[ALi26]

Hey everybody
I have panic disorder and just recently found out that I also have OCD. I have obsessive thoughts and I do cognitive therapy, support groups, and take meds. I sometimes get so down about this b/c it is ruining my life. Any suggestions?

[Butterfly_Faerie]

You are heading on the right track with this.

What about writting, writting down the thoughts that you have that seem to be over-powering.

Bring them into your next session and give it to your therapist to read.

CBT is good, i'm sure it will help you. I know alot of people who have benefited from this, I did a bit of it as well for anxiety.

Medication- it's good... I think you are doing everything right.

I myself do not suffer from OCD, not that i'm aware of so I wish that I could give you some better insight on this... I suffer from GAD, Depression, and I use to suffer from PTSD.

Keep doing what you are doing, maybe try some self talk, reminding yourself of things that cause you to have your obsessive thoughts, do you know what I mean, I don't even know if this is coming out right.

Try to think postive, try writting it down on paper instead of having it running marathons in your head....continue your CBT, your meds, your treatments..... I'm sure in time you will be able to get this under control.

I wish you the best of luck,

<font color=red>~</font color=red><font color=blue>S</font color=blue><font color=green>u</font color=green><font color=blue>n</font color=blue><font color=green>d</font color=green><font color=blue>a</font color=blue><font color=green>n</font color=green><font color=blue>c</font color=blue><font color=green>e</font color=green><font color=red>~</font color=red>

<font color=blue>"Never react emotionally to criticism. Analyze yourself to determine whether it is justified. If it is, correct yourself. Otherwise, go on about your business."</font color=blue>

<font color=black>Norman Vincent Peale</font color=black>

[marst]

I know what you mean by feeling that this is ruining your life. THere are so many mixed emotions because it makes you feel bad when other people find you "strange" because they dont understand but the stress of not having other people understand is a huge weight on your shoulders. Its hard to explain to anyone else because all they want to know is WHY you do this and WHY you do that, when really if we knew that it would be alot easier! so with all the therapy meds and all the talk about "your disorder" or "your panic attacks" or "your ocd" sometimes the best thing is to take a breather from all that and learn to take meds, go to therapy, and live a normal life where excepting that you are unique relieves te burden of being so different! i dont know if that helps...but i tried! i wish the best for you!

-Mary