Melibee Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 (edited) Has anyone had an obsession regarding their appearance mine is focused mainly on my actual hair colour etc. It's litrally making me so ill not to mention checking plugs windows before I leave the house and before going to bed as fear of fire of someone yet to get in. Litrally taking my life over. I've not been to gp yet as imworried of being laughed at imI'm litrally driving my family mad. Someone recommended me to this site. Edited October 18, 2018 by Melibee Spelling mistake Link to comment
BelAnna Posted October 18, 2018 Share Posted October 18, 2018 Hi Melibee, to the forum! I'm sorry you're having such a difficult time with OCD. What form does your hair obsession take? There is a condition called 'Body Dysmorphic Disorder', which causes obsessions with appearance so I'm wondering if it might be that? Your fears of fires and of people breaking into your house sound more like typical OCD. The main treatment for OCD is Cognitive Behavioural Therapy so it's definitely worth seeing your GP, letting them know you have intrusive thoughts (for example the thought 'what if I've left the window open and someone breaks in!') and compulsions (checking) AND ask for a referral for CBT. Good luck! Link to comment
dksea Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 I was going to mention BDD but BelAnna beat me to it So I'll just add, that its not at uncommon to have more than one anxiety disorder at the same time including OCD and BDD. Fortunately the treatment for both is good old CBT. Link to comment
daja Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 Go to your GP they are a professional I very much doubt they would laugh at you. Link to comment
taurean Posted October 19, 2018 Share Posted October 19, 2018 We sufferers do fear talking about our obsessions. But healthcare professionals know the basics of OCD and won't judge us as they know our unwanted obsessional thoughts are caused by the illness and say nothing about us as persons. Your recovery process will start with a diagnosis from the GP and a referral for CBT. Meanwhile I would buy and read one of the CBT based self-help books from the shop on the main OCD-UK website. And keep learning what you may from here. Link to comment
Jutine Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 Hello. I have exactly the same OCD with my hair. I spend hours cutting and measuring, literally hours stood in front of the mirror. I cannot get away from the mirror. I spoke my GP and they did not laugh at me, I was given anti-depressants and had CBT. Any OCD is absolute hell. Please go to your GP xx Link to comment
PinkPrincess1981 Posted May 14, 2020 Share Posted May 14, 2020 One of my obsessions used to be that my hair was going to fall out. I don't know where this came from as my hair is healthy but I would spend hours studying it in the mirror, counting how many hairs came out when washing my hair, googling different things. My obsession got so bad I actually got my shoulder length hair cut into an extremely short pixie cut because I was convinced it was going to fall out and I figured it would be less noticeable if it was really short. That was 4 years ago and it's grown back now and I no longer suffer from this obsession but plenty others have taken its place instead! What I have realised over the years is that the actual topic of the obsession is irrelevant - the physical sensations that accompany them are the same for me whether I'm worrying about my hair falling out or I'm worrying that I might have killed someone and blocked it from my memory. Link to comment
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