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Ocd as an advantage? Weird ted talk


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So I just watched a ted talk where the speaker describes ocd as ‘obsessive compulsive advantage’ and talks about how it makes her life better and quite honestly the talk made me uncomfortable. There were some good points about the disorder being trivialised and misunderstood at the beginning which I agreed with but the way she spoke about it like we should be grateful for what ocd does to us boggled my mind. Anyone have any thought on this ? 

 

Vi

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58 minutes ago, vivi_x said:

So I just watched a ted talk where the speaker describes ocd as ‘obsessive compulsive advantage’ and talks about how it makes her life better and quite honestly the talk made me uncomfortable. There were some good points about the disorder being trivialised and misunderstood at the beginning which I agreed with but the way she spoke about it like we should be grateful for what ocd does to us boggled my mind. Anyone have any thought on this ? 

 

Vi

Honestly, I would question that anyone who sees OCD as advantageous actually has genuine OCD.  More than likely they have confused being picky and detail oriented with genuine OCD.  Perhaps they have Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder instead.  One can engage in behavior often stereotypically associated with OCD (such as being excessively clean, preferring things to be tidy or orderly, etc) without having OCD.

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1 hour ago, dksea said:

Honestly, I would question that anyone who sees OCD as advantageous actually has genuine OCD.  More than likely they have confused being picky and detail oriented with genuine OCD.  Perhaps they have Obsessive Compulsive Personality Disorder instead.  One can engage in behavior often stereotypically associated with OCD (such as being excessively clean, preferring things to be tidy or orderly, etc) without having OCD.

Here’s a link to the talk if you’re interested 

 

 

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Scan watched it. Too painful to listen to. It struck me as incredibly self-centered, and I think harmful. Yes, in a given instance it's conceivable that OCD 'focus' might possibly have a benefit.  Yes, it's possible. But in aggregate, it by far f...s you up. Suggesting otherwise does a disservice to the debilitating pain and in some cases ruined lives of sufferers, and only helps to spread misinformation about an already often misunderstood disorder. 

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I’m committing  the worst sin of commenting with out watching the video.

I have a job that requires me to do safety checks, puts it right in line for “ little bit ocd “ comments People thinking that it’s “ attention to detail”.

Its not so helpful when a five minute check takes all day, that I’ve worked myself to exhaustion ( I fell down the stairs), and still had to leave the equipment off as I wasn’t sure, then had to go back after hours to check again.

Im a scruffy disorganised mess,  I live in a tip,  have no social life, I’m a middle aged man living with his parents  because I can’t cope with  The complexities of life. Terrified of the future.

i don’t really live I exist.

And I can see how that looks like  wallowing in self pity.

but I fully recognise my problems are nothing , no more than minor irritations compared to a lot of the people on here, who are struggling against the huge amounts of distress this condition causes. People who’s every little victory every step forwards deserves to be praised to the rafters. People who can’t afford the luxury of a bit of reassurance about a worry, dare not mull over a problem.

Lots of us don’t even believe we have OCD, and those that do watch bits of their lives slide out of control in often ludicrous ways.

To fix this we fill our time with vicious flowers , A/B comparisons,  TBF , ERP, 4 step  approach, hierarchy of fears etc etc,  We take pills and put up with side effects.

And that’s the stuff that’s proven to work there a whole world of people wanting to take our money for a cure.

Thats all a bit negative, but it’s just caught me like that,  maybe I’ll be all sunshine and flowers (not vicious), later on .

 

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No I’m still cross,

How is it an advantage to all the people who have been on these forums for years going over the same things desperate for some reassurance that can’t be given as it feeds the OCD, the people who get it under control and it comes back but different.The people  who are to scared to get help due to the nature of their intrusive thoughts.

ill shut up now.

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I’ve just watched it all and had no problem with the first part and then I feel her talk took a disturbing turn. What a ridiculous and damaging message to give! It’s maybe how she feels, but I am shocked that she would send this message out and in such an enthusiastic way. 

4 hours ago, paradoxer said:

Scan watched it. Too painful to listen to. It struck me as incredibly self-centered, and I think harmful. Yes, in a given instance it's conceivable that OCD 'focus' might possibly have a benefit.  Yes, it's possible. But in aggregate, it by far f...s you up. Suggesting otherwise does a disservice to the debilitating pain and in some cases ruined lives of sufferers, and only helps to spread misinformation about an already often misunderstood disorder. 

Completely agree with you Paradoxer, and love your eloquence. 

Edited by Emsie
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I think that this way of thinking is a bit of a trend in different mental health communities. My younger brother has autism and I've been following the neurodiversity movement quite a lot. I've always felt that it's wonderful to empower people who have been marginalised, but at the same time I feel like they are not always presenting a realistic picture of how it is to live with a certain condition. I have personally had OCD my entire life and I don't know what kind of person I'd be if I didn't have all these weird thoughts and if I hadn't suffered the way I did. Do I see that as an advantage? Absolutely not, but I guess it's a part of my life and I think everyone is entitled to interpret their condition in their own way. Although maybe presenting this to wider audiences isn't the best idea because it's misleading. 

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This is a really interesting subject for me.  Not so much about the video, I will need to watch later.  But from my point of view when I put people forward for presentations how do I get the balance right.  Should I first ensure each person's presentation is appropriate (sounds like this one is not) because we are not doing our job if we facilitate bad and/or unhelpful messages being put out there.   But then I would not want to dismissive of someone's individual story and beliefs, even if they don't match those of the charity. 

So any thoughts on where you think we should find that balance?

 

I skipped ahead to last 10 minutes as I am short of time and geez...

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"OCD keeps me balanced"

Nope... Disorder in OCD is not balance, it's imbalance.    

 

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Through OCD I learned to be adaptable.

 

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OCD as given me so many positives

 

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We are not taking time to appreciate benefits of these conditions

Geez....

 I hope one day she will understand these are ridiculous comments and that OCD is not an advantage.  

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Hi everyone, thanks for your replies 

I just hope no young person sees this video and thinks they should be grateful for the torment they have been burdened with 

2 hours ago, Ashley said:

 I hope one day she will understand these are ridiculous comments and that OCD is not an advantage.  

 

4 hours ago, malina said:

. Although maybe presenting this to wider audiences isn't the best idea because it's misleading. 

 

4 hours ago, Emsie said:

. What a ridiculous and damaging message to give! It’s maybe how she feels, but I am shocked that she would send this message out and in such an enthusiastic way. 

 

5 hours ago, Closed for repairs said:

How is it an advantage to all the people who have been on these forums for years going over the same things desperate for some reassurance that can’t be given as it feeds the OCD, the people who get it under control and it comes back but different.The people  who are to scared to get help due to the nature of their intrusive thoughts.

 

8 hours ago, paradoxer said:

Yes, it's possible. But in aggregate, it by far f...s you up. Suggesting otherwise does a disservice to the debilitating pain and in some cases ruined lives of sufferers, and only helps to spread misinformation about an already often misunderstood disorder. 

 

I think all of these are so well put and maybe it is the way she feels but to be given such a large platform that spreads this much information and for it not to be checked just makes me reconsider ted talks really

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Calmed down now, watched the vid, ... and good for her, for dealing with her problems in an effective way. But it’s such an edge case, obsessions and compulsions that fit in with a dream job and are under control enough not to ruin it, that’s great but must be rare,  also it seems her compulsions do bring her relief of a kind, well mine don’t   Nothings ever good enough for my OCD, but it’s happy for anything it’s not interested in to go to hell.

 

4 hours ago, malina said:

I think that this way of thinking is a bit of a trend in different mental health communities. My younger brother has autism and I've been following the neurodiversity movement quite a lot. I've always felt that it's wonderful to empower people who have been marginalised, but at the same time I feel like they are not always presenting a realistic picture of how it is to live with a certain condition. I have personally had OCD my entire life and I don't know what kind of person I'd be if I didn't have all these weird thoughts and if I hadn't suffered the way I did. Do I see that as an advantage? Absolutely not, but I guess it's a part of my life and I think everyone is entitled to interpret their condition in their own way. Although maybe presenting this to wider audiences isn't the best idea because it's misleading. 

Im all in favour of neurodiversity  and am aware that disability activists have been fighting these fights for a long time.We live in a society where cure often means make it go away, often means make them go away...

I don’t want to be normal whatever that is, I just don’t want to be miserable, and my compulsions make me miserable.

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9 minutes ago, Closed for repairs said:

Im all in favour of neurodiversity  and am aware that disability activists have been fighting these fights for a long time.We live in a society where cure often means make it go away, often means make them go away...

God that sounds sniffy and pompous I was trying to agree, sorry. I’m getting my self In a bit of a state today.

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Couldn't watch it all. It's like saying one benefit of having bulimia is that you can eat whatever you want and stay thin. Or a benefit of depression is that you always feel upset so when something bad does happen, it's not a big deal because you're already sad anyway. How preposterous does that sound, but is it really that much different? I'm yet to hear anyone who is genuinely struggling with a disorder or illness say they benefit from it, they would rather just not have it.

I am yet to find any positives from living with OCD and was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago. Very damaging video in my opinion, she really has no clue.

Edited by Headwreck
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1 hour ago, Closed for repairs said:

God that sounds sniffy and pompous I was trying to agree, sorry. I’m getting my self In a bit of a state today.

Haha don’t worry I get what you are saying! ☺️

1 hour ago, Closed for repairs said:

Im all in favour of neurodiversity  and am aware that disability activists have been fighting these fights for a long time.We live in a society where cure often means make it go away, often means make them go away...

I don’t want to be normal whatever that is, I just don’t want to be miserable, and my compulsions make me miserable.

I agree with you, I don’t want to change who I am, I just want to function properly and not suffer.

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9 hours ago, Emsie said:

I’ve just watched it all and had no problem with the first part and then I feel her talk took a disturbing turn. What a ridiculous and damaging message to give! It’s maybe how she feels, but I am shocked that she would send this message out and in such an enthusiastic way. 

Completely agree with you Paradoxer, and love your eloquence. 

Cheers Emsie!

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To reiterate, I think it's fair to say that the video is very damaging, particularly because some assume speakers on Ted Talks have a certain expertise, integrity, insight into their subject, that's not necessarily the case, there's a lot of rubbish on there too. 

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3 hours ago, Headwreck said:

Couldn't watch it all. It's like saying one benefit of having bulimia is that you can eat whatever you want and stay thin. Or a benefit of depression is that you always feel upset so when something bad does happen, it's not a big deal because you're already sad anyway. How preposterous does that sound, but is it really that much different? I'm yet to hear anyone who is genuinely struggling with a disorder or illness say they benefit from it, they would rather just not have it.

I am yet to find any positives from living with OCD and was diagnosed nearly 20 years ago. Very damaging video in my opinion, she really has no clue.

Great post Headwreck! Good to see you fired up, rather than the usual ruminations. I guess the video was good for something! 

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Guest OCDhavenobrain

Great for her being able not letting it control her. And there are always something which can be learned from anything.

Who even knows folks. What if the psychiatryxommunity removes OCD as an diagnosis, will you then stop trying to get better? Please don't. Because all of those diagnosis are not even clearcut, look at autism how it have changed in the latest years. Problem with people with OCD is the need of certainty and stability.

Edited by OCDhavenobrain
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18 minutes ago, OCDhavenobrain said:

Great for her being able not letting it control her. And there are always something which can be learned from anything.

OCD is always controlling, even if we think we're sometimes controlling it, we're not, we are making allowances for it somewhere along the line.   So, I am highly sceptical about that video and this message.  We can't learn anything from OCD other than it's an utter negativity.

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