Radiation- any physics experts here?

[MentalChecker]

I don't know where my previous post went, maybe if was deleted due to the way in which I worded it. 

Will therefore try a little bit more tactful this time.

The only way you will beat OCD (any type) is to not give it ANY TIME OR ATTENTION.

As for this scenario you are currently fixated on, as I mentioned previously, unfortunately death is part of life and we need to accept that, which ultimately I believe from your post above this is what your fear due to the possible radiation positioning you are worried about.

There are lots of different things that can cause death, and lots of different times throughout your life you could have or could be poisoned, I. E breathing in fumes from the fuel pump when filling your car, as these enter your lungs and will also cause problems over a long term just like radiation, but you don't worry about this as this isn't your current theme.

You need to give up the mandate of trying to control things in life, you are not in control, and if radiation doesn't get you then unfortunately something else will.

You could spend your whole life worrying about this and it will be something else that will take you.

Your wasting this valuable life you have worrying about radiation poisoning, stop the worrying, don't give the OCD the attention, and get on with the valuable life you are fortunate to still have remaining.

Edited July 25, 2022 by MentalChecker

[PolarBear]

If I may expand on that, @MentalChecker, OCD sufferers by and large fail to see that the months or years spent fixating on an obsession, including doing compulsions, can be a severe detriment to living a healthy, fulfilled life. 

In this case, even if the event was dangerous, there is nothing to be done to undo it. Spending years on compulsions is an utter waste of time.

[Robin43]

I still feel this is more than OCD, yes there is the OCD element to it, but I think I have PTSD from this episode.

[MentalChecker]

1 hour ago, PolarBear said:

If I may expand on that, @MentalChecker, OCD sufferers by and large fail to see that the months or years spent fixating on an obsession, including doing compulsions, can be a severe detriment to living a healthy, fulfilled life. 

In this case, even if the event was dangerous, there is nothing to be done to undo it. Spending years on compulsions is an utter waste of time.

I agree and I absolutely understand that as I've been there, and I was in a really bad dark place for many years that I never thought I would be able to get out of.

I was about to lose my wife and my children if I didn't do something, and I had already wasted many of the early years with my children due to the time spent doing compulsions, and this is something I will never get back. 

I managed to suffer the anxiety to the point I felt like my body was about to explode with sweats and heart palpitations, at the time it was hell, but looking back now it was the best thing I've ever done. 

[MentalChecker]

2 hours ago, Robin43 said:

I still feel this is more than OCD, yes there is the OCD element to it, but I think I have PTSD from this episode.

HI Robin, does the below statement sound relevant to your post above? 

'Some may wonder, “Why can't a person with OCD simply tell themselves it’s just a thought and forget about it?” This is because OCD is a "disease of doubt".' 

Do you see how the above explains your post above? 

You are doubting if it really is OCD now.

OCD was once called 'the doubting disease', because it can literally make you doubt anything and everything, it can even make you doubt if you are even alive!

Here is another one for you. 

Remember that every time you seek reassurance, you are actually strengthening OCD!

Any relief that any of the compulsive behaviours provide is only temporary and short lived, they simply reinforce the original obsession and need to carry out the compulsion, creating a gradual worsening cycle of OCD symptoms.

I wrote a post (link below) of my years of hell with OCD, and what I did to help myself, as I was in such a dark bad place at the time and was about to lose everything.

Have a read through the below, its a long read, but I bet even your OCD won't be able to doubt some of the statements I've listed

 

 

Edited July 25, 2022 by MentalChecker

[howard]

20 hours ago, Robin43 said:

I still feel this is more than OCD, yes there is the OCD element to it, but I think I have PTSD from this episode.

In a way I'm calling your bluff. You said in your OP that you were thinking of getting tested for physical damage.

It seems to me you are going to keep obsessing about this until you get some real reassurance.

I predict it will come back negative.

The reality is humans are continually exposed to low level radiation and our bodies can handle that.

(The stuff we were measuring at college came in a small lead box with a sliding lid on it).

It's not alpha particles you have to be concerned about.

[snowbear]

23 hours ago, Robin43 said:

I still feel this is more than OCD, yes there is the OCD element to it, but I think I have PTSD from this episode.

 

You might be right, Robin. Have you spoken to anyone about possible treatment for the PTSD angle? You need that formally diagnosed or ruled out and then get therapy for both conditions / for the OCD as appropriate.

[Robin43]

Thanks @snowbearI am waiting on OHSPIC treatment to begin, I have already had my initial assessment. What does treatment for PTSD look like and will I ever get over this?

Edited July 26, 2022 by Robin43
Missed out info

[snowbear]

There are 2 main treatment options for PTSD. One is EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) and the other is talking through the traumatic event(s) and reframing them - a form of cognitive therapy.

Definitely you can get over it.   I had reframing cognitive therapy and now consider myself cured of PTSD.

I've not had EMDR, but you can see it in action in this programme https://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/m0017795/fergal-keane-living-with-ptsd

It's nothing terrifying, just taps on the back of your hands while recalling the traumatic event and then reprocessing it the same as with cognitive reframing.

[Robin43]

Thanks @snowbear, I appreciate that. I guess I feel so angry and hurt and let down by therapy. I put my trust in a therapist and have ended up much much worse off than before I started.

[snowbear]

I get that. But staying angry doesn't make life better. I stayed angry with my attackers for nearly a decade! It felt like 'righteous anger' which made it very hard to let go of it. But in the end I realised I had a choice - stay angry and 'be right' or let it go and be happy.

Your therapist (when you start) will help you to get you past this.

[Robin43]

I am really sorry to hear that @snowbear. Thank you, those are very sensible words from you as always. I want to get better, not only for myself, but for my mum as it is an unbearable pressure on her too.

[malina]

Hi @Robin43, the first therapist I saw was a complete disaster. I was 20, far away from home at uni and in a complete panic because I was struggling a lot with OCD and didn't even know I had the condition or what it was. He didn't recognise it as OCD, panicked and made the situation so much worse than it was to begin with. On top of that he was rude and condescending and kept telling me that I should probably leave uni because I couldn't handle it. It was a nightmare but I stopped seeing him and found a great therapist who helped me a lot, finished uni and got my degree and never looked back. Therapists are just people, some are good at their job, others are not. Even the ones who are great at their jobs make mistakes sometimes too. You put your trust into someone who asked you to do more than you could handle. It wasn't right but staying angry will only hurt you and nothing more than that. There is so much in life to fight for that is far more important than our anger or fears. You can do this!

[Robin43]

Aww thank you for those kind words @malina. I am really sorry you had such a bad experience too. I think it is just that I have been paralysed-I cannot hardly get up from the sofa all day and I relive this in my head 24/7. I know you are right though. At the minute I cannot see life past this event at all. 

[Robin43]

Hi everyone

So I saw a different Psychologist on Friday and I am so confused. I had been told by a Psychiatrist that I have very severe OCD, now I am being told by this Psychologist that I have very firmly held beliefs which are edging towards delusions. He talks about me needing antipsychotics. Will ERP still work for me and can you have OCD and delusions. I am scared and feeling very anxious and uncertain.

[PolarBear]

OCD thinking can be close to delusions, for sure. Will ERP still work? Yes but you don't just need ERP. You need the whole CBT package.

We talked before about the cognitive therapy part of CBT... changing the way you think about the thoughts. For a long time, you have exhibited catastrophic thinking, thinking your life is over. That mindset can change with cognitive therapy. You also need Behavioral therapy, slowing down and stopping your compulsions.

[snowbear]

2 hours ago, Robin43 said:

I am being told by this Psychologist that I have very firmly held beliefs which are edging towards delusions

Goes hand in hand with severe OCD in my opinion. All that varies is whether the person with severe OCD has insight (is able to take a step back and recognise their thinking is skewed) or lacks insight (believes 100% that what they think and feel is true.)

If you are convinced your beliefs/ thoughts/ feelings are true then antipsychotics for a period of time may help. The idea of taking them is to gain insight, to shift from being completely convinced your thoughts represent 'The Truth' to being able to see that thoughts are simply you interpreting the universe around you and that even when things feel 100% real it doesn't mean they are.

If you decide to go the route of antipsychotics it's worth discussing with the doctor/ psychiatrist how long you can expect to be on them and what improvement in thinking will mark the point at which you could try coming off them. I personally believe everybody should try to come off SSRI/ antipsychotics at some point when their symptoms have markedly imporved or resolved. However, it's a trial without medication rather than an endpoint in itself and if trouble recurs the person should go back on them as long as necessary. For some people that may be lifelong, for most it won't. My point is you don't start them expecting it to be lifelong, you should go into it with some idea of the parameters to be fulfilled for when you'll try without medication set up from the outset. Any doctor or psychiatrist worth their salt should be able to outline that point for you, however broadly.

[Angst]

A delusion is a condition where a belief is firmly held and is not held by others. A belief my be very strongly believed (delusion) to very weakly believed. There is a continuum, a line from one to the other. If you are challenging a belief by ERP then you will need more willpower and courage  to do the exercises. So medication might well help to reduce the emotional/fearful features of your beliefs.

Sometimes in history, science challenges strongly held commonsensical beliefs. For example if you had the belief that the earth was flat then it would have taken a lot of courage to be a member of a crew to sail around the globe. I sure those crew members would have been helped by antipsychotics.