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OCD and other comorbid diagnosis


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I have a diagnosis  of  OCD which I have had  for some years and whilst it  manifests in a variety of ways I  also have depressive  anxiety and  panic  disorder

I have  a  compulsion to repeatedly  inspect and clean  the utensils  prior  to cooking and this takes  ages as does  deciding what to  cook  .  But I also have poor  attention to my personal hygeine and appearanxce and need to be encouraged.    Isn't  this a bit  un OCD  ish  ?   Shouldnt I also be obsessed with avoidibng and eradicating all  contamination  ???      Do other people have similar problems with being very OCD  when it comes  to the kitchen and yet a mess in other  areas in terms of seklf care   ?    I  get  it that  everyones disability manifests itself in its own way but this seems odd  to me. 

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Hi Sam and welcome to the forum. There's nothing unusual about that at all. I'd say many people with OCD tend to be unkempt in one area of their life or another. They spend so much time on compulsions for their OCD that they don't have the energy to put into keeping up other areas of their life.

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Yep, same here. When I went through my crisis period and had to go to hospital I took hours to walk anywhere or check things, but I'm ashamed to say I neglected personal hygiene massively. I probably looked and smelled like a homeless man. Partly this was due to fearing things (I had a big issue with some negative associations about the shower room, and putting on new clothes felt like too much of a change for me), partly it was due to avoidance (putting clothes in the washing machine involved so much routine I just didn't bother).

More generally, I think you'll find that people have themes in their OCD, so for example someone on here might be massively bothered about hygiene but not care a bit about symmetry, whereas someone bothered by symmetry and order may not care too much about hygiene, someone might have both forms. There's not really a standard combination of worries from what I've seen.

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15 hours ago, SILICONSAM said:

Do other people have similar problems with being very OCD  when it comes  to the kitchen and yet a mess in other  areas in terms of seklf care   ?  

Like others have said, what you describe is most likely OCD, but it's important to remember that OCD is a very complex illness and there isn't really a typical template for how it should manifest in people.  I think I can perhaps relate in an opposite way to you, just to illustrate the different ways in manifests itself.  I had contamination obsessions, which resulted in me spending hours trying to get my body to 'feel' clean. Generally people assume that if you have contamination OCD you have a spotless house, and don't like dirt, but for me I lived like a typical single bloke, I only did the washing up when I run out of clean plates/cutlery, I never cleaned the bathroom that often because that meant contamination and another shower/bath ritual.  

Equally I have heard stories of people who have self-care contamination obsessions, but the compulsive rituals would take 10-20 hours each day, so eventually they stopped washing at all because its easier, and their self-care goes out of the window.

OCD manifests itself in so many different ways, and different people will have different ways it impacts on them... remember, don't try and apply logic to OCD :)

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As my two best friends will tell me. the only spotless place in my flat is the enamel inside the bathtub. my clothes are stuck in 3 identical pairs of combats and 3 of my favorite band tshirts. 2 identical jumpers and 7 pairs of black socks. from the washer they go in a bin liner as in there is the cleanest place too store them. i havent touched the floor with my feet purposefully now for 18 years. if i do i have to start my bath again. if my clothes do i have to throw them away. a good bath time will always last just short of 37 minutes. a bad one can be hours. worst is having to reshave.

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7 hours ago, zeradin said:

i havent touched the floor with my feet purposefully now for 18 years. if i do i have to start my bath again. if my clothes do i have to throw them away. a good bath time will always last just short of 37 minutes. a bad one can be hours. worst is having to reshave.

It's such a restrictive lifestyle when it's that severe, isn't it Zeradin? :(  You sound resigned to living like this (and after 18 years of behaving a particular way I can see it would feel challenging to change your habits) but it's terribly sad to see someone suffer needlessly.  

Have you tried tackling any of these compulsions with CBT? Perhaps working through a hierarchy of things you most need to change to make life more tolerable. What progress have you made so far? :) 

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7 hours ago, snowbear said:

It's such a restrictive lifestyle when it's that severe, isn't it Zeradin? :(  You sound resigned to living like this (and after 18 years of behaving a particular way I can see it would feel challenging to change your habits) but it's terribly sad to see someone suffer needlessl

7 hours ago, snowbear said:

Have you tried tackling any of these compulsions with CBT? Perhaps working through a hierarchy of things you most need to change to make life more tolerable. What progress have you made so far?

 

On 5/28/2014 at 01:12, zeradin said:

Ten years ago CBT was pretty effective, my medication seemed to work for 3 years at a time over the last 14 years before needing to use a different one. though i started on mirtazapine in april 2011 so it looks about due. I have noticed it has no effect anymore on my persona. The only things I still get from them is no sex drive and major withdrawal if I miss 2 days in a row.

 

 

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You did well with CBT in the past - that's a good sign. :)  Your next round of CBT will refresh, build on and consolidate the first. 

I'll leave you to discuss medication issues with your doctor, but do ask for a course of CBT before much more time passes. That's going to be the key which enables you to make the necessary changes, not medication. 

Don't forget to let us know how you get on!

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