Have you faced additional difficulties after seeking help for OCD?

[Ashley]

For the majority of us, seeking help for OCD does not cause any additional problems. But for small minority it can where OCD is misunderstood. I'm working with a BBC journalist (who I have worked with before/trust) interested in potentially exploring difficulties people with OCD face when asking for help, especially those who experience intrusive thoughts around taboo subjects. Or if that's prevented them seeking help or where seeking help for any type of OCD led to difficult problems with other agencies.

 

 

[paianjen]

36 minutes ago, Ashley said:

For the majority of us, seeking help for OCD does not cause any additional problems. But for small minority it can where OCD is misunderstood. I'm working with a BBC journalist (who I have worked with before/trust) interested in potentially exploring difficulties people with OCD face when asking for help, especially those who experience intrusive thoughts around taboo subjects. Or if that's prevented them seeking help or where seeking help for any type of OCD led to difficult problems with other agencies.

 

 

no but i had intrusive thoughts about bestiality once and told a friend about it, and i think they misunderstood at first, and sometimes i get an obsession wondering about what they think about it! 

[Binxy]

I spent some time on a psychiatric hospital ward in 2014/15 (more because of suicidal thoughts/tendencies linked to my obsessions rather than the OCD itself... it certainly wasn't a specialist centre). I had been told that the best thing was to be completely honest with the staff about what was on my mind. I opened up about some thoughts/worries about the past that were bothering me. It was clear that a lot of them misunderstood my condition, wanted to know what I "had done" and started talking to me about things that scared the bejeezers out of me (safeguarding etc.). A good therapist helped enormously after this though. Such a misunderstood disorder. Happy to say more if it helps.

Binx

[gingerbreadgirl]

i haven't experienced problems as such but I have persistently refused to talk about the details of my thoughts with professionals, aside from the more bog-standard ones I've had around checking/contamination. I am very guarded with GPs and I have had to tell them I don't want to talk about it on numerous occasions, which makes me feel like I have something to be ashamed of. If I could feel confident that they understood the condition then I could be much more open. 

[taurean]

I have twice had difficulties at the doctors when seeing inexperienced ones who directly asked me about from what form of OCD I suffered. 

I told them, being used to being open and honest with therapists. 

My main theme is harm, and they got very concerned. I had to explain we don't choose what form the OCD takes, but it is quite a common one and the nature of intrusions is nothing that we wish to experience, and in harm the illness targets our true core values suggesting we might act counter to them. 

For me, it's a constant awareness problem and the need to get doctors more understanding of the condition is serious. 

I am not sure exactly what form continuing professional development takes with GPs, but I would like to see them required to undertake a compulsory training model that gives them the essentials of understanding how OCD works and that it isn't all about contamination or checking. 

[njb]

I concur with all the above.

One incident comes to mind in...My daughter aged about 6 experienced some blood loss through her vagina and she was in hospital for about a week. I was up there seeing her once and they asked me to speak with someone about something and began probing about me. They’d obviously been through history etc and I appreciate that as a parent but my doc notes were by then full of diagnosis from multiple psychiatrists and clinical psychologists etc so I don’t know what they gained by having an arguably untrained person pseudo quiz me. Had to explain my disorder to them. Shame the theme still gave room for the need though.

Having said that, I feel like that each time my wife knows I’m bad and I’m paranoid she really thinks I’m into underage and children so hey ho

Edited October 2, 2019 by njb

[njb]

7 hours ago, paianjen said:

no but i had intrusive thoughts about bestiality once and told a friend about it, and i think they misunderstood at first, and sometimes i get an obsession wondering about what they think about it! 

It’s one of those infrequent hits me and goes themes. Shuddering now at walks in new forest . What a croc hey?! Such utter falseness so convincing. My friend who also has ocd starting getting bad about his dogs bless him. I still can go weird with our dog when drying him etc. Eww 

Edited October 2, 2019 by njb

[malina]

2 hours ago, taurean said:

I have twice had difficulties at the doctors when seeing inexperienced ones who directly asked me about from what form of OCD I suffered. 

I told them, being used to being open and honest with therapists. 

My main theme is harm, and they got very concerned. I had to explain we don't choose what form the OCD takes, but it is quite a common one and the nature of intrusions is nothing that we wish to experience, and in harm the illness targets our true core values suggesting we might act counter to them. 

For me, it's a constant awareness problem and the need to get doctors more understanding of the condition is serious. 

I am not sure exactly what form continuing professional development takes with GPs, but I would like to see them required to undertake a compulsory training model that gives them the essentials of understanding how OCD works and that it isn't all about contamination or checking. 

I completely agree with this. The first time I sought help was from a university counsellor when I started getting intrusive thoughts about self harm. I didn't know I had OCD at the time or what it even was, but he didn't recognise it as OCD either and completely panicked, making the whole situation so much worse than it needed to be. 

[taurean]

Spotting the problem is very much a problem in itself. 

A young woman I knew confided in me when I explained to others at work about my mental struggles. 

She said she had been to counsellor sessions and had regular intrusive thoughts that something bad might happen to her husband. 

She thought she was going mad. I told her I thought she had OCD, treatable by CBT, and to seek some treatment. 

The counsellor hadn't spotted this. The relief that flooded through her when I explained to her why she experienced those thoughts was wonderful to see - so much release. 

This is of course why it is important for us to be obtaining treatment from therapists skilled in the handling of OCD. 

But OCD is only one of a number of anxiety - inducing thinking disorders that therapists are expected to treat. It's why I am so pleased that our charity, as part of its work, seeks to help spread knowledge and training about OCD to therapists. It needs specific understanding and treatment, and from a therapist skilled in unravelling the layers of rules and restrictions that the illness places upon us.