WHERE IS THE LINE

[Guest Pootle]

evening all.

As people that have read my "crisis" thread may have remembered- bit of a dodgy time right now... altho dodgy for the best as I am challenging things.

My question is one that I am not sure if anyone will know the answer to to be honest.

My mental health biography goes like this

1) Depression - 16 yrs onwards

2) Panic Disorder- 19 yrs onwards

3) OCD 21yrs onwards

Now.... how do they all interrelate? There are some things that I know are defo OCD etc but is the line between OCD and panic v blurred?? I tend to have thoughts- for example- I am choking on my food/ tablets = near to death which will then make me panic. Is this OCD or is this (just) panic?

Is panic when you don't have the associated thoughts??

Oh I am so confused... does anyone know? :kicking:

Thanks

V

xxxxxxxxxxxx

[Guest han]

Hi Pootle,

i too have been wondering about this....i have only ever been diagnosed with depression which was done by my doctor; and my cpn said diagnosis was not really important. everyone i have seen (which is only my doctor, cpn and an accupuncturist) has said that they believe my intrusive thoughts and fears to be part of typical depression and/or a general anxiety disorder. i guess it means that doctors and so called experts are perhaps unsure of the boundries as well....

take care, xxx

[Caramoole]

I'm not sure that it really matters Pootle.

Where one lurks, then quite often, so does the other...well not so much OCD (as in if you have GAD & Panics you will get OCD) that's not a certainty. But quite often depression and anxiety are bed mates. You can be depressed and because of that start to become anxious and panicky, or you can be constantly anxious and become depressed because of it.

OCD is a specific condition but it's still an anxiety disorder at the upper end of the anxiety scale. I often wonder if anxiety were dealt with effectively in the early stages, i.e by good education from G.P's etc, whether it would escalate as it does, I certainly felt this in my own case. I think that is where Charities like OCD-UK really come into their own by helping to educate people into understanding what OCD is and how measures can be taken to deal with it.

Do you feel it would help you to differentuate them? I'm just wondering so that perhaps we can try to answer your question more specifically.

Caramoole :kicking:

[toffeecush1on]

Hello Pootle,

I have often wondered about something similar - I am agoraphobic, have GAD and OCD, but I wonder if it is the OCD that makes me anxious or whether it is the anxiety that causes the OCD. I know when I am having a stressfree time my OCD is very managable and my anxiety levels are right down, I even manage to go outside (although not very far), but when I am stressed the OCD is terrible and so is my anxiety.

I guess they are linked and feed off each other. My solution I think would be to live a totally stressfree life - if only lol.

Toffee

[Guest Pootle]

Hi again

thanks for the replies. I find it interesting that a couple of you have also been wondering the same thing!

Caramoole, I take your point that it doesnt really matter I suppose, and I DEFINITELY agree that it has probably been mis-management of Panic Disorder that has led to OCD. I do sometimes think it is strange as I never had any symptons as a child/ teen so it does seem to have been either triggered by the same events that triggered the depression etc. or be an "add-on" to the panic.

Hmmmmmm

I dont really know why I want to know if that makes sense, I suppose I am just struggling to understand better so that I may be equipped to fight.

I suppose from the CBT i have had in the past for panic, i can see how closely related they are as the principles i applied then can in the main be applied now too.

I guess i just have an inquisitive mind and like to understand everything!!!

[Caramoole]

I guess i just have an inquisitive mind and like to understand everything!!!

Not a bad thing Pootle, I'm a bit like that myself.

The CBT principle you learned to deal with panic will certainly help with the OCD as well, the fear that arises from all of these conditions is based on faulty thinking, so it still applies.

I didn't suffer from OCD as a child or teen, it literally blew up out of no-where

[Ashley]

I didn't suffer from OCD as a child or teen, it literally blew up out of no-where 

44377[/snapback]

This is a very interesting comment and reminded me of something I read in a certain new OCD book and I meant to comment on it because some experts believe that a traumatic event at any time of ones life can cause OCD, but I truly believe that you must already be prone to OCD before that event, with the stress of the event bringing the OCD to the surface.

I have no real medical evidence to support my theory other than that many people have traumatic events and don't go on to develop OCD. Also many people with OCD can't recall any traumatic event.

Maybe best to dedicate a new thread to the discussion if anyone wants to comment further.