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how does someone become an ex-sufferer exactly


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On 19/03/2023 at 11:57, northpaul said:

Thankyou Angst.  That is similar to how I see my recovery and yes, my relapses are certainly related to environmental stressors (COVID lockdown was a prime example of that).

I got the precise wording from a psychiatrist while listening to BBC Sounds podcast Is Psychiatry Working. Worth a

I attended an eight week course for users/experiencers/survivors/ on recovery. It was my first introduction to something called positive psychology. The therapist now runs a Masters course in Positive Psychology. Recovery meant different things. One guy wanted to get back into acting and the therapist helped arranged a solo performance for him. Another guy was a tabloid journalist who had a breakdown while working for a national paper and wanted to switch careers into teaching. A woman who had already published a book of her abusive experiences set up a video production company. My decision was more mundane I decided to take early retirement. Another woman wanted to move to have a big garden.

The recovery moment believes that people have different journeys and people should decide what they want to do. It is not just to be free of something but to work out what you want to do. The programme Is Psychiatry Working deals with this theme as well.

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On 18/03/2023 at 12:37, Lynz said:

Personally I do still occasionally get the intrusive thoughts and sudden jolts of anxiety but thanks to spending many years persisting with what I've learnt in CBT I am now able to dismiss the thoughts as nonsense and they end up not bothering me and the anxiety quickly dissipates.

It really is down to consistent practice though and there's no easy way that I've found anyway to get around that. But the good news is practice really does make perfect and the more you persist with it then the freer you will become from OCD.

:yes:  :57439eb60db27_thumbup:

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Wow I missed a lot here. But I do know that medication even a back on it after not Being on it before that does make a difference when you feel the effects again and suddenly the aggressive thoughts just linger they don’t affect your Daily life, but some interesting intriguing posts here 

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On 20/03/2023 at 08:01, ocd veteran said:

I wouldn't call myself an" ex-sufferer" but what i would say is my recovery over the last 3 years has been to a degree i never thought was possible compared to the very slow but definite progress i had during the previous 35 years of my recovery. The 9 years previous to that when i first started with OCD  was like a complete OCD nightmare i had no control of.

My recovery originally started with me seeing a Fantastic Physiatrist, learning to do the right things and medication that i have been on for 28 years. The off the scale recovery over the last 3 years is since i discovered Ali Greymond Videos.

 

HI OCD Veteran

Thank you for this lovely post. This gives me so much optimism. I am recovering from OCD and I am glad to say in recovery. I took your advice and watched some of the Ali Greywood videos. They really are helpful. I am learning to do the right things too. 

Thank you

Take care

N

 

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I first had ocd when I was about 24 , I had the constant worry of being gay ,it was like the worst nightmare for me ( no offence gay folks out there) it's just the way it started with me I would just constantly be going around and around in my head non stop , I turned to alcohol and drugs which just made the symptoms worse after , it got so bad that I wanted to take my own life but couldn't because I had a partner and a child ,but life was like a living nightmare  you all know what it's like ,I went to the doctor and after a trip in a mental hospital because I couldn't cope I was referred to Dr noamie fighnburg and she put me on paroxetine 60 mg after two or three months my symptoms pretty much went away so long story short ( or not !! ) I said I was over it or cured but like in the post complacency is a big boo boo  , I'm 48 next birthday and it's come back , I think we'll  know why !! I've been dealing with a lot of stress over the last probably 4 or 5 years probably more and it's culminated into ocd symptoms being really bad , I never completely came off paroxetine I was on 20mg for years then 30mg for a while with other supplements like n a c and cannabis gumming and another one which I can't remember now sorry , I recently went back to the doctors and asked to raise my dose which I already had done now I'm on 50mg but I'm going to go up to 60mg ,that's the highest dose and I'm praying it works this time , is anyone else on meds ?

Hope there's some peace for everyone 

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It sounds as if your therapy consists of medication without any talk therapy (good talk therapy includes doing therapy) such as CBT. It is understandable as you were in crisis and attended a psychiatric ward. Under such circumstances medication tends to be prescribed answer as it can steady a person. Also as medication resulted in a ‘cure’ in the past it is natural that the doctors would recommend an increase in the dose. I am not advocating that you should not up your dose. Far from it but it should be accompanied by therapy. I believe that stress can aggravate a mental health problem or cause a mental health problem. An example at the extreme end of the stress spectrum - many soldiers and civilians in war have long lasting psychiatric problems.

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15 hours ago, bakerloo said:

I first had ocd when I was about 24 , I had the constant worry of being gay ,it was like the worst nightmare for me ( no offence gay folks out there) it's just the way it started with me I would just constantly be going around and around in my head non stop , I turned to alcohol and drugs which just made the symptoms worse after , it got so bad that I wanted to take my own life but couldn't because I had a partner and a child ,but life was like a living nightmare  you all know what it's like ,I went to the doctor and after a trip in a mental hospital because I couldn't cope I was referred to Dr noamie fighnburg and she put me on paroxetine 60 mg after two or three months my symptoms pretty much went away so long story short ( or not !! ) I said I was over it or cured but like in the post complacency is a big boo boo  , I'm 48 next birthday and it's come back , I think we'll  know why !! I've been dealing with a lot of stress over the last probably 4 or 5 years probably more and it's culminated into ocd symptoms being really bad , I never completely came off paroxetine I was on 20mg for years then 30mg for a while with other supplements like n a c and cannabis gumming and another one which I can't remember now sorry , I recently went back to the doctors and asked to raise my dose which I already had done now I'm on 50mg but I'm going to go up to 60mg ,that's the highest dose and I'm praying it works this time , is anyone else on meds ?

Hope there's some peace for everyone 

I've just started doing some research(out of my own curiosity) into long term use of anti depressants and other medications. Firstly by going to manufacturers sites and reading the common and less common side effects. The indication is that long term use is okay, but from a sceptical point of view, the body and mind utilise a complex range of chemicals and I wonder how the balance is affected long term. Also it's patients themselves who take these long term that are the ongoing study group. 

So if you can try to organise some therapy, possibly a psychiatrist, and try to reduce your reliance on paroxetine. Because there are long term problems with using most medications in that they can damage organs they pass through and where they are excreted via the liver or kidneys.

My GP just asked me if I'd be interested in taking and ACE inhibitor, but after visiting manufacturers site, seeing side effects, I've decided to try a series of natural alternatives.

Also just picking up on something @Angst said, I realised that many mental health problems in countries are as a result of whole generations suffering the worst traumas possible, not getting the right help and being unable to talk about it(or even advised not to), which then perpetuates mental health problem through following generations. Which is another reason that greater resources need to be aimed at mental health services.

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On 19/03/2023 at 21:00, PolarBear said:

Speaking only for me, being an ex-sufferer is more than not doing compulsions. It meant a wholesale change in the way I think, too. I had to teach myself to think differently, and not just about Intrusive thoughts.

I am on meds that help a lot with overall anxiety. When I get an intrusive thought, which is rare, I don't get that scary jolt of anxiety. I trained my brain not to freak out over obsessions.

Yes, I immediately ignore obsessions when they do arise. I'm very good at it. It comes from a whole lot of practice.

May I ask you, how did toy change your way of thinking? On my meds and through CBT knowledge I tend to often just blow off obsessions and compulsions and catch myself ruminating and stop it and let it be: but I am intrigued to know because it is something I could show my CBT dr and work with him on 

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18 hours ago, Kcbell92 said:

May I ask you, how did toy change your way of thinking? On my meds and through CBT knowledge I tend to often just blow off obsessions and compulsions and catch myself ruminating and stop it and let it be: but I am intrigued to know because it is something I could show my CBT dr and work with him on 

Well, look into cognitive distortions. It's something I worked on in group therapy. It was amazing how many different cognitive distortions were going on inside my head.

For example, all or nothing thinking. If one small thing went wrong during my day, my whole day was shot to he**. There were others too. The thing is, these distortions pop up not necessarily related to OCD but after I worked on them for a while I realized they were sort of the framework for how I dealt with obsessions.

So just take all or nothing thinking. If I dropped a plate (nothing to do with OCD), I let it wreck my day. If I had a troubling intrusive thought, I let it wreck my day. See? By addressing these distortions, which involved changing my thinking, I not only helped my OCD, but my day to day living.

 

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4 hours ago, PolarBear said:

Well, look into cognitive distortions. It's something I worked on in group therapy. It was amazing how many different cognitive distortions were going on inside my head.

For example, all or nothing thinking. If one small thing went wrong during my day, my whole day was shot to he**. There were others too. The thing is, these distortions pop up not necessarily related to OCD but after I worked on them for a while I realized they were sort of the framework for how I dealt with obsessions.

So just take all or nothing thinking. If I dropped a plate (nothing to do with OCD), I let it wreck my day. If I had a troubling intrusive thought, I let it wreck my day. See? By addressing these distortions, which involved changing my thinking, I not only helped my OCD, but my day to day living.

 

Yes I do understand what your saying and I’ll mention the cognitive distortion’s to my CBT dr, because I do catch myself Ruminating and turn to more positive minded thinking which is improvement for sure. But I get those jolts of anxiety at times too. And I think that may help me because I do happen to do a lot of “black and white thinking” and I think that could help too. I’m sure you remember a small thought and worry about my car or my good friend now or a bump on my arm would destroy my day 

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