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Can ocd ever serve a purpose?


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Just interested in some viewpoints on this,

i get a lot of anxiety and obsessive thinking about what others perceive to be unimportant life events that have happened but I get incredibly stuck, guilty and anxious.

it has been suggested to me that I use these things to stop me from growing up, i.e. They take up too much of my time and attention I cannot focus or get on with life events (which may be cause me anxiety) whether that be socialising, dating, career etc.

i have not seen much written or said about this with ocd unlike with say anorexia where I have read/heard ( it sure if true) that some people can be afraid of growing up hence the disorder and the control it has over their life stops them from these fears. And people hang onto the disorder as well, almost afraid to give it up because they don't know what life would be like without it. I feel that way sometimes that all I experience is anxiety and there is little room for other emotion.

can anyone relate to this or any views on this?

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OCD, or any disorder really will almost certainly impede your life and prevent you from doing other things.  If that were not the case it would not be a disorder, you wouldn't care because it wouldn't affect you.

But OCD is not caused by a desire to avoid growing up, or avoid some other responsibility.  The cause of OCD is neurological, i.e. something in our brains isn't quite working right and as a result our brains misprocess some thoughts.  A person can't simply "let go" of whatever it is they are avoiding and OCD will go away.  You may fear the unknown of living life without OCD because you've gotten used to it, and you may use that as an excuse not to do the work necessary for recovery.  But even if thats the case, even when you let go of the fear of living life without OCD, you'll still have to take the exact same steps to recover as you would before.  You'll still have to work through the CBT, possibly taking medication to help.  Aside from some very drastic medical procedures reserved for the most severe and/or treatment resistant OCD sufferers, the only practical treatment is CBT with/without medication.  Accepting may help you proceed but its not the cure (right now there is no true cure).

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Certainly we can make choices that make later recovery more difficult. In reality every time we give in to a compulsion we are reinforcing the relation between the intrusive thought and anxiety.  And recognizing and accepting that can help you make different choices moving forward. But unlike some situations where traditional Freudian talk therapy may help you move past a past trauma or hangup, treating OCD still requires CBT. Not sure if that’s what you are getting at so apologies if it doesn’t really apply. 

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I think that people have numerous ways of coping with difficult challenging situations and feelings, those who are mentally well have coping methods and environments that serve them well and keep them happy and functioning. For those of us with OCD i would say we have less varied ways of coping and feel less secure in our environments to seek the help we need. When things feel out of control or our responsibility becomes inflated we adopt behaviours that are unhelpful, some become ritualistic and lead to perpetual avoidance of these emotions through compulsions, hence causing OCD. 

So it may seem like someone is avoiding growing up but actually they are simply avoiding emotions. That's why it might seem like OCD has a function but actually it's more like OCD is the symptom of someone who doesn't know how else to cope with their experiences as they are. Learning healthier ways to deal with these feelings will allow them to feel free to grow up to be individual they want to be. 

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