Rebecca

[becky199321]

I have had a abusive/traumatic childhood and have suffered from anxiety and depression for around 13 years due to this, I have had CBT for this but didn’t feel it benefitted me at that particular time. I am having trauma counselling at the moment and both my GP and counsellor are sure I have OCD, the GP did a referral a few weeks ago and rang me back with there reply today. 
Basically they said something along the lines of, CBT is the treatment for OCD and because Iv had it before and it didn’t help there is nothing else they can offer, there maybe a time for CBT in my life but I don’t feel this is the correct time.

Why am I having to fight for my mental health after 13 years of hell Iv had many different tablets and therapists and I just can’t seem to get to the bottom of it and I’m so frustrated, I do as much as I can to help myself but there’s only so much I can do! 

My GP spoke to me about a psychiatrist or psychologist but I don’t hold out much hope, she is going to try refer me to a different area/hospital I just don’t know what else to do?!

[Ashley]

Hi Becky,

I will do my best to advise.   

19 hours ago, becky199321 said:

Basically they said something along the lines of, CBT is the treatment for OCD and because Iv had it before and it didn’t help there is nothing else they can offer, there maybe a time for CBT in my life but I don’t feel this is the correct time.

The first thing I would say about this is they're talking cobblers.  If CBT was not previously delivered with the view to treat OCD then there's a good chance it wouldn't have treated the problem. CBT for spider phobias for example will look different for CBT for OCD.  With spider phobia you might do evidence tables for risks from spiders, but we would not do that with OCD because it's the doubt and uncertainty that drives the OCD and no amount of evidence helps that.

 

19 hours ago, becky199321 said:

My GP spoke to me about a psychiatrist or psychologist but I don’t hold out much hope, she is going to try refer me to a different area/hospital I just don’t know what else to do?!

This may be needed if we need to do an assessment to be sure it is OCD. Perhaps you can tell us a little about your symptoms if you feel able to?  Whilst we are not doctors or therapists, we have some experience of OCD between us to be able to give you an idea if it is OCD or not.  Many of us here self-diagnosed our OCD long before we asked for help.

If we/you think it is OCD then there is a step to try first and that is your local IAPT service, improving access to physiological therapy and you can self-refer into that, you don't need to speak to a GP or get permission you can call them up or email and ask to self-refer for CBT to treat the OCD.  We can look up your local IAPT service details for you if you need us to, (just email support@ocduk.org) with your GP surgery name/postcode and on Monday we can send you details for the local IAPT service.

Ashley

[Handy]

It’s similar to me. Eventually I figured it out that OCD was the coping mechanism for another disorder that began from my childhood trauma, which is the source & OCD is the symptom. Therefore, CBT was rather ineffective.

[snowbear]

18 minutes ago, Handy said:

It’s similar to me. Eventually I figured it out that OCD was the coping mechanism for another disorder that began from my childhood trauma, which is the source & OCD is the symptom.

This is quite common.

19 minutes ago, Handy said:

Therefore, CBT was rather ineffective.

But I have to take issue with this part of your reply, Handy.

CBT will always be effective for OCD, if it's done right. There are many possible reasons why it might not have helped you at that time, but that doesn't mean you can't have another round of correctly applied CBT to help you overcome both the childhood trauma AND the OCD.

[Handy]

23 hours ago, snowbear said:

This is quite common.

But I have to take issue with this part of your reply, Handy.

CBT will always be effective for OCD, if it's done right. There are many possible reasons why it might not have helped you at that time, but that doesn't mean you can't have another round of correctly applied CBT to help you overcome both the childhood trauma AND the OCD.

Snow bear, According to Brainlock, CBT is 50% effective.  I’m not sure how the author determines that. 
 

[snowbear]

1 hour ago, Handy said:

According to Brainlock, CBT is 50% effective.  I’m not sure how the author determines that.

I believe the 50% calculation is based on when a 'course' of CBT has been ineffective. However, since Brainlock was written we've all become much more aware of the reasons CBT may not be completely (or even partially) successful in a single course of treatment.

There can be multiple factors involved ranging across therapist issues (eg. poorly administered CBT, poor understanding of OCD by therapist, too much emphasis on ERP and not enough on cognitive change), client issues (eg. unreadiness to do the behavioural work, poor understanding of what is required of them, failure to recognise CBT is an active therapy not a passive one etc.) and service issues (eg. limiting a person to a set number of CBT sessions instead of continuining CBT until it has been successful, not offering sessions or support in a manner the client can cope with, failure to recognise the need for timely top-up sessions in cases of relapse etc.)

I maintain that when these 3 areas behind the 'failure' rate are adequately addressed, everybody can benefit from CBT. Nobody in this day and age should ever be described as 'resistant to CBT' or 'failed to respond to CBT.' These terms should be abandoned in favour of the more accurate, ' CBT has yet to be offered to the person in adequate format, quantity and quality.'

[The Visionary]

My advice to Becky would be: if you haven’t been treated at the Anxiety Disorders Residential Unit (ADRU) of the Royal Bethlem Hospital, try and get yourself referred there.They are not successful with everyone, but they do manage some amazing successes. In my experience, everyone who managed to cope with the conditions there improved during their stay; the main problem was a lot of people relapsed after discharge.

While you are a patient there, you get three, one hour therapy sessions every week. The therapists are very good. You also have a room in one of two shared houses. It’s better to be in the Longfield house. Everyone is very supportive, it’s like becoming one of a group of close friends. Most people don’t want to leave.

If that doesn’t work, I would suggest marrying a German in order to qualify for treatment in that country. Apparently treatment for OCD is much better there.