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Why and How does OCD start?


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Hi, I am approaching my 65th birthday this weekend. I started with OCD when I was 11 after my parents moved and I started a new secondary school amongst strangers.

For many years I thought I was weird. Not until Charles walker MP stood up in the House of commons some 20 years ago and stated OCD is a mental illness did I realise I had a mental issue,[not the only one] I have never sought any help in all these years, didn't even tell my wife until we had been married some 20 years. Sadly she passed away 17months ago, and now my issues which I had more or less managed are now spiralling. Now I have decided to reach out

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Hello and welcome to the forums.

You ask: Why and How does OCD start?

You mention 3 things: parents moving, start new school and bereavement.  I am a similar age group to yourself and have experienced the same things as you have stated.

For me the common denominator in those 3 events is stress.  In my life with OCD I can say with some degree of certainty that when I have encountered stressful events then that can give rise to my OCD behaviours.

21 minutes ago, Nigel said:

Now I have decided to reach out

Have you thought about speaking to your GP about your mental health?  I did and he arranged some help for me.

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Hi guys,

Firstly, Nigel, I am so sorry about your wife.

As a child, there were many small things in hindsight that I could contribute to the beginnings of something. In the early primary years at school I would repeat sentences a couple of times in reading to name one, I was a very naive sheltered child, also exposed to some themes at a very young age which had not done me any favours. But in my case, I suffered a significant  trauma amongst other smaller trauma's that really woke me up to the world. This not only cemented my morals but at what I believe was a huge cost to my concsience and mental health and was the true birth of my OCD (mentioned in my first post in September).

There are theories that there could be a genetic or hereditary line (nature) but I definately believe there is a behavioural, learned aspect (nurture), as a child you are a sponge, and you pick up not only good behaviours but also the negative that surround you even when adults think you are not listening.

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7 hours ago, northpaul said:

Hello and welcome to the forums.

You ask: Why and How does OCD start?

You mention 3 things: parents moving, start new school and bereavement.  I am a similar age group to yourself and have experienced the same things as you have stated.

For me the common denominator in those 3 events is stress.  In my life with OCD I can say with some degree of certainty that when I have encountered stressful events then that can give rise to my OCD behaviours.

Have you thought about speaking to your GP about your mental health?  I did and he arranged some help for me.

Thank you northpaul. I have thought many times about speaking to someone over the years but never done it. Only just got round to speaking to the Gp about my grief issues.  I will give it some serious thought,

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4 hours ago, Cam81 said:

Hi guys,

Firstly, Nigel, I am so sorry about your wife.

As a child, there were many small things in hindsight that I could contribute to the beginnings of something. In the early primary years at school I would repeat sentences a couple of times in reading to name one, I was a very naive sheltered child, also exposed to some themes at a very young age which had not done me any favours. But in my case, I suffered a significant  trauma amongst other smaller trauma's that really woke me up to the world. This not only cemented my morals but at what I believe was a huge cost to my concsience and mental health and was the true birth of my OCD (mentioned in my first post in September).

There are theories that there could be a genetic or hereditary line (nature) but I definately believe there is a behavioural, learned aspect (nurture), as a child you are a sponge, and you pick up not only good behaviours but also the negative that surround you even when adults think you are not listening.

Thank you Cam81.

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Thank you for the replies I appreciate them. Have already learned more about this condition I have lived with for so long in the last few hours then I have learned previously. That's down to me though being so insular about it.

Reading the comments about it being stress related I find it is a vicious circle with me, my OCD stresses me out but that then triggers my OCD habits even more.

Anyone agree?

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7 hours ago, Nigel said:

Reading the comments about it being stress related I find it is a vicious circle with me, my OCD stresses me out but that then triggers my OCD habits even more.

Anyone agree?

I do hear what you are saying here and yes, for me the compulsive behaviours I have are perpetuated by me continuing with the said compulsive behaviour.  One key thing that I learned in my Cognitive Behavioural Therapy in 2021 was that stopping doing the compulsions does in fact break that perpetual cycle.  The CBT therapy is not easy but I did find through hard work and determination I did see results and my compulsive behaviours have now reduced.

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My CBT was free on the NHS.  My GP referred me to the local mental health team and after some initial assessments they offered me a course of CBT.

There is also a self referral option.  Look at their website below.   Mindsmatter provide psychological therapies and are part of Lancashire and South Cumbria NHS Foundation Trust that provide mental health services in Lancashire (I note you are Lancashire based from your profile entry).

https://www.lscft.nhs.uk/our-services/psychological-therapies/mindsmatter/self-referral-mindsmatter

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We don't really know what causes OCD. Genetics may play a role for some people. Stress? Perhaps it could be a contributing factor but lots of people experience stress and never develop OCD.

Some sufferers can pinpoint an event that started their disorder off but it's hard to say it wouldn't have started then anyway without the event taking place.

 

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You make a really good point there @PolarBear, I have no idea that if that defining moment never happened, it might have been another stresser that maybe exacerbated an already existing condition. That's the problem, there is still so little we actually know about the brain. Hopefully in time that will change.

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2 hours ago, Cam81 said:

You make a really good point there @PolarBear, I have no idea that if that defining moment never happened, it might have been another stresser that maybe exacerbated an already existing condition. That's the problem, there is still so little we actually know about the brain. Hopefully in time that will change.

i  personally feel it is always in you with the anxiety, brought out by one or two traumas close together, then usually do to age and experience in life, you have more knowledge and therefore doubts too

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7 hours ago, Kcbell92 said:

then usually do to age and experience in life, you have more knowledge and therefore doubts too

This would be how I view things at times as I have got older.  In my youth I had far less inhibitions in life and I could just 'roll with it'.  As I have aged I think about things more and my OCD has played on that.  In the 'old days' the 'what ifs' were far less intense than they are now.

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10 hours ago, northpaul said:

This would be how I view things at times as I have got older.  In my youth I had far less inhibitions in life and I could just 'roll with it'.  As I have aged I think about things more and my OCD has played on that.  In the 'old days' the 'what ifs' were far less intense than they are now.

YES! that's exactly similar to me, like with my last 10-15 years of life being like regarding people doing me dirty (friendship trust worries) and family dying young (bumps on my arms killing me soon) and sudden major issues causing havoc (car issues) crazy isnt it? 

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