URGENT ADVICE NEEDED - Success Stories?

[Natasha.h.brown]

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting on here.

My brother has severe OCD and was recently sectioned. We have now managed (after a long and exhausting fight) to get him a place at The Priory. My brother has been there for 5 weeks now, but unfortunately he has made very little progress.

He is struggling to engage with CBT, exposure and medication, so now The Priory have warned that he will be asked to leave if he doesn't engage over the next 2 weeks.

We are desperate for any suggestions as to how we can encourage him to engage. His non- engagement is because he is truly terrified of facing his intrusive thoughts. He has now started to isolate himself from his family and friends so it is hard to even talk to him about it.

We are all so desperate to help him. I dread to think what will happen if he is told to leave, I assume he will be sectioned again and returned to his local mental health ward which is utterly useless and heartbreaking to see him in such a place.

Does anyone have any success stories they could share? Or perhaps someone who has overcome OCD and would be willing to talk/meet him and give him advice? My family would happily pay for travel costs etc.

I just want my brother back!

Many thanks,
Natasha

[felix4]

Hi Natasha,

You mention medication, I take it they have your brother on an SSRI antidepressant, but have they tried a small amount of a antipsychotic medication with this? I remember one of the top doctors in OCD suggesting this in treatment resistant cases, & it is what has helped me alongside a good quality OCD clinic in Sussex. It kind of skews the thought process slightly, and helped me see things slightly differently with regards to OCD.

I can't really help more, but I am sure others will post shortly, & I wish you all the best.

 

[Ashley]

Hi Natasha,

Do you mind if I ask which Priory it is?

[Natasha.h.brown]

Thank you both for your replies.

Felix - The problem is that he refuses to take medication at all. He is trying to avoid facing the real issues by instead focusing on his diet and supplements, which has actually just become another obsession / distraction for him. 

Ashley - He is at the North London Priory. 

The situation became really severe from January onwards with him losing his job, having to move out of his family home and not having contact with his daughter or wife for over 5 months. He has lost over 3 stone in weight due to him limiting his food and liquid intake and has become depressed. 

I really just want to try to give him some hope and to show him that he is not "untreatable". I thought hearing from those who have been through similar struggles and have recovered may give him the encouragement he needs.

I'm really welcome to any ideas at all. 

[margarita!]

Hi Natasha,

I'm so sorry you and your brother are suffering so much at the moment 

Just a suggestion, is your brother aware of this site and the forums? If not, could you perhaps let him know about it and encourage him to search through the posts? As you said yourself, it can be very powerful and encouraging to read other sufferers' stories that might be similar to yours. I think it would greatly benefit him to just scroll through the pages here because he will realise that he's not alone in his suffering.

[Andrewc]

Hi Natasha

How old is your brother? And what does he enjoy doing? 

OCD is HARD and requires work. 

I find that as a starting point, sleep, eating right, and seeing people you love like friends or family is a very good grounding.

Then maybe trying to find a hobby? For me that's skateboarding which my mum resents of me! Hehe..only because I've had some terrible accidents. When I'm riding the board I feel free from my anxieties. Also I like types of escapism like reading or movies. Could you engage your brother with a cool movie? Or give him a jigsaw? Also relaxing.

The very best of luck, and things dont last forever, always light at the end of the tunnel!

4 hours ago, Natasha.h.brown said:

Hi everyone,

This is my first time posting on here.

My brother has severe OCD and was recently sectioned. We have now managed (after a long and exhausting fight) to get him a place at The Priory. My brother has been there for 5 weeks now, but unfortunately he has made very little progress.

He is struggling to engage with CBT, exposure and medication, so now The Priory have warned that he will be asked to leave if he doesn't engage over the next 2 weeks.

We are desperate for any suggestions as to how we can encourage him to engage. His non- engagement is because he is truly terrified of facing his intrusive thoughts. He has now started to isolate himself from his family and friends so it is hard to even talk to him about it.

We are all so desperate to help him. I dread to think what will happen if he is told to leave, I assume he will be sectioned again and returned to his local mental health ward which is utterly useless and heartbreaking to see him in such a place.

Does anyone have any success stories they could share? Or perhaps someone who has overcome OCD and would be willing to talk/meet him and give him advice? My family would happily pay for travel costs etc.

I just want my brother back!

Many thanks,
Natasha

 

[Ashley]

36 minutes ago, Natasha.h.brown said:

I really just want to try to give him some hope and to show him that he is not "untreatable". I thought hearing from those who have been through similar struggles and have recovered may give him the encouragement he needs

Absolutely, there is always hope.  At time my life because of OCD meant:

• I could not use toilets, even my own without showering immediately. 
• Those showers meant 90 minute rituals (good day, bad days were 5 hours)
• Moved flats dozens of times because of contamination
• Couldn't touch anything that had been in a bathroom
• Clothes that had been in a public bathroom when caught short away from house meant clothes had to be thrown away

The list goes on, but all those things are no longer a problem. I am not 100% OCD free (yet) but those things bothered me for decades and are all gone. Part of my therapy was extreme, but it did help me get OCD free in those areas.

1 hour ago, Natasha.h.brown said:

The problem is that he refuses to take medication at all. He is trying to avoid facing the real issues by instead focusing on his diet and supplements, which has actually just become another obsession / distraction for him. 

Medication can help, and if severe OCD then he should be open to it, but equally it's possible to recover without medication which I did. So the fact he refuses isn't an issue, provided he doesn't expect the OCD to go away just by focussing on diet and supplements?

 

4 hours ago, Natasha.h.brown said:

He is struggling to engage with CBT, exposure and medication, so now The Priory have warned that he will be asked to leave if he doesn't engage over the next 2 weeks.

I am surprised they plan to ask him to leave because of non engagement, after all it is their job to help a patient engage. The Southgate Priory do some good work, but I am not completely shocked by this. Obviously I can't say who is to blame, but I would like to see the Priory try different things rather than threaten. 

4 hours ago, Natasha.h.brown said:

His non- engagement is because he is truly terrified of facing his intrusive thoughts.

Do you know why he is struggling to engage, this is actually the key point to understand, if we understand that then we have a chance to help him.  In what way is he terrified of the thoughts? Do you know what he thinks will happen?

4 hours ago, Natasha.h.brown said:

Or perhaps someone who has overcome OCD and would be willing to talk/meet him and give him advice? My family would happily pay for travel costs etc.

This is something I have done on occasions, but I am a trek away from London. But I am happy to have a phone chat with him through my work with the charity, but I think these only work if he 'wants' to chat to me.   

Also is he allowed out of the Priory? Perhaps if you/family accommodated him?  We have our annual conference in Northampton in a few weeks which is recovery focussed. Maybe being in a room of others struggling but trying to move forward and recovery will help him?   

Finally, this is a cliche, but sometimes needs saying, it's not easy but.. Recovery is possible!