though

[Caramoole]

Hi Whirlwind, welcome on board. I'm sure you will find a great deal of support here, between us we wrote the book on OCD symptoms

Your thoughts are certainly very common ones experienced by many sufferers, so hopefully you'll pick up lots of tips.

With regard to reassurance, this was something I did without really realising I was doing it, it was something I learned when I joined here. It wasn't frenetic or anything, quite subtle but once I identified it I realised I was always asking for reassurance about loads of things. This was one of the things I decided to stop doing...every time I was about to open my mouth to ask some stoopid question, I firmly shut it again :lol: It surprised me how much effect that had, asking all the time was constantly buying me back into OCD.

If you can start to work at this I'm sure you'll see benefits pretty soon. If you can't stop altogether, every 3rd time you notice you're going to ask that question, zip your lips and see if you can wait 10 minutes before you ask, it's well worth trying :huh:

[Northern Star]

The name reflects how my brain feels most of the time :lol: :lol:

Same :huh:

Then when I seek reassurance and get it - I cant accept it and i always think that people are making things up to make me feel better and that what I think is going to happen is really going to happen and that they know that! (paranoia)

I end up with adrenaline coursing round my body and numb tingling hands, cant sleep, eat etc. I then go to the ends of the earth to get reassurance from other sources and drive myself into a frenzy 

Its exhausting.

This sounds like classic OCD to me. This is why people will tell you to try not to seek reassurance because although it makes you feel better initially, in the long run you are feeding your OCD I'm afraid and one of the ways to fight it is to try to resist the temptation to seek reassurance and to sit with the anxiety. I know it's hard But people on here are here for you

[Guest ScottOCDid]

Hiya Whirlwind...

... and a belated :hug: to you!

I think this aspect of OCD is very common; accentuated feelings of guilt and responsibility seem to go hand-in-hand with the condition.

Keep posting!

Scott

[Guest ocd13]

Basically a "what if" thought can pop into my head about anything  and within a few minutes in my mind terrible things are going to result from this

:hug: whirlwind!!

This is very similar to my OCD and it affects me especially badly if the "what if" thought is about someone I love, etc.

I hope you find this board useful!!

Love Andrea

xx